Scoop Av Evelyn Waugh

<p><b>Evelyn Waugh''s brilliantly irreverent satire of Fleet Street, with an introduction by Alexander Waugh</b><br><br>Lord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of <i>The Daily Beast</i>, has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, however, and may in a moment of weakness make another. Acting on a dinner party tip from Mrs Algernon Stitch, he feels convinced that he has hit on just the chap to cover a promising little war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia. But for, pale, ineffectual William Boot, editor of the <i>Daily Beast</i>''s ''nature notes'' column, being mistaken for a competent journalist may prove to be a fatal error...<br><br>''Waugh at the mid-season point of his perfect pitch''<br>Christopher Hitchens</p>