Raymond Postgate (1896 – 1971)

Raymond William Postgate (6 November 1896 – 29 March 1971) was a British socialist journalist and editor, social historian, mystery novelist and gourmet. Born in Cambridge, the eldest son of John Percival Postgate and Edith Allen, Postgate was educated at St John’s College, Oxford. During World War I he sought exemption from military service as a socialist conscientious objector but was offered only non-combatant service in the army; forcibly conscripted, he was held at Cowley Barracks, Oxford, but found medically unfit for service and discharged. While he was in custody, his sister Margaret campaigned on his behalf, in the process meeting the socialist writer and economist G. D. H. Cole, whom she subsequently married. In 1918 Postgate married Daisy Lansbury, daughter of the Labour Party journalist and politician George Lansbury, and was barred from the family home (not disinherited) by his Tory father.

From 1918, Postgate worked as a journalist on the Daily Herald, then edited by his father-in-law, Lansbury. A founding member of the British Communist Party in 1920, Postgate left the Herald to join his colleague Francis Meynell on the staff of the CP’s first weekly, The Communist. Postgate soon became its editor and was briefly a major propagandist for the communist cause, but he left the party after falling out with its leadership in 1922. when the Communist International insisted that British communists follow the Moscow line. As such, he was one of Britain’s first left-wing former-communists, and the party came to treat him as an archetypal bourgeois intellectual renegade. He remained a key player in left journalism, however, returning to the Herald, then joining Lansbury on Lansbury’s Labour Weekly in 1925-1927.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s he published biographies of John Wilkes and Robert Emmet and his first novel, No Epitaph (1932), and worked as an editor for the Encyclopædia Britannica. In 1932 he visited the Soviet Union with a Fabian delegation and contributed to the collection Twelve Studies in Soviet Russia. Later in the 1930s he co-authored with G. D. H. Cole The Common People, a social history of Britain from the mid-18th century. Postgate was editor of the left-wing monthly Fact from 1937 to 1939 and editor of the socialist weekly Tribune from early 1940 until the end of 1941.

Always interested in food and wine, after World War II, Postgate assembled a band of volunteers to visit and report on UK restaurants. He edited the results into The Good Food Guide, first published in 1951. He continued to work as a journalist, mainly on the Co-operative movement’s Sunday paper Reynolds’ News, and during the 1950s and 1960s published several historical works and a biography of his father-in-law, The Life of George Lansbury.

Postgate wrote several mystery novels that drew on his socialist beliefs to set crime, detection and punishment in a broader social and economic context. His most famous novel is Verdict of Twelve (1940), his other novels include Somebody at the Door (1943) and The Ledger Is Kept (1953). (His sister and brother-in-law, the Coles, also became a successful mystery-writing duo.) After the death of H. G. Wells, Postgate edited some revisions of the two-volume Outline of History that Wells had first published in 1920.

Postgate’s son, Oliver, also a conscientious objector, became a leading creator of children’s television programmes in the UK. (From different sources)

(Facsimile Dust Jacket, Collins The Crime Club (UK), 1940)

Synopsis: A woman is on trial for her life, accused of murder. The twelve members of the jury each carry their own secret burden of guilt and prejudice which could affect the outcome. In this extraordinary crime novel, we follow the trial through the eyes of the jurors as they hear the evidence and try to reach a unanimous verdict. Will they find the defendant guilty, or not guilty? And will the jurors’ decision be the correct one? Since its first publication in 1940, Verdict of Twelve has been widely hailed as a classic of British crime writing. (Source: British Library)

From Martin Edwards Introduction:

Verdict of Twelve is so often cited as a classic of crime fiction that it is hard to believe that it has languished out of sight for decades. This British Library Crime Classics edition puts an end to the years of bewildering neglect, and offers a new generation of readers the chance to find out why so many leading commentators have admired this novel for so long.

Raymond Chandler praised this “ironic study” of the working of a jury in his famous essay “The Simple Art of Murder”, while the eminent critic Julian Symons included the book in his list of the hundred “best” crime novels. I first came across Verdict of Twelve as a schoolboy, when it appeared in an excellent series of reprinted “Classics of Detection and Adventure” selected and introduced by Michael Gilbert. His enthusiasm for the book was infectious –he went so far as to suggest that it was the “single, shining exception” to the general proposition that detective novels written by dabblers in the genre, included such distinguished authors as E.C. Bentley and A.A. Milne, had failed to stand the test of time.

In my view Verdict of Twelve is highly recommended, however I’m not all that keen to read the other two mysteries, Somebody at the Door and The Ledger Is Kept. So far as I know, quality wise, they do not measure up to the expectation created by his first novel.

My Book Notes: Verdict of Twelve, 1940 by Raymond Postgate

Esta entrada es bilingüe, para ver la versión en castellano desplazarse hacia abajo

The British Library, 2017. Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 1993 KB. Print Length: 208 pages. ASIN: B01M1NPWB5. eISBN: 978-0-7123-6439-3. Originally published in 1940 by Colllins.

Opening Paragraph: The Clerk of Assize had to have some way of relieving the tedium of administering the same oath year after year. His habit was to stand for nearly a minute inspecting the jury and weighing it up; then he would administer the oath rather slowly, watching each juror and trying to estimate how well he would do his work. He flattered himself he could always spot the fool or the fanatic who would hold out in a minority of one and prevent a decision. To-day he paused as usual and looked at the row of respectable persons awaiting his instructions. Two women, one rather handsome man, two rather elderly men—nothing out of the ordinary. A very commonplace jury, he reflected. But there, for that very reason it was probably likely to do all the better. No surprises, and no strange persons on the jury meant no surprises and no freakishness when the verdict came. He cleared his throat and turned to the first, a severe looking, very plain middle-aged woman in black, wearing glasses. “Victoria Mary Atkins,” he said, “repeat after me…”

Synopsis: A woman is on trial for her life, accused of murder. The twelve members of the jury each carry their own secret burden of guilt and prejudice which could affect the outcome. In this extraordinary crime novel, we follow the trial through the eyes of the jurors as they hear the evidence and try to reach a unanimous verdict. Will they find the defendant guilty, or not guilty? And will the jurors’ decision be the correct one? Since its first publication in 1940, Verdict of Twelve has been widely hailed as a classic of British crime writing. This edition offers a new generation of readers the chance to find out why so many leading commentators have admired the novel for so long.

My take: The Jury, made up of two women and ten men, has to decide whether they find the defendant guilty or not guilty of the charges against her. The novel was published in 1940. It is set in the late 30s, and it is structured in four parts –The Jury, The Case, Trial and Verdict– and a postscript. The story begins with the profile of each one of the members of the jury while taking their oath. The case revolves around a charge for murder. Rosalia van Beer, a childless widower, is indicted for poisoning her eleven year-old nephew Philip, whose parents died in a plane crash, what turned him in the sole heir of his family fortune. At that time she claimed her right to assume the legal guardianship of her nephew as closest relative. The relationship between aunt and nephew was never good, to put it mildly. In fact Philip ended up hating her aunt. It came as no surprise then that, when Philip died and traces of poison were found in his vomit, Rosalia van Beert was arrested  charged with murder. After all, with his death she becomes the main beneficiary of his fortune.

The story has quite an original structure, although to be honest, I found a bit tedious the introduction of each and every member of the jury. But once overcome this hurdle, the story itself is highly entertaining and engaging. I must admit that, without doubt, Verdict of Twelve constituted a true landmark in crime fiction when it was published and for that reason alone it is worth reading. Though as a final comment I would like to add that I fully subscribe what Puzzle Doctor’s says at the end of his review: ‘I admired it more than I enjoyed it.’

I would like to highlight the excellent introduction by Martin Edwards in which he lets us know that: ‘Raymond Chandler praised this “ironic study” of the workings of a jury in his famous essay “The Simple Art of Murder”, while the eminent critic Julian Symons included the book in his list of the one hundred “best” crime novels.’

My rating: A (I loved it)

About the Author: Raymond Postgate (1896 – 1971) was born in Cambridge, the eldest son of the classical scholar Professor J.P. Postgate. He was educated at St. John’s College, Oxford. During the First World War he was a conscientious objector and was jailed for two weeks in 1916. He married Daisy Lansbury, the daughter of George Lansbury, pacifist and leader of the Labour Party. His career in journalism started in 1918 and he worked for several Left-wing periodicals. He was also Departmental Editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica for its 1929 edition. He was greatly interested in food and wine and wrote The Plain Man’s Guide to Wine (1951). He founded and ran the Good Food Club, as well as editing its Good Food Guide. In recognition of his work on this subject the Medieval Jurade of St. Emilion made him a Peer in 1951. Postgate wrote and edited many books, ranging from biographies, detective stories, a novel and short stories to histories of the workers and trade unionism and a number of sociological and political works. He also edited and translated classical texts such as Perviglium Veneris (1924) and The Agamemnon of Aeschylus (1969). His other books include Revolution from 1789 to 1906 (edited, 1920), A Short History of the British Workers(1926), No Epitaph (1932), Karl Marx (1933), The Common People 1746-1938 (written in collaboration with his brother-in-law G.D.H. Cole, 1939), Verdict of Twelve (1940), Somebody At the Door (1943), The Life of George Lansbury (1951) and The Ledger Is Kept (1953). His son was Oliver Postgate, the popular creator of many classic British television programmes for children.

Verdict of Twelve has been reviewed at Crime Time, Crime Review UK, Mystery Mile, Crime Time, Desperate Reader, Crime Review UK, Mystery Mile, In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel, His Futile Preoccupations ….., Classic Mysteries,

British Library publicity page

Poisoned Pen publicity page

Raymond Postgate (1896-1971) by Carol Westron

audible

Veredicto de doce de Raymond Postgate

Primer párrafo: El secretario del tribunal tenia que aliviar de alguna manera el tedio que le causaba tomar, año tras año, el mismo juramento. Por costumbre permanecía casi un minuto de pie, contemplando al jurado y estudiándolo; luego, con cierta lentitud, hacía jurar a cada uno de sus miembros mientras los observaba y trataba de adivinar en que forma cumpliría su deber. Se jactaba de que siempre presentía al tonto o al fanático que votaría en contra de la mayoría, entorpeciendo una decisión. Ese día, como siempre, hizo una pausa y miró la fila de personas respetables que aguardaban sus indicaciones. Dos mujeres, un hombre bastante apuesto, dos hombres bastantes maduros… nada extraordinario.”Un jurado muy común”, pensó . Por lo mismo , era probable que actuara en forma excelente. La falta de sorpresas y de personas raras en el jurado significaba que no habría sorpresas ni rarezas cuando se pronunciara el veredicto. Tosió y se volvió hacia la primera persona de la fila : una mujer de aspecto austero , fea y de edad madura , que usaba lentes y vestía de negro. -Victoria Maria Atkins- le dijo-, repita… (Traducción de Marta Acosta van Praet, Colección El Séptimo Círculo, Emecé, Buenos Aires)

Sinopsis: La vida de una mujer que está siendo juzgada acusada de asesinato está en juego. Cada uno de los doce miembros del jurado tienen su propia carga personal de culpa y prejuicios que podría afectar el resultado. En esta extraordinaria novela criminal, seguimos el juicio a través de los ojos de los jurados mientras escuchan la evidencia e intentan llegar a un veredicto unánime. ¿Encontrarán al acusado culpable o no culpable? ¿Será correcta la decisión del jurado? Desde su publicación en 1940, Veredicto de doce ha sido ampliamente aplaudida como un clásico de la escritura criminal británica. Esta edición ofrece a una nueva generación de lectores la oportunidad de descubrir por qué tantos de los principales comentaristas han admirado la novela durante tanto tiempo.

Mi opinión: El jurado, compuesto por dos mujeres y diez hombres, tiene que decidir si encuentran al acusado culpable o inocente de los cargos en su contra. La novela fue publicada en 1940. Está ambientada a finales de los años 30, y está estructurada en cuatro partes –El jurado, el caso, el juicio y el veredicto – y un epílogo. La historia comienza con el perfil de cada uno de los miembros del jurado mientras prestan juramento. El caso gira en torno a un cargo por asesinato. Rosalia van Beer, una viuda sin hijos, está acusada de envenenar a su sobrino Philip, de once años, cuyos padres murieron en un accidente aéreo, lo que lo convirtió en el único heredero de la fortuna de su familia. En ese momento ella reclamó su derecho a asumir la tutela legal de su sobrino como pariente más cercano. La relación entre tía y sobrino nunca fue buena, por decirlo suavemente. De hecho, Philip terminó odiando a su tía. No fue una sorpresa entonces que, cuando Philip murió y se encontraron rastros de veneno en su vómito, Rosalia van Beert fuera arrestada acusada de asesinato. Después de todo, con su muerte, ella se convierte en la principal beneficiaria de su fortuna.

La historia tiene una estructura bastante original, aunque para ser honesto, encontré un poco tediosa la presentación de todos y cada uno de los miembros del jurado. Pero una vez superado este obstáculo, la historia en sí es muy entretenida y atractiva. Debo admitir que, sin duda, Veredicto de doce constituyó un verdadero hito en la novela policiaca cuando se publicó y solo por esa razón vale la pena leerlo. Sin embargo, como comentario final, me gustaría agregar que suscribo completamente lo que dice Puzzle Doctor al final de su reseña: “Lo admiré más de lo que lo disfruté“.

Me gustaría destacar la excelente introducción de Martin Edwards en la que nos hace saber que: ‘Raymond Chandler elogió este “estudio irónico” de los trabajos de un jurado en su famoso ensayo “El simple arte de matar”, mientras que el eminente crítico Julian Symons incluyó el libro en su lista de las cien “mejores” novelas policíacas.’

Mi valoración: A (Me encantó)

Sobre el autor: Raymond Postgate (1896 – 1971) nació en Cambridge, el mayor de los hijos del experto en los clásicos J.P. Postgate. Fue educado en el St. John’s College de Oxford. Durante la Primera Guerra Mundial se declaró objetor de conciencia y fue encarcelado durante dos semanas en 1916. Se casó con Daisy Lansbury, la hija de George Lansbury, pacifista y líder del Partido Laborista. Su carrera en el periodismo comenzó en 1918 y trabajó en varios periódicos de izquierdas. También fue editor departamental de la Enciclopedia Británica en su edición de 1929. Manifestó un gran interés por la comida y el vino y escribió The Plain Man’s Guide to Wine (1951). Fundó y dirigió el Good Food Club, además de editar su Guía de la Buena Mesa. En reconocimiento a su trabajo sobre este tema, el Jurado de la ciudad medieval de St. Emilion le nombró Par (título honorífico) en 1951. Postgate escribió y editó muchos libros, desde biografías, historias de detectives, novelas y cuentos hasta la historia de los trabajadores y de los sindicatos, y una serie de trabajos sociológicos y políticos. También editó y tradujo textos clásicos como Perviglium Veneris (1924) y The Agamemnon of Aeschylus (1969). Otros de sus libros incluyen Revolution from 1789 to 1906 (editado en 1920), A Short History of the British Workers (1926), No Epitaph (1932), Karl Marx (1933), The Common People 1746-1938 (escrito en colaboración con su cuñado G.D.H. Cole, 1939), Veredicto de doce (1940), Somebody At the Door (1943), The Life of George Lansbury (1951) y The Ledger Is Kept (1953). Su hijo fue Oliver Postgate, el popular creador de muchos programas clásicos para niños de la televisión británica.

The Justice Game

Martin Edwards , in his excellent The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, devotes Chapter 15 to ‘The Justice Game’ where he examines the following books:

Trial an Error, 1937 by Anthony Berkeley (Arcturus, 2013)

Synopsis: Non-descript, upstanding Mr Todhunter is told that he has only months to live. He decides to commit a murder for the good of mankind. Finding a worthy victim proves far from easy, and there is a false start before he settles on and dispatches his target. But then the police arrest an innocent man, and the honourable Todhunter has to set about proving himself guilty of the murder. Beautifully presented with striking artwork and stylish yet easy-to-read type, avid readers of crime will love reading this gripping, well-written thriller. The appetite for traditional crime fiction has never been stronger, and Arcturus Crime Classics aim to introduce a new generation of readers to some of the great crime writing of the 20th century – especially the so-called ‘golden era’.

About the Author: Anthony Berkeley Cox (1893 – 1971) aka Francis Iles, A Monmouth Platts. A journalist as well as a novelist, Anthony Berkeley was a founding member of the Detection Club and one of crime fiction’s greatest innovators. He was one of the first to predict the development of the ‘psychological’ crime novel and he sometimes wrote under the pseudonym of Francis Iles. He wrote twenty-four novels, ten of which feature his amateur detective, Roger Sheringham.

Verdict of Twelve, 1940 by Raymond Postgate (British Library Publishing, 2017)

Synopsis: A woman is on trial for her life, accused of murder. The twelve members of the jury each carry their own secret burden of guilt and prejudice which could affect the outcome. In this extraordinary crime novel, we follow the trial through the eyes of the jurors as they hear the evidence and try to reach a unanimous verdict. Will they find the defendant guilty, or not guilty? And will the jurors’ decision be the correct one? Since its first publication in 1940, Verdict of Twelve has been widely hailed as a classic of British crime writing. This edition offers a new generation of readers the chance to find out why so many leading commentators have admired the novel for so long.

About the Author: Raymond Postgate (1896 – 1971) was born in Cambridge, the eldest son of the classical scholar Professor J.P. Postgate. He was educated at St. John’s College, Oxford. During the First World War he was a conscientious objector and was jailed for two weeks in 1916. He married Daisy Lansbury, the daughter of George Lansbury, pacifist and leader of the Labour Party. His career in journalism started in 1918 and he worked for several Left-wing periodicals. He was also Departmental Editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica for its 1929 edition.

Tragedy at Law, 1942 by Cyril Hare (Faber & Faber, 2011)

Synopsis: Tragedy at Law follows a rather self-important High Court judge, Mr Justice Barber, as he moves from town to town presiding over cases in the Southern England circuit. When an anonymous letter arrives for Barber, warning of imminent revenge, he dismisses it as the work of a harmless lunatic. But then a second letter appears, followed by a poisoned box of the judge’s favourite chocolates, and he begins to fear for his life. Enter barrister and amateur detective Francis Pettigrew, a man who was once in love with Barber’s wife and has never quite succeeded in his profession – can he find out who is threatening Barber before it is too late?

About the Author: Cyril Hare was the pseudonym of Judge Gordon Clark (1900 – 1958) . Born at Mickleham near Dorking, he was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. At the bar his practice was largely in the criminal courts. During the Second World War he was on the staff of the Director of Public Prosecutions; but later, as a County Court judge, his work concerned civil disputes only – and his sole connection with crime was through his fiction. He turned to writing detective stories at the age of thirty-six and some of his first short stories were published in Punch. Hare went on to write a series of detective novels.

Smallbone Deceased, 1950 by Michael Gilbert (British Library Publishing, 2019)

Synopsis: Horniman, Birley and Craine is a highly respected legal firm with clients drawn from the highest in the land. When a deed box in the office is opened to reveal a corpse, the threat of scandal promises to wreak havoc on the firm’s reputation—especially as the murder looks like an inside job. The partners and staff of the firm keep a watchful and suspicious eye on their colleagues, as Inspector Hazlerigg sets out to solve the mystery of who Mr. Smallbone was—and why he had to die. Written with style, pace, and wit, this is a masterpiece by one of the finest writers of traditional British crime novels since the Second World War.

About the Author: Born in Lincolnshire, Michael Francis Gilbert (1912 – 2006) was educated in Sussex before entering the University of London where he gained an LLB with honours in 1937. Gilbert was a founding member of the British Crime Writers Association, and in 1988 he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America – an achievement many thought long overdue. He won the Life Achievement Anthony Award at the 1990 Boucheron in London, and in 1980 he was knighted as a Commander in the Order of the British Empire. Gilbert made his debut in 1947 with Close Quarters, and since then has become recognized as one of our most versatile British mystery writers.

Now I’m reading Smallbone Deceased and I look forward to reading soon the other three. Stay tuned.