A Skimpton Compendium

It’s 1938 and the skies are darkening. On the playing fields of Faysgarth School, battle is about to commence. Skimpton, popular Deputy Head Boy, all-round good egg and sports supremo, needs a miracle if he’s to beat arch rivals Rainingham with a first eleven still drunk from the previous night’s debauchery. Further obstacles include mercurial school scoundrel Marcus Dent, Constable Stubbs, the irredeemably dim local bobby, a cricketing vicar with a unique taste in flannels, and the lethally myopic Colonel Coombes, menace of the chemistry laboratory. 'Not only is this collection of stories absolutely hilarious, it also manages to be both poignant and politically apposite.' – Amazon review A motley assortment of grubby dimwits, suspicious outsiders and sinister socialists means more trouble ahead for our heroic House Captain and his irrepressible fag Piggot – and there's even an escapade in the trenches with an affable George Orwell as he fights fascists in the Spanish Civil War. 'Very funny indeed. Pokes a sharp-witted finger at all those pre-war public school novels. There's always a little twist in each of the stories that you just don't see coming. I hope he writes more but in the meantime I shall read it again. Yeah, that good.' – Amazon review In this juicy collection of humorous stories Skimpton finds that, in a world beset by colonial conundrums, sexual tension, political skulduggery and the occasional stinky third-former, the immutable values of King and country don’t always win the prize. For, whether the challenge is a chafing jockstrap or an imbecilic history master, one thing’s for certain: at Faysgarth nothing is ever quite what it seems. A Skimpton Compendium takes up where Michael Palin's Ripping Yarns left off. If you liked Lindsay Anderson's If, the stories of PG Wodehouse and Richmal Crompton, Monty Python and Private Eye you'll love A Skimpton Compendium!