Lords and Masters

Lords and Masters is a work of fiction, but with mastery and style, Macdonell uses his undoubted journalistic skill to unmask much that was unpleasant in the West End Society circles of the early 1930s. He exposes the hypocrisy of the monied class and, with biting satire, weaves a tale of intrigue, turning it into a thriller.

Key Highlights of the Book

• Character Mastery:
  Macdonell's depiction of the unscrupulous war-profiteer Sir Montagu Anderton-Mawle is a masterpiece. His ability to define all that is wrong in the world—as relevant today as it was in the 1930s—reveals a genius in the art of narrative composition.
• Historical Prescience:
  Written in 1936, Macdonell foresaw with frightening accuracy how events leading to war would unfold. He correctly predicted the attack on Singapore but was thankfully wrong about Japanese attacks on San Francisco and Montreal.

Central Characters and Themes

The book is built around the character of James Hanson, a steel millionaire, and the cynical manoeuvrings of those who would seek to profiteer from human misery.

James' youngest daughter, Veronica, is a Nazi-lover, presumably modelled on Unity Mitford. Her views are chillingly depicted in conversations such as:

"Veronica, dear," said Mrs. Hanson admiringly, "aren't you being a little impertinent?"
"No, seriously, Daddy, that atrocity stuff is all rot. Hitler wouldn't allow it for a moment. He isn't that sort of man. A few Jews have been beaten up perhaps, but that's nothing."

Veronica, who heartily despised the physical appearance of any male under about six-foot-three, was not so narrow-minded as to despise male intelligence simply because it was encased in a relatively dwarfish body. After all:

• No one could call the Fuehrer particularly handsome, yet what a mammoth intellect he possessed!
• Dr. Goebbels was positively ugly, but look how he scattered the non-Aryans with his inner fires of patriotism and genius!

Final Reflections

Happily for Macdonell, England was not invaded in 1940; otherwise, he might have been on the list of those to be rounded up.