The Breaking of Bumbo was first published fifty years ago when the author was twenty-two. it continues to read freshly. 'This bitter, ironical and very clever first novel paints a devastating portrait of an upper-class misfit, half clown, half Hamlet .
Bumbo Bailey is a coward and a bit of a hero. Bumbo pursues his career from Caterham to an Officers' Training School; from the Officers' Training School to Wellington Barracks; and, from Wellington Barracks to any number of wildly assorted parties. He learns a lot about Sex and Love and Discipline - and a little about himself.
