Richard Hughes (British writer)
A British novelist of unsettling power who opened his career with 'A High Wind in Jamaica,' a chillingly amoral story of children and pirates.
1900–1976 (age 76)·British writer·Birthday: April 19·The Lost Generation
Biography
Richard Hughes approached storytelling with a cool, anthropological eye, dissecting human nature with particular focus on its most unsettling subject: children. His first and most famous novel, 'A High Wind in Jamaica' (1929), upended Victorian sentimentality by presenting a group of children captured by pirates as creatures of opaque, often savage, innocence. The book's psychological realism and stark irony made it a modern classic. Hughes was a writer of range, also producing poetry, plays, and the ambitious historical novel 'The Fox in the Attic,' the first part of an unfinished trilogy about the rise of fascism. He lived a peripatetic life, traveling widely and serving in the Admiralty during World War II. His work is characterized by a precise, detached prose style that makes the dark currents beneath his narratives all the more potent.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Richard was born in 1900, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1900
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1900Born
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1905Started school
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1913Became a teenager
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
1916Could drive
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1918Could vote
World War I ends; Spanish flu pandemic kills millions
President: Woodrow Wilson
1921Turned 21
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1930Turned 30
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 40
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1950Turned 50
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1960Turned 60
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1970Turned 70
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1976Died at 76
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
Key Achievements
- Published 'A High Wind in Jamaica' (1929), a groundbreaking novel that revolutionized the literary portrayal of childhood.
- Wrote 'In Hazard,' a critically admired novel about a merchant ship caught in a hurricane, based on meticulous research.
- Began 'The Human Predicament,' a planned historical trilogy, with 'The Fox in the Attic' (1961), examining German society between the wars.
- Served as the first chairman of the Welsh Committee of the Arts Council of Great Britain.
Did You Know?
He wrote the first radio play ever broadcast by the BBC, 'Danger,' which aired in 1924.
He was a close friend of the poet Robert Graves and lived for a time in Graves's house in Wales.
He worked for the British Admiralty's Naval Intelligence Division during World War II.
“It was the children’s own lack of sentimentality which made them so terrifying.”
