Donald Westlake wrote numerous short non-fiction articles on a variety of subjects. He also gave talks and interviews, wrote letters and reviews and generally comported himself in the non-fiction universe with the same apparent ease as his ability to produce works of fiction. Yet there are only three non-fiction books credited to him in the bibliography. One is a biography of Elizabeth Taylor (Monarch Books, 1961) that he wrote on commission because he was well compensated, and c’mon, it’s Elizabeth Taylor. Amiright? The most recent book is the very excellent collection of short non-fiction miscellany, The Getaway Car (University of Chicago Press, 2014), expertly edited by Levi Stahl. And then there’s Anguilla.
Anguilla, that windblown speck of sand and goats, isolated in a watery wasteland, surrounded by menace, subject to the whims of powers greater than she could ever be. And yet, somehow thriving in its own quirky way. As others have pointed out, Westlake seemed to have more than a passing interest in small nation states, especially those that had a history of punching above their weight class, or surviving despite the best efforts of greater powers the world over. So how could he resist the temptress Anguilla, the only place (that we know of) ever to have fought a revolution specifically to avoid independence? But it wasn’t really that simple, was it? The comedy of errors, both intentional and unintentional, that enabled the Anguillans to declare victory the very instant the first British paratrooper boot touched its sandy soil was a siren song that drew Westlake in all by itself. No commission necessary.
2nd UK (2018)
Though I haven’t yet cataloged the entire Westlake library and recorded every edition of every book ever in print that Westlake ever wrote or had a hand in writing (I’m working on it, alright?), so far I have encountered only two editions of Under an English Heaven, the first published in the United States by Simon & Schuster in 1972, the second published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton in 1973. The first and second editions are practically identical in every way, right down to the jacket blurbs and the author photograph on the back cover (one of very few pictures of Westlake in his Air Force uniform). But now we have another.
The first paperback edition has just been published in the United Kingdom by Silvertail Books. And the first piece of good news is that it has a different cover. While an image of two buck-naked British soldiers, having abandoned their weapons, marching their pasty white British butts to the sea for a little R&R is certainly both striking and telling for a book about a revolution, there can be no doubt that an upgrade was in order. The new cover doesn’t make the point as succinctly as the original, but it has an appealing look to it. The only thing I miss is the statement on the front cover of the original that has always given me a chuckle:
Being a true recital of the events leading up to and down from the British invasion of Anguilla on March 19th, 1969, in which nobody was killed but many people were embarrassed.
But the blurb on the back cover makes up for it, giving a real taste of the treat that is to follow should you choose to embark on this very Westlakean journey to Anguilla of the 1960s. You can read a fascinating review of the book over on The Westlake Review, and purchase the book directly from the publisher at the Silvertail Books website. You can read the back cover blurb and track down the hardcover editions on the UaEH book page on this website.
If you come to Westlake for the Parker and his ilk, and don’t really have a mind for mirth, this might not be for you. But if you appreciate the absurd (even a little bit), enjoy Westlake’s comic writing or just really want to know more about Anguilla, this is absolutely the book for you!