Rudyard Kipling
Kipling left South Africa in disgust when the Liberals
came to power in Britain, and, as he saw it, destroyed all that had been gained in the Boer war.
Until the end of his life, Kipling's world view would be distorted by the paranoid belief that
conspiracy and betrayal were everywhere in public life.
World War One proved a bracing diversion for the embittered Kipling, who had long predicted
that Germany's rivalry with Britain would result in conflict, and who positively revelled in patriotic
occasions. He urged his son John to join up, even using his influence to secure the boy a
commission. Tragedy ensued when John Kipling disappeared in action only a month after his
arrival.
My Boy Jack Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 17-year-old son after he
goes missing during WWI. (TV 2007)
Kipling saw the subsequent settlement at Versailles as another betrayal, mocking the sacrifices
of the fallen allies.
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