Sebastian Faulks' triple biography, "The Fatal Englishman," is an engrossing read. By combining three short but incisive bios of three Englishmen from different areas (the arts, wartime aviation, journalism) and different decades of the 20th century, Faulks pulls off a difficult challenge. There are common themes running through the lives of these men; each died early after achieving some prominence in their fields. All three grew up with high expectations for success from teachers, family and friends--only to fail when they started self-destructive behaviors. Faulks primarily leaves these connections up to the reader, something that may disappoint some readers. But re-reading Faulks' foreword helps clarify his focus. Though the book may resonate more with British readers, the overriding theme of "peaking too soon" in life is universal to all cultures, as is the helplessness friends and family face when when a loved one's life takes a determined, downward spiral. Recommended.

Well researched and written. Not only Fatal Englishmen but flawed too. All three wrecked their careers by self destructive behaviour, solipsism and hubris. None of them could b described as likeable despite, or because of their achievements.

A psychological history of a country, during the 20th Century, through the biographical sketches of its doomed youth. Fascinating biography, with the pacing of a thriller. War as the backdrop, alcohol as the lubricant, death as the end. Complex, while being effortless to read. Sebastian Faulks' does something quietly remarkable with The Fatal Englishman.

Two out of three lives really interesting, the final one shall remain unread - my life, although longer than any of theirs, is too short to waste.

My enforced non-fic book for the year. I struggled a lot to get through the first story but was more engrossed by the second two!

I enjoyed this book and reading about the unfortunate lifes of these 3 young English men. They were all well travelled and a big part of the first story is set in Paris. what lets this book down is the way it is littered with French sayings and quotes but no translations. it doesn't spoil the read but is frustrating

Right up my street. Looking into the hearts and minds of 3 individuals. Written almost like 3 novellas.

I find this book inspirational, both for the three real life characters and for the dark mood and inevitability of their endings which Faulks communicates. A fascinating book.

Declaration of a special interest... on of the characters, WWII pilot Richard Hillary, knew my father Wing Commander Nigel Bicknell DSO DFC and mentions him on more than one occasion in his own biography THE LAST ENEMY.

The Fatal Englishman made a big impression on me when I first read it twenty or so years ago, and, finding it again in a second hand bookshop prompted me to read it once more. In just over 300 pages, Sebastian Faulks tells the brief life stories of three gilded but doomed young men. Christopher’Kit’ Wood was a talented painter who moved in the same Parisian circles as Picasso, Diaghilev and Jean Cocteau, but struggled with an opium addiction that eventually led to mental breakdown and suicide; Richard Hillary was a Second World War Spitfire pilot who suffered appalling burns when his plane was brought down, but was given a new face by the pioneering plastic surgeon A H McIndoe, before returning to flying and dying in a mysterious night flying accident at the age of just 23; Jeremy Wolfenden had the greatest mind of his generation at Oxford in the 1950s, but met an early death at the age of 31 after a career as Moscow correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and an increasingly terrifying involvement in Cold War espionage. Faulks tells their stories at a pace that matches the way they lived their lives and finds unexpected connections between these three young men who never met. The Fatal Englishman is a revealing, deeply compassionate triple biography, overshadowed by Faulks’s fictional output and less well known than it deserves to be.

Three short lives, A painter in the 1920's, Christopher Wood, a ww2 spitfire pilot, Richard Hilary and Jeremy Wolfenden, described as the cleverest young man in England in the 1950's. A group biography superbly portrayed

Three mini-autobiographies of Englishmen (Christopher Wood, Richard Hilary and Jeremy Wolfenden) who died young. From the few details in the book it seems that all of the men had extraordinary, but short, lives.

Unfortunately this book is densely written and very little of the characters of the men comes through, which is a real shame. The book reads like a very long newspaper piece.

Three interesting lives, but a poor book.

I found this book hard work but persevered. Not really sure at the end of it what the reasoning of the 3 stories were.