The Swoop!, or How Clarence Saved England is a short comic novel by P G Wodehouse, first published in the UK in 1909. Its subtitle is “A Tale of the Great Invasion.” This one may strain the sub-genre of alternate history to its breaking point, but I figure its probably worth it. As hero, Clarence Chugwater (all of 14 years old), assisted by a band of Boy Scouts must halt the invasion of England! This is one of the many “invasion” novels written from the late 1870s to WWI. H.G. Wells’ The War Of The Worlds is one of these. Many others were written, most involving the invasion of England. This kind of book was even more popular, in its time, as all the vampire and zombie tales are today. Think of it as the disaster movie of its time with this one on the comic end.
The Swoop!
By P.G. Wodehouse; Read by Kristin Hughes
17 Zipped MP3s or Podcast – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 2008
The Swoop! tells of the simultaneous invasion of England by several armies — “England was not merely beneath the heel of the invader. It was beneath the heels of nine invaders. There was barely standing-room.” (ch. 1) — and features references to many well-known figures of the day, among them the politician Herbert Gladstone, novelist Edgar Wallace, actor-managers Seymour Hicks and George Edwardes, and boxer Bob Fitzsimmons.
Podcast feed:
http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-swoop-by-p-g-wodehouse.xml
Posted by Jesse Willis
