“I
write books to find out about things.” – Rebecca West
Cicely Isabel Fairfield, born on
this date in 1892, grew up in a home full of intellectual stimulation,
political debate, lively company, books and music and turned into
world-renowned author and reporter Rebecca West along the way. By the time she was 50 she was a leading
spokesperson for feminism and feminist causes, and by the time of her death in
1983 she had published hundreds if not thousands of stimulating works in a wide
range of genres. Along the way she also
was called by Time Magazine"indisputably the world's number one woman writer,” and by U.S. President Harry S. Truman “the world’s best
reporter.”
West was the daughter of a political
reporter who often involved himself in controversial issues, shaping her own
ideas about how to report on politics and social justice, and in novels such as
The Birds Fall Down, set in pre-revolution Russia.
In addition to her dozens of books,
West also was 
feted for her essays and as a leading reviewer and travel writer
for many of the world’s top newspapers and magazines.
Among her powerful (and many)
best-selling books were Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, on the history and
culture of Yugoslavia; A Train of Powder – based on her magazine coverage
of the Nuremberg trials; and the "Aubrey trilogy" of autobiographical
novels, The Fountain Overflows, This Real Night, and Cousin
Rosamund. And she championed other writers, particularly
those who were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era.
“God forbid that any book should be
banned,” she wrote. “The practice is as
indefensible as infanticide.”
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