They were among the very first to recognize and articulate the threat of fascism that were sweeping through europe in the 1930s, while most of their colleagues, male or female, refused to acknowledge the blatant signs of nazi imperialism. West and thompson fought the only way they could, not on the military battlefield, but in the arena of ideas. Willing to risk everything and smashing literary and social icons in their wake, rebecca west made sicily was nothing if not icon. Sicily, the youngest of three daughters was born in 1892, in the outskirts of london. Her father, a gifted cartoonist and journalist, soon revealed to be a notorious gambler, thief and womanizer, abandoned their families when sicily was only 8 years old. Devastated, she was unable to recognize to reconcile, his apparent adoration with the pennery and shame into which his leaving had cast them. This, i believe, was the defining moment of her life. Her fathers betrayal forever destroyed her faith in people and in god
booktv. also this weekend, the american spectator founder r. emmett tyrrell contends that modern liberalism is flawed. sunday night at 11, part of booktv this weekend on c-span2. now on booktv, susan herring to. she recounts the life of dorothy thompson, the first female chief of the european news bureau, and rebecca west, a novelist. the author reports that both women, who were friends for over 40 years, had professional success in a pre-feminist world. i am truly honored to be in this magnificent library this evening. great art, books, wonderful friends and c-span. [laughter] who could want for more? [laughter] thank you so much for having me, and thank you to everyone who made this evening possible; the gracious paula matthews, the lively monica higgins who seems to make the clocks run on time, but most of all our friends ann and hans ziegler. thank you so very much. allow me to introduce to you my subjects, or protagonists as it were. dorothy thompson on the right and