The Exploits of Engelbrecht (12 page)

Maurice Richardson
was born in 1907 and educated at Oxford. After leaving Oxford he became an amateur boxer and wrote the novel
A Strong Man Needed
(1931), a comedy about the trials and tribulations of a female boxer. This was the first of several peculiarly humorous and unique fictions which eventually included
My Bones Will Keep
(1932),
The Bad Companions
(1936) and the cult comedy
The Exploits of Engelbrecht
(1950). Richardson regularly contributed to
Lilliput
from the 1940s onwards, the British monthly magazine of humour and arts founded by Stefan Lorant. Richardson’s pieces in
Lilliput
were an influence on Spike Milligan and Michael Moorcock. During the 1950s he specialised as a book reviewer. In the 1960s his journalistic career peaked and he became both the television critic for the
Observer
and sports writer for
The Guardian
. Richardson died in 1977. His collection of miscellaneous pieces,
Fits and Starts
, was published posthumously.

Rhys Hughes
was born in 1966 and his first book,
Worming the Harpy
, was published in 1995. Since then he has published a further thirty titles, including
Engelbrecht Again
, a sequel to Richardson’s classic, and has had his work translated into ten languages. His latest novel is the satirical comedy
The Young Dictator
. He currently lives in Wales.