A.P. Herbert

Biography

Sir Alan Patrick Herbert CH (known as A. P. Herbert; 24 September 1890 – 11 November 1971), was an English humorist, novelist, playwright, law reformist, and, from 1935 to 1950, an independent Member of Parliament for Oxford University. An Oxford graduate, Herbert served in the Royal Navy in World War I and took part in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in Turkey, which resulted in heavy casualties and a resounding defeat for the Allied forces. He later fought in France, where he was so severely wounded that he received a medical discharge. He was admitted to the bar in 1918, and served for two years as a private secretary to a member of the British Parliament. In 1924, Herbert became a staff writer for "Punch" magazine—on which he had been a contributing writer since 1910—and in 1935, he was elected to the British Parliament as an Independent representing Oxford. His best-known works include The House by the River (1921) and The Water Gipsies (1930), both of which were turned into successful films.