Everyone has come to love the impeccable Jeeves and the inimitable Bertie. But what of their creator, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, whose ninety-three years produced a volume of work “unsurpassed in the history of literature”? Was he really a traitor to his country who broadcast dangerous propaganda from Germany during the war? And how can this be squared with the immensely lovable figure of “Plum,” upon whom the Queen bestowed a knighthood in 1975?

In researching this authorized, definitive biography, Frances Donaldson was given unique access to Wodehouse’s most important private papers, including the notebooks he kept during the sad episode of his internment during the Second World War. For the first time, Wodehouse’s beliefs, writings and actions are seen in the full context of the rest of his life.