Olivia Manning is widely regarded as one of the leading illustrators, in fiction, of the experience of the Second World War in Europe and the Middle East. In her two major semi-autobiographical novel sequences, the Balkan and Levant trilogies, her portrait of a group of British expatriate teachers, writers and diplomats caught up in the disruptions of the conflict sets an intimate study of personal relationships in the context of international political and military intrigue across a five year period. Her fictionalized treatments of wartime Romania, Greece and Egypt convey as a backdrop the suffering caused by the collapse of old imperial Europe, the rampant spread of fascist ideology and the mass displacement of …
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Citation: Patten, Eve. "Olivia Manning". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 November 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2923, accessed 25 November 2024.]
