Summoned by Bells A Verse Autobiography

When I returned from school I found we'd moved: '53 Church Street. Yes, the slummy end'-- A little laugh accompanied the joke, For we were Chelsea now and we had friends Whose friends had friends who knew Augustus John: We liked bold colour schemes--orange and black-- And clever daring plays about divorce. --from Chapter 6, "London" Shortly after it was published in 1960, the modern classic Summoned by Bells was heralded as the verse autobiography of the century. It is a uniquely evocative narrative of the agonies and delights of growing up, set against the backgrounds of Highgate, Cornwall, Marlborough, and Oxford, and recounted in a way that has endeared Betjeman to generations of readers.Betjeman, John is the author of 'Summoned by Bells A Verse Autobiography', published 2006 under ISBN 9780374271732 and ISBN 0374271739.