You know where you are when you're reading Evelyn Waugh; it is a familiar world of class mores, deftly satirised. Many of the characters in Put Out More Flags also appear in other of Waugh's works, most notably Basil Seal in Black Mischief and Alastair Trumpington in Decline and Fall, creating both lineage and familiarity. The topic under discussion in Put Out More Flags is the Second World War, and most pertinently the ‘Phoney War’ at its outset. Much is modeled on Waugh's own autobiographical experiences. What is evident (certainly in Waugh's mind) is the ineptitude of the government (at least at the war's outset under Chamberlain), and how the rules of engagement were seemingly being made up on the spot. This created many opportunities for the lucky and/or corrupt, mercilessly captured by Waugh in the novel. Additionally, Put Out More Flags does serve as a useful reminder that war is a great, (the ultimate) class leveller, still relevant and timely today.
By Evelyn Waugh