The author of Bitter Lemons and the acclaimed novel Justine wrote a number of short sketches as a light-hearted jeu d'esprit which have been gathered together under the title Esprit de Corps. Here are entertainment and relaxation pure and simple. Except that there's a point where laughter can become painful . . .'Whatever wars there may be and whatever crises, there will still, please heaven, be the diplomatic corps, with its protocol and formalities and a field for humour which I have never seen better used than in these stories.' John Betjeman, Daily Telegraph'Uproariously funny and shrewd . . . with the arrows of farce and of satire, he is on the target again and again.' John Connell, Evening Standard