| Richard
Adams |
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| Nationality - English |
Profession - Author |
| Date of birth - 09 May 1920
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Date of death - Still with us |
| Place of birth
- Newbury : Berkshire |
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Born Richard George Adams in Newbury, Berkshire 1920. Studied history at Bradfield College, Oxford. He served in the Second World War and then worked for the Civil Service between 1948 and 1974.
The Birth of Watership Down
In 1967, on a summer's day Richard Adams and his family were driving on the road that led to Stratford-on-Avon. Whilst he was driving he told the then rough story to his two daughters Juliet (10) and Rosamund (8) who afterwards kept pestering him until he agreed to write it down.
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'Watership Down' was finished two and a half years later towards the end of 1969. In May 1970, Rex Collings decided to publish it, but that didn't happen until two years later in 1972.
He won the Carnegie Medal for his masterpiece Watership Down and at one point was the president of the RSPCA
Altered Text in Watership Down
An interesting fact if not very well known one is that a section of Watership Down has been effectively removed in the second edition published by Rex Collins, and many subsequent editions. Fortunately, the Puffin/Penguin edition was based on the first Rex Collins edition; otherwise copies of Watership Down with the original text would be very rare indeed. (The WD movie also follows the original text in this respect.)
The original text (near the end of chapter 11)
`Is everybody here, Hazel?' he asked.
`Of course they are,' answered Blackberry. `I tell you, he's what I call a Chief Rabbit. Hazel-rah, shall we -'
`Hazel-rah?' interrupted Bigwig. `Chief Rabbit? Frith in a wasps' nest! The day I call you Chief Rabbit, Hazel, that'll be the day, that will! I'll stop fighting that day.'
It did indeed prove a momentous day - and a momentous speech as well: but it lay in the future that none could foresee, and for the moment all that poor Hazel could do was to turn aside with the disappointed feeling that after all, his part in the crossing of the heather had not really been a very important one.
`Come on, then, Acorn,' he said. `You want to run - I'll run with you.'
Text has been changed and shortened to:
`Splendid, Hazel,' he said. `Everybody's here. Let's get them into that field.' |
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Richard Adams
bibliography - 13
listed |
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The
Richard Adams
books listed below are either first editions,
special editions or noted editions. |
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| Richard
Adams books Wee
have for sale |
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All
the Richard Adams
books listed below are currently for sale
on our website - we may have some others in
stock so please ask if you don't see the title
you're looking for. |
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