The Star Spangled Manner: Beverley Nichols

Nichols documents his travels in America in the 1920s and here, examines many aspects of American life - both the obvious and the obscure. He meets Anita Loos (author of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes); Charlie Chaplin; visits speakeasies, meets the President of the Society for Suppression of Vice...he also met President Coolidge, well-known for his taciturnity, yet he managed to get some interesting thoughts and anecdotes from this great man; there's a visit to the grave of Edgar Allan Poe and a prison in Havana. These snapshots are sometimes witty, sometimes sad but all are written with his journalistic skill, wit and sensitivity.