Cleugh, James.

James Cleugh was born in Hampstead in 1891, the son of a Surveyor of Customs. He and his younger brother Eric, later a career diplomat and ambassador to Panama, attended Dulwich College and James then joined the Royal Marines. He was commissioned towards the end of the First World War but afterwards left the service and studied at St Andrew's University, graduating with classical honours. Returning to London Cleugh entered the Civil Service, worked for some time for the Ecclesiastical Commission and had a volume of poetry published in 1924. But he was restless and left his job in order to travel the world, living in Greece, Italy, Egypt and North and Central America.

When he came back to England Cleugh began to pursue a literary career with considerable energy. He became a reader for the Sunday Times and collaborated with Norman Douglas on literary programmes for the BBC and for a while he was a director of the Aquila Press. In the early 1930s Cleugh published more poems and several well-received novels including Ballet for three masks, Inflections 1931 and Rush Hour . He also embarked on a study of Thomas Mann and biographies of Prince Rupert and of Pushkin. Throughout this period Cleugh continued to travel in Europe and spent long periods in Spain.

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