So Disdained
| Industry | Publishing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1928 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
So Disdained represents the second novel authored by British writer Nevil Shute (also known as N.S. Norway). Initially released in 1928 by Cassell & Co., it was reissued in 1951 through William Heinemann and later issued in paperback format by Pan Books in 1966. In the United States, the book was published under the alternative title The Mysterious Aviator by Houghton Mifflin in the same year.
Political and diplomatic background
During the period when this novel was composed, Germany remained demilitarized pursuant to the Versailles Treaty, while Hitler was still a relatively minor figure within the political landscape of the Weimar Republic. The dominant political and military concern at that time centered on the Soviet Union, which was emerging from the aftermath of the October Revolution.
The story envisions an early form of the Cold War between Britain and the Soviet Union, incorporating themes that would later become prevalent in mid-20th-century espionage fiction: intensifying arms competition, clandestine weapons research, intelligence operations and counterintelligence, political destabilization efforts, alongside alliances with authoritarian right-wing regimes opposing Communism—anticipating geopolitical dynamics that would unfold decades later.
Composed shortly after the events of the 1926 General Strike, the narrative conveys contemporary anxieties about Socialist insurrection, a theme integral to Shute’s ideological perspective.
Title
The novel begins with a citation from Sir Walter Raleigh:
Plot summary
Peter Moran serves as an agent for Lord Arner, overseeing the fictional Under Hall estate located in West Sussex. He encounters Maurice Lenden, a former Royal Flying Corps pilot who has become a mercenary for the Soviets. Lenden, under the mistaken belief that he is divorced and financially destitute, has turned traitor by undertaking espionage flights over Portsmouth Harbour.
Following an emergency landing on Moran’s estate, Moran offers Lenden refuge despite lacking any Communist leanings. He conceals Lenden’s aircraft and deceives an investigator from the Royal Air Force, yet secretly ensures that Lenden’s photographic plates are compromised to prevent their exploitation by Soviet forces.
Subsequently, two Communist operatives abscond with these plates to a villa in Italy. Reclaiming his sense of patriotism and reuniting with his wife, Lenden pursues them. Moran attempts to intercept near Italy’s border by piloting the aircraft but sustains injuries upon landing. He then convinces local Fascists to launch an assault on the Communist stronghold; however, most agents escape, and Lenden suffers fatal wounds while recovering the plates. Before passing away, he destroys them—unaware that Moran had already revealed their contents.
Philip Stenning, who narrates Marazan, appears as Moran’s associate here as well, depicted again as a morally complex 'rough diamond'.
Portrayal of Italian Fascists
Similar to Marazan, Shute’s work conveys admiration for the Italian Fascist movement. After crashing in Italy, Moran opts to collaborate with the Fascisti against Bolshevik forces, regarding them as Italy’s principal anti-Communist faction.
Moran encounters Captain Fazzini, an imposing Fascist commander who coordinates a raid on the Communist base. The Fascist militia is depicted as disciplined young men clad in black shirts paired with field-green breeches, equipped with truncheons but generally hesitant to employ violence against captives.
Interrogations rely primarily on verbal questioning and prove ineffective; it is Philip Stenning who resorts to physical coercion by breaking a prisoner’s arm to extract information. Fazzini attempts to restrain Stenning, indicating that such brutality is not customary for him.
By the time of the 1951 reissue, British perceptions of Fascists had altered considerably. Nevertheless, Shute’s foreword remarks on minimal textual revisions, implying that he maintained his original positive portrayal of Fascists despite changing public attitudes.
Author's note, excerpt from the 1951 edition
In his autobiography Slide Rule (page 78), Shute provides comparable insights regarding the revision of So Disdained.