.com
Estd. 2020
Approved by the Shaw Family
1965
Can religion and politics mix? How can they not, if you believe that politics is morality put into practice? Certainly the once notorious "Red Vicar of Thaxted," Conrad Noel, believed this when he hoisted the red flag of the workers in his church in the 1920s. And, as a parson in the established Church of England, sometimes referred to as "the Tory party at prayer," Noel's call to arms was all the more shocking.
Robert Shaw's novel The Flag, based on the Noel affair, made an indelible impression when it was published in 1965.
Obstensibly a comedy, this sharply observed novel deals with the effects of a religious (social) reformer on a small English town. John Calvin, an eccentric vicar in the best British tradition, brings his family to his new parish. The parish, family, local characters, et al, are described with a kind of non-sequitur, lunatic charm which is perhaps an exclusively English virtue.
However the period is 1925 when Communism and Fascism are both in their innocent infancy; and Calvin, an ex-miner, can in all good faith put up a Red Flag proclaiming a Christian brotherhood of man, and can argue that Christ, too, condemned the capitalists of his days. His serious religious intent is supported by an odd collection of tramps, ""religiouses,"" rich women, an aging General, a pregnant waif and some Boy Scouts.
The comic fable ends on a note of ambiguous, triumphant tragedy.
"The writing is so outstandingly good it rises to the level of poetry."
- The Spectator
"Shaw writes at all times with originality and emotional truthfulness." - The Times Literary Supplement
"Mr. Shaw has earned the right to be trusted." - Punch