Bill Hopkins Popular Books

Bill Hopkins Biography & Facts

Bill Hopkins (5 May 1928 – 6 May 2011) was a Welsh novelist and journalist who has been grouped with the angry young men. His father was Ted Hopkins, a popular stage performer; his mother was Violet Brodrick. Hopkins's one published novel is a philosophical thriller, The Divine and the Decay (London, MacGibbon and Kee, 1957), also published as The Leap! In this story, the fate of Britain hangs in the balance. Political parties are jockeying for power. A recently formed political party, the New Britain Party, is led by a visionary firebrand, Peter Plowart, who has planned the assassination of his arch-rival, the leader of his own political party. As Plowart anticipates the assassination, he realises that he must establish an alibi to show that he was somewhere else when it comes to pass. After examining the statistical tables of a meticulously researched government census, he decides to make a journey to a little island off the coast of Britain (modelled on one of the smaller Channel Islands) and give a speech to the citizens there. If everything is timed properly, he can rely on the inhabitants vouching for his presence among them when the assassination takes place. His encounter with the islanders, however, leads him to question and test his "will power". The novel received a negative response in various quarters. For example, Graham Hough of Encounter called it "an adolescent power-fantasy, extremely shoddily written" and expressed surprise that "even the naivest masturbations of the most unhappy young man should be able to take this openly Fascist form." The publisher voluntarily recalled all known copies of the work and had them destroyed, in response to such allegations that it contained fascistic themes. Surviving copies from the publisher's initial print run are rare and can command prices in three figures. The novel was reprinted in 1984 under the title The Leap!, with an introduction by Colin Wilson and a new preface by Hopkins. Hopkins was also the author of "Ways Without Precedent", an essay included in Declaration, edited by Tom Maschler (London, MacGibbon & Kee, 1957), an anthology of non-fiction pieces by writers identified as Angry Young Men and Women. In "Aiming for a Likeness", his contribution to Colin Wilson: A Celebration (1988), he recalls how he arranged a meeting between Wilson and the portrait and fresco painter Pietro Annigoni.In the mid-1980s, Hopkins edited and published The Monitor (originally titled The Arab Monitor), employing artist Cliff G. Hanley to design the covers. This was a news magazine focused on the Middle East. Hopkins has been grouped with the authors Colin Wilson and Stuart Holroyd, with whom he shared a house in London in the late 1950s.He was survived by his German-born wife, Carla Hopkins, who owns the antiques store they ran together for many years, and one of his sisters, Mary Angela Thomas, living in San Francisco, California, plus a nephew and niece. References External links Interview with Bill Hopkins on YouTube by Stewart Home. Photographs of Bill Hopkins by Ida Kar at the National Portrait Gallery site.. Discover the Bill Hopkins popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Bill Hopkins books.

Best Seller Bill Hopkins Books of 2024

  • Biography of a Phantom synopsis, comments

    Biography of a Phantom

    Robert Mack McCormick & John W. Troutman

    The drama of In Cold Blood meets the stylings of a Coen brothers film in this longlost manuscript from musicologist Robert “Mack” McCormick, whose research on blues icon Robert Joh...

  • Bloody Earth synopsis, comments

    Bloody Earth

    Bill Hopkins

    After he witnesses the prosecutor tumble to his death on the steps of the courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Judge Rosswell Carew immediately suspects his archenemy Nathaniel ...

  • The Book of Forbidden Knowledge synopsis, comments

    The Book of Forbidden Knowledge

    Johnson Smith

    This book is a collection of information on magical rituals and beliefs and tons of practical advice on how to use chips of magic in everyday lives. There, you can find advice on h...

  • Unfinished Grave synopsis, comments

    Unfinished Grave

    Bill Hopkins

    In the unlikely event that you're standing under a balcony and a corpse falls on you, it's probably better that it not be someone you have a grudge against. Judge Rosswell Carew's ...

  • Harvest Death synopsis, comments

    Harvest Death

    Bill Hopkins

    When Judge Rosswell Carew and his faithful research assistant Ollie Groton discover a secret treasure trove with a mysterious message, they follow its clues to a bluff high above t...

  • How to Lead synopsis, comments

    How to Lead

    David M. Rubenstein

    The New York Times Bestseller #1 Wall Street Journal BestsellerThe essential leadership playbook. Learn the principles and guiding philosophies of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Ruth Bade...

  • Courting Murder synopsis, comments

    Courting Murder

    Bill Hopkins

    When Judge Rosswell Carew makes the gruesome discovery of two corpses on a river bank in the Missouri Ozarks, he's plunged into a storm of deadly secrets that threaten both him and...

  • Welsh Winter Draws On synopsis, comments

    Welsh Winter Draws On

    Bill Hopkins

    A short story featuring a young Welsh boy who attends the funeral of his Grandmother. After the funeral, his Grandfatther returns with his daughter and her family to stay on their ...

  • Dishonest Corpse synopsis, comments

    Dishonest Corpse

    Bill Hopkins

    Disgraced and “benched” Judge Rosswell Carew gasps in horror early one morning when he watches the report of a girl murdered under the Mississippi River bridge on the waterfront, a...