Disappointment

[stoutfellow]

I generally like Tim Powers' writing; his "secret history" kind of work appeals to me a lot. (I'll admit I haven't been as pleased with his work since "Last Call", or even since "The Stress of Her Regard", but it's still usually fairly good.) He's usually pretty good about not making demonstrably false historical statements. But....

I'm reading "Declare", for only the second time, and just tripped over something. A meeting is taking place at Number 10 Downing Street in 1963; PM Macmillan is among those present. He is quoted as saying, "if our Conservative government falls, and the Liberals do step into power in Whitehall..." Um, what? The Liberals ceased to be a significant force in British politics around 1922; it was Labour, under Harold Wilson, that was waiting in the wings in 1963.

I am disappointed. A few weeks ago, while rereading "Last Call", I noticed a turn of language that seemed anachronistic, but a query on the American Dialect Society mailing list turned up evidence that it could have been in use at that time and place. This is the first definite error I've caught him on. :sigh:

Comments

[jsburbidge]

From Declare, referring to the 1920s: "On Easter, Andrew and his mother would attend midnight Easter Vigil Mass at Stow-on-the-Wold..."

In the 1920s, universally, the Vigil was held at 11:00 AM on Holy Saturday morning, allowing the Triduum fast to end at 12:00 noon.