Evelyn Waugh

Lord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of 'The Daily Beast', has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, however, and may in a moment of weakness make another. Acting on a dinner party tip from Mrs. Algernon Stitch, he feels convinced that he has hit on just the chap to cover a promising little war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia.

Epic story of three decades of the life of a young man, Ryder (Irons), who meets the Marchmain family and becomes wrapped up in their lifestyle, but who eventually comes to accept his own fate.