Brighter French Word-book

When 'Brighter French' was first published in 1927, the author was identified only by his initials 'H-T-R-'. No one knew who 'H-T-R-' was, but he seemed to be someone well-heeled. In his world, 'the real French of everyday life' was 'the spoken language of the dinner-table, the boudoir, the theatre, race-course, promenade-deck, stables, garage, etc.' His full name was Harry Thompson Russell, a multi-talented man who lived an eventful life - the first part of it conventional, the second less so. He was born in Ireland in 1875, brought up in Milford House, County Limerick, and went to school at Cheltenham College in England (where he excelled academically) and then joined the Royal Artillery as a cadet. He was mentioned in Despatches in the second Boer War; authored a number of military manuals, including 'A French-English Military Vocabulary'; won a prestigious prize for a remarkable military essay in 1911, and retired with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel at the end of World War I. He had married Alicia Studdert of Bunratty Castle, County Clare, in 1902, and they had four children. Prior to the war, they lived in South Africa, in Ireland (County Cork), and at Dinard in France. So far, so very conventional; then in 1926, H-T-R- divorced and remarried, to Marion Lee of County Dublin. Cut off from his former comfortable life and needing money to support a new family, a H-T-R- emerged that the Bright Young People might have found easier to understand. He and his new wife worked as private detectives in London for a time. Then 'Brighter French' was published and was a huge hit. Two more books followed, including 'The Brighter French Word-Book' in 1929 and 'Still Brighter French' in 1932, and Harry and his family moved to Montpellier in the south of France. In 1940, the family returned to England as war refugees, with nothing except 'what they stood up in.' In his final years, Harry worked as a head gardener and did translations of books from several languages, including Italian and German. He died in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, in 1953, where his granddaughter still lives. Other grandchildren (by his first marriage) live in County Cork.

• [CHAPTER 1] WEATHER ('Le Temps, La Temperature'): Meteorology; -- [CHAPTER 2] IN TOWN ('A la ville'): Street Signs and Sights; -- [CHAPTER 3] ROUND THE HOUSE ('Autour de la maison'): Outside, The Garden, The Inside, The Household, The Bedroom and Dressing-room, The Nursery, The Bathroom, The Kitchen, The Pantry, Household Utensils, Heating, Locks and Bolts, Household Tools, Mending, etc.; -- [CHAPTER 4] WHEN ONE IS ILL ('Quand on est malade'): The Doctor, The Nursing-home, Symptoms, The Skin and Skin Troubles, The Blood, The Mouth, The Lungs, Bones and Accidents, An Operation, Drugs & Medicines; -- [CHAPTER 5] HAIRDRESSING, MANICURE, CHIROPODY, BEAUTY TREATMENT ('La Coiffure, &c.'); -- [CHAPTER 6] DRESSMAKING AND CLOTHES ('La Couture'): Designing and Cutting, Materials, Colourings, Embroidery & Trimmings, Underwear, Hats, Shoes, A Man's Clothes, etc.; -- [CHAPTER 7] HOTELS ('Les Hotels'); -- [CHAPTER 8] THE THEATRE, THE CINEMA, ETC. ('Le Theatre, Le Cinema, &c.'): The Play and the Company, In the Auditorium, Behind the Scenes, The Music-hall, The Cinema; -- [CHAPTER 9] POSTAL SERVICES ('Les Services postaux'); -- [CHAPTER 10] TELEGRAPH SERVICES ('Les Services telegraphiques'); -- [CHAPTER 11] TELEPHONE SERVICES ('Les Services telephoniques'); -- [CHAPTER 12. RAILWAYS ('Les Chemins de fer'): The Permanent Way and Signalling, The Personnel, The Railway Engine, Driving, Rolling Stock, The Railway Station, Tickets, Seats, Baggage, Time-tables, Accidents, Parcels and Goods; -- [CHAPTER 13] NAUTICAL MATTERS ('La Marine'): Warships and Merchant Vessels, Fitting-out and Launching, The Crew, The Hull, On Deck, Rigging, Fittings, Compass, Lights, The Engine-room, Ships' Boats, Navigation, Sea and Tide Conditions, The Sailing Vessel, Wrecks, Ports & Harbours; -- [CHAPTER 14] MOTORING AND MOTORS ('L'Automobilisme & Les Moteurs'): Licences and Insurance, Road Classifications, The Motor Engine, Ignition, Carburation, The Chassis, Transmission, Body-work, Tyres and Accessories, Tools, Types of Cars, Driving, Things that Happen; -- [CHAPTER 15] FLYING ('L'Aviation'): Aeroplanes, Airships, Ground Organization; -- [CHAPTER 16] IN THE COUNTRY ('A la campagne'); -- [CHAPTER 17] HORSES ('Les Chevaux'): Kinds of Horses, Stables, Horses' Coats, The Parts of the Horse, Paces and Shape, Vices and Faults, Sundries, Sickness and Accidents, Saddlery and Harness; -- [CHAPTER 18] THE TURF ('Le Turf') Meetings, Races, Betting; -- [CHAPTER 19] SPORTS ('Les Sports'): Hunting, Game-shooting, Swimming, Fishing, Lawn Tennis, Golf, Fencing, Boxing, Athletics and Gymnastics, Football - the Association Game, the Rugby Game; -- [CHAPTER 20] ELECTRICITY AND WIRELESS ('L'Electricite & La T.S.F.'): Electrical Machinery, Wireless; -- [CHAPTER 21] CLOCKS AND WATCHES ('Les Horloges, Pendules, & Montres'); -- [CHAPTER 22] PHOTOGRAPHY ('La Photographie'); -- [CHAPTER 23] FIRE-ARMS & TARGET SHOOTING ('Les Armes a feu & Le Tir a la cible'); -- [CHAPTER 24] CRIMES AND MISDEMEANOURS ('Crimes & Delits'); -- [CHAPTER 25] BOOKS AND PAPERS ('Les Livres & Les Papiers'); -- [CHAPTER 26] TRADES, BUSINESSES, CALLINGS ('Commerces, Metiers, &c.'): In Town and in the Country; -- [CHAPTER 27] WAGES AND SALARIES ('Gages & Salaires'); -- [CHAPTER 28] FINANCE AND BUSINESS ('Les Affaires & Les Finances &c.'): State Finance, Taxation, Money Market and Stock Exchange, Bonds & Debentures, A Company, Company Shares, A Shareholders' Meeting, The Balance-sheet, The Profit and Loss Account, Dividends, Industry, Accountancy, Documents, Deeds, Vouchers, Real Estate.

'The Word-Book is just as remarkable but in this case, it is remarkable for the amazing detail that is presented. Again, the Motoring section would have come in very handy many years ago when I broke down in France and the mechanic did his best to explain that a 'rotule' had broken and I also had problems with an 'amortisseur.' It's not often you come across 'la cremaillere' (steering rack) either though, again, it would have helped me in Morocco after an encounter with a large stone. H-T-R-'s Foreword stresses that the Word-Book meets the need for 'the real things we see, do, read about, and talk about in the everyday life of this strenuous, practical and mechanised age' (p.vii). Planes, boats and trains are all there, as are the post and telephone. Television and computers make no appearance, of course, but just about everything else is present in this handy paperback.'[ - Elsevier SYSTEM MAGAZINE (2010), Robert Vanderplank, Director, Language Centre, University of Oxford]. -- 'It is a book unique of its kind, and if anybody who has occasion ever to speak French is content to do without it, then he is either a perfect French scholar - or else very conceited!'[ - TRUTH MAGAZINE (1929)].