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, Lord Copper feels convinced that he has hit on just the chap to cover a promising war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia. So begins Scoop, Waugh's...

Having moved to Ethiopia to avoid the prejudices of 1930s America, Emilia Menotti, her black adoptive brother Teo, and their mother Rhoda, a stunt pilot, are devoted to their new country even after war with Italy looms, drawing the teens into the conflict.

The Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) on October 3, 1935, marked the first of the great Fascist military adventures and began the most ambitious phase of Mussolini's attempt to create an Italian "Empire". It took Marshal Badoglio just seven months to conclude the campaign and drive out Emporer Haile Selassie.