Charles James Rolo
Personal Information
Description
Charles James Rolo, born to British parents in Alexandria, Egypt, graduated from Oxford University with honors and earned a masters from Columbia University's School of Journalism. In 1940, he worked as a translator and writer at the Princeton Listening Center of the Institute of Advanced Studies. Fluent in French, Italian and German, he monitored short wave propaganda broadcasts during World War II, which provided the basis for his first book, Radio Goes to War, a study of short-wave radio propaganda. After working with the British Information Services, where he headed the section on U.S. press, he served as an aide to Sir Isaiah Berlin, Winston Churchill's wartime envoy to the White House. In 1944, he wrote Wingate's Raiders, recounting the story of Major-General Orde Wingate's forays behind Japanese lines in Burma. He joined the Atlantic Monthly in 1948 as literary editor and critic and remained until 1961, when he joined McDonnell & Co. as a securities analyst. Rolo later became vice president of Halle & Stieglitz, which merged with Thomson & McKinnon. Beginning in 1976, he was a senior editor of Money Magazine. While there, he was the principal writer of the magazine's investment column Money letter: Wall Street. His last book Gaining on the Market was published in 1982. During his career Rolo also edited four anthologies: The World of Aldous Huxley, The World of Evelyn Waugh, Psychiatry in American Life, and The Anatomy of Wall Street. Sources: [UPI Archives]( and [New York Times](
Books
Great World War II Stories
A perfect morning (from The young lions) / Irwin Shaw Lunghua camp (from Empire of the Sun) / J.G. Ballard The journey (from A town like Alice) / Nevil Shute The birth of an idea (from The man who never was) / Ewen Montague The big day (from From here to eternity) / James Jones Abducting the general (from Ill met by midnight) / W. Stanley Moss The landing at Kuralei (from Tales of the South Pacific) / James A. Michener Shall I live for a ghost (from The last enemy) / Richard Hillary Billy Pilgrim (from Slaughterhouse Five) / Kurt Vonnegut Battalion in defense (from Officers and gentlemen) / Evelyn Waugh Anopopei (from The naked and the dead) / Norman Mailer 'Plane land here' (from Wingate's raiders) / Charles J. Rolo Mission asymptote (from The white rabbit) / Bruce Marshall Fraternizing with the enemy? (from Reach for the sky) / Paul Brickhill Shooting party (from Grand party) Graham Brooks H-hour (from The longest day) / Cornelius Ryan Into Germany (from Carve her name with pride) / R.J. Minney Ironbottom Sound (from Ironbottom Sound) / Lindsay Baly The first bid for freedom (from The Colditz story) / P.R. Reed Some were unlucky (from Enemy coast ahead) / Guy Gibson, VC May 1941 (from Nella Last's diary) / Nella Last Major major major major (from Catch 22) / Joseph Heller The battle of the bulge (from The face of war) / Martha Gelhorn The invasion of Papua (from Retreat from Kokoda) / Raymond Paull No trouble at all (from The stories of flying officer X) / H.E. Bates Stalingrad The story of the battle (from Stalingrad point of return) / Ronald Seth The soldier looks for his family / John Prebble The white mouse and the Maquis d'Auvergne (from The white mouse) / Nancy Wake Fear of death / F.J. Salfeld The invaders (from The Moon is down) / John Steinbeck The compass rose (from The cruel sea) / Nicholas Monsarrat The diary of a desert rat (from The diary of a desert rat) / R.L. Crimp The Mannerheim Line (from Of many men) / James Aldridge Midway (from Torpedo Junction) / Robert J. Casey Hiroshima the fire (from Hiroshima) / John Hersey
... Radio goes to war
In his 1942 book, Radio Goes to War, Charles Rolo writes that German radio programs aimed at British audiences "venomously criticized unemployment, slums, disease, and crime in America."