1945-1961 — Part I: Fourth marriage, more writing, public profiles and ever growing fame
1945-1961 — Part II: Health declines, Hemingway falls in love and his new novel is mauled by the critics
He or she writes:
Edward Gibbon approached the Duke of Gloucester and presented him with a copy of the newly published second volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Gloucester had received the first with warmth and it only seemed right, thought Gibbon, that he should get part two. In Gibbon’s day these people were your celebrity endorsements.
To Gibbon's dismay, the Duke took the book, smiled brightly, and placing it on the table said, ‘Another damned thick heavy book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble, eh, Mr Gibbon?’
And everyone laughed, but not Edward Gibbon because he'd just thrown five years of his life into bringing that second volume to birth.