I’ve finally collected the whole set!

James Agate was the theatre critic of the Daily Express (a proper newspaper in those days) and these are the diaries he kept for 15 years until 4 days before his death. Pretentious, bisexual, a spendthrift (who on the verge of bankruptcy would buy another racehorse), notorious for falling asleep during plays he was reviewing, his diaries are a very entertaining snapshot of London theatre life in the 30s and 40s, particularly during the war.