Introduction by - Arther Christiansen - Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Express

I HAVE only one thing against Giles—he will not work in London. Ever since he joined the Express organisation he has firmly and successfully resisted my attempts to persuade him to leave his studios in Ipswich.

I see him only once a month on average. For the rest my business is conducted by telephone. And Giles in turn telephones to say that his cartoon has been despatched by a train that will eventually arrive at Liverpool Street Station.

You will see, therefore, that I have no hand in the creation of a Giles cartoon. Editors are able to guide and assist many of their contributors, and like the Russians have the right to say “No”. But Giles has his own operational methods. He is a law unto himself. I usually say “Yes”.

And, with the growth of experience in nursing this extraordinary man, I am bound to admit that he is right to shun London. For his genius derives from contact with the people. Not the people of Fleet Street who on the whole are an odd and peculiar tribe, but the simple, solid people who live simple, solid lives and are the backbone of Britain.

Giles interprets their moods, their humour, their reaction to great events. He views Whitehall and Westminster as a distant scene and keeps his perspective true by avoiding close contact with the know-alls, the V.I.P.’s and the people who think they are V.I.P.’s.

My colleague John Gordon, editor of the Sunday Express, introduced the Giles cartoon book last year. He then made the comment that if you look at people closely as they pass by in the street you will find they are Giles characters. I must repeat his view and give it my support, because I believe it to be the secret of the man.

Giles does not caricature. He does not fake. He does not invent. He draws real buildings, real pubs, real railway stations, as anyone who knows East Anglia and travels L.N.E.R. will realise.
And he draws from the largest and finest selection of models that any artist could wish— the British people.

I commend Giles to them with confidence and with great respect.

Back       Front