Edward Heron-Allen was a polymath-one of the most remarkable of his era-many would simply say he was a genius. By profession a London solicitor, he was also a very distinguished zoologist (F.R.S.), historian, Persian scholar and translator, author of the classic book on violin making still in print and studied worldwide, cheirosopher and writer of early science-fiction novels. This extraordinary man had a large house in Selsey-where he reported upon the impact of the war, and also on a wide range of friends, acquaintances and organizations, nationally. His beautifully bound manuscript war diaries were recently discovered. They throw vivid light on the Home Front-London and Sussex-and on the Western Front, where the then over-aged polymath insisted upon serving.