Scott-King's Modern Europe.

A satire on post-1945 totalitarianism, Scott-King's Modern Europe sets out in particular Waugh's attitudes towards communism in the Balkans and is plainly also an attack on the drabness of the continent following the Second World War. Waugh gathered most of his material for the story from a trip he made to Franco's Spain in the summer of 1946 with Douglas Woodruff, editor of The Tablet, to attend events marking the 400th anniversary of the death of Francisco de Vitoria, claimed by some as the father of international law. He changed many details, including the country's name, as Spain's reactionary government was one he favored more than he did most governments.