Episode 28: Agatha Christie goes to war

Agatha Christie is the world’s best selling author and rightly regarded as the queen of crime. But less well known is her medical service in both world wars, and its influence on her writing.

Without WW1, there would be no Poirot. Agatha Christie trained as nurse and served as a red cross volunteer in WW1, encountering many Belgian refugees. She later trained to become a dispenser. In the second world war she served once again.

In this episode we explore that work, and the experiences and people - and poisons - she encountered would prove to be the perfect fuel for her writing career.

Guest

Tina Hodgkinson is a historian and the author of Agatha Christie’s London: A Historical Guide to the Queen of Crime’s Capital. She is employed at The London Archives, the UK’s second largest public archive. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association and a qualified City of London and City of Westminster tour guide.

Cats present

Cecilia

Useful links

Agatha Christie’s London: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/agatha-christie-s-london-a-historical-guide-to-the-queen-of-crime-s-capital-tina-hodgkinson/29844c0f963a617b?ean=9781837050796&bkshp-astro=t

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Host: Gareth Edwards