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Roald DahlA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Roald Dahl is a complex figure—a product of both privilege and hardship. Born in Wales in 1916 to an affluent family, Dahl’s life was nevertheless punctuated by misfortune. His childhood was marred by the deaths of his sister and father, the traumas of British boarding school, and a car accident that almost severed his nose.
By the time WWII began, Dahl was no stranger to disaster. In 1940, he was considered one of the British Royal Air Force’s “most promising pilots” but was shot down on his first official flight, suffering spine, nose, and eye injuries before “his airplane’s machine guns, stoked by the heat, started shooting at him” (Anderson, Sam. “Big Sometimes Friendly Giant.” New York Magazine, 3 Sept. 2010).
Undeterred, Dahl returned to the war and flew multiple missions as a fighter pilot. During the war, he began to write about his experiences. “Beware of the Dog” emerged from this initial phase of his career, in which Dahl wrote suspenseful short stories, many of them based on his own experiences in combat. The protagonist in “Beware of the Dog” is an RAF fighter pilot who is shot down during battle—something Dahl claimed happened to him as well, though his 1940 crash was caused by an accident, not enemy fire.
By Roald Dahl
Billy and the Minpins
Billy and the Minpins
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
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Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
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Danny, the Champion of the World
Danny, the Champion of the World
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Esio Trot
Esio Trot
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Fantastic Mr Fox
Fantastic Mr Fox
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George's Marvelous Medicine
George's Marvelous Medicine
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Going Solo
Going Solo
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James And The Giant Peach
James And The Giant Peach
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Lamb To The Slaughter
Lamb To The Slaughter
Roald Dahl
Matilda
Matilda
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Skin
Skin
Roald Dahl
The BFG
The BFG
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The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Roald Dahl, Illustr. Quentin Blake
The Landlady
The Landlady
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The Magic Finger
The Magic Finger
Roald Dahl, Illustr. Quentin Blake
The Twits
The Twits
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The Way Up To Heaven
The Way Up To Heaven
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The Witches
The Witches
Roald Dahl