Political and literary history was made when W. F. Deeds met Evelyn Waugh in 1935. Both were in Abyssinia to cover a war which many in England regarded with bewildered indifference but which profoundly influenced an impending global conflict. While Deeds was primarily concerned with filing copy to London, Evelyn Waugh was busy writing a novel called Scoop. As Waugh drank, played poker, and observed the characters that filled the bars of Addis Ababa, he became close friends with Deeds, although Deeds has always denied his association with Scoop's "Boot," as depicted in the novel. This is an interesting portrait of Waugh during wartime as told by a close friend.