Fact, Fiction, Autobiography or Biography? Quiz

Answer: Fiction

Major James Bigglesworth MC - Biggles to his many friends - first appeared in print as a World War One pilot. Among the planes he flew was the Sopwith Camel.

Biggles was the creation of W. E. John, who had served as a fighter pilot in WW1 - and gave himself the rank of 'Captain'.

The character first featured in short story form in magazines in the 1920s and went on to appear in dozens of books up to the 1960s. His career path developed into aerial explorer, charter pilot, and flying policeman.

The books were lapped up by children - mainly boys, frankly. However, as the decades passed, the stories were seen as non-PC. Biggles was accused of misogyny - there were few women in any of the books - and of stereotyping racial images.

This quiz author still has his collection of Biggles books and refuses to listen to any criticism!

Answer: Autobiography

"The Measure of a Man" was the autobiography of Sydney Poitier.

Poitier was born of Bahaman parents while they were visiting Miami, Florida, in February 1927. He was brought up in the Bahamas, although his place of birth gave him US citizenship.

Aged 15 he returned to Miami, then worked in various jobs and served in the US Army (briefly) in WW2.

His acting career began on Broadway, but by 1949 he was making cinema his chosen artistic genre.

An Academy Award nomination was to follow for "The Defiant Ones" (1958), and he won Best Actor for "Lilies of the Field" in 1963,

The movie referred to in the question was "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?". It was released in 1968 and was the story of a black man entering into a relationship with a white woman.

The storyline was still somewhat shocking in 1968, however the movie, which also starred Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn, earned ten Academy Award nominations.

The movie was directed by Stanley Kramer. His widow, Karen Sharpe-Kramer, later said: "The message Stanley wanted was that it was inhumane that people weren't allowed to get married. He didn't think any one film would change anybody's mind completely. But it could get them to think about it."

She went on to say that in making the movie "we were right at the crest of change."

Answer: Autobiography

The war correspondent was Edward Behr, who was born in Paris to Russian-Jewish parents in 1926. He died there in 2007.

Educated in London, he served with the British Indian Army. In the late 1950s, he became Paris correspondent for "Time-Life" magazine. He went on to work as war correspondent in many trouble spots, including the conflicts in the Congo, Algeria, Lebanon, Angola and Northern Ireland.

His memoirs "Anyone Here Been Raped and Speaks English?" were published in 1978.

The title refers to a habit of western journalists of seeking out victims of conflict in Africa and Asia but being unable to converse with any who could not speak English.

Answer: Fiction

G. F. Newman's novel was based on a four-part series that he wrote for the BBC and which was first broadcast in 1978.

The parts were "A Detective's Tale"; "A Villain's Tale"; "A Brief's Tale" and "A Prisoner's Tale".

The story was based around a London career criminal called Jack Lynn (played on TV by Peter Dean) who was arrested for an armed robbery he had not committed.

He was fitted up by Detective Inspector Fred Pyall (played by Derek Martin) on the basis that if he had not done that robbery, he was guilty of something else anyway.

Answer: Fiction

Written in 1938, "Scoop" was the British novelist Evelyn Waugh's satire on journalism and war reporting.

Although fiction, he based characterisations on real journalists he knew. Waugh had also covered the war in Abyssinia for the "Daily Mail".

It was the tale of a young journalist who contributes nature notes to an English national newspaper, "The Daily Beast". Through a series of misunderstandings, he is sent to east Africa to report on a war.

"Scoop" has been listed as one of the most important British novels of the 20th century.

Answer: Fact

"Unbelievable" was written by Katy Tur and subtitled "My front row seat in the the craziest campaign in American history". The book tells of the campaign for election to the US presidency of Donald Trump.

(We all know by now how it worked out!)

Journalist Katy Tur worked for NBC, and when Donald Trump in 2015 announced his run for the presidency, she began to cover his campaign. Over the following two years she travelled thousands of miles and attended dozens of rallies.

Although often personally insulted, denigrated and called "a liar" by Trump on his campaign hustings, Tur was one of the few journalists who thought he could win.

Answer: Fiction

Number One with a Bullet" was written by Elaine Jesmer in 1974.

The imagery of the title refers to the way that the fastest-rising songs in the pop charts were illustrated with a bullet point beside the title. Number one with a bullet would be straight in to the top of the charts.

The story of how the fictitious 1960s band was treated created an uproar in the music industry and Jesemer's life was threatened.

Some critics have noted that the story bears similarities to the treatment of real life artists by a particular actual company. (Names withheld in ease of the heart rates of FunTrivia's lawyers.)

The book should not be confused with a similarly-named cop movie made in 1987.

Answer: Fiction

Fiction, yes; but heavily based around the very real Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

They were born in New York and Julius joined the Army Signal Corps in 1940. He was recruited as an agent by the Soviet NKVD in 1942.

While in the Army, he provided his handlers with top secret information on radio systems and he also recruited a source within the Manhattan nuclear bomb project. Ethel Rosenberg was said to have known about his activities.

Both were arrested and tried, but pleaded the Fifth Amendment. They were both executed in June 1953.

In 1971, E. L Doctrow published "The Book of Daniel", a novel loosely based on the Rosenberg affair. He named the main characters as Paul and Rochelle Isaacson. The story was told through the eyes of their son, Daniel.

Answer: Fact

Subtitled "A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal", the book was written by David E. Hoffman.

In it he interviewed participants and had access to previously classified CIA documents.

His book tell of the risk that the agent, Adolf Tolkachev, and his handlers faced during their exchanges between 1979 and 1985.

Adolf Tolkachev was compromised by an ex-CIA officer and was executed in 1986.

Answer: Autobiography

"Born on the Fourth of July" was the autobiography of Ron Kovic.

It tells how the New Yorker joined the Marine Corps on leaving high school. He was to serve two tours of duty in Vietnam. On the second tour he was critically injured and left paralysed from the waist down.

In 1974, he wrote his memoirs and went on to become an ant-war activist.

The title was poignantly and accurately chosen as Kovic was born on July 4th (in 1946).

His story entered popular culture when the folksinger Tom Paxton wrote and recorded a song "Born on the Fourth of July" that précised the story:

"I was born on the fourth of July
No one more loyal than I
When my country said so, I was ready to go
And I wish I'd been left there to die..."

In 1989, Oliver Stone produced and directed the movie "Born on the Fourth of July", in which Tom Cruise played Kovic.

Stone and Kovic co-wrote the screenplay, but Stone was to make changes, adding incidents that had not happened, for dramatic effect. The movie won two Oscars.

Answer: Biography

Written by John Kruth and published in 2007, it tells the life story of Townes Van Zandt.

Van Zandt was a Texan who became one of the most influential songwriters of his generation and was revered by his contemporaries.

His life, though, was probably one of what might have been if he had been better promoted by managers, and if he had himself cared more about about chasing fame and fortune.

In an article in 2008, the British newspaper "The Guardian" asked "Was Townes Van Zandt better than Dylan?", an allusion to the remark by Steve Earle, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

"The Guardian" aptly summed up TVZ by describing his life as "high southern gothic made real."

The title of the biography was borrowed from one of Van Zandt's songs.

Answer: Fact

"A Thousand Days" was published by Arthur J Schlesinger, in 1965, just two years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

It delves into the high hopes that came with Kennedy's election and the work he achieved much more than the conspiracy theories and shattered dreams that were left behind.

It is just one of the estimated 40,000 books that have been written about Kennedy.

Answer: Fact

Written by Stephen Hawking, a British physicist, "A Brief History of Time" has been a multi-million seller since it was published in 1988.

Hawking (8th January 1942 - 14th March 2018) aimed his book at people who did not have deep knowledge of astronomy or modern physics.

It largely avoids complex scientific formulae, and some critics have called it "a fun read."

In full the book is entitled "A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes".

Answer: Biography

"Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama", was written by Pulitzer-prize winner David J. Garrow and published in May 2017.

As well as relating the familiar public image of the man who became the 44th President, the book makes more salacious claims of Obama's life and loves.

The "Washington Post" listed it among the top ten books of 2017.

Answer: Fiction

"Absolute Power" came from the pen (or should that be word processor?) of the best-selling author David Baldacci.

It tells of how a burglar witnesses the murder of a woman by Secret Service agents as she tries to fight off the drunken advances of the president and is forced on the run as all the president's men seek to hunt him down and kill him.

The only way to stay alive is to use his knowledge to bring down the president.