ABSTRACT
Fredrick Tomlin and T. S. Eliot were friends for almost thirty-four years. Eliot was one of the few who not looked to a culturally united Europe but knew personally many of writers and intellectual leaders on the Continent. He had sought to interest some of the more enterprising newspapers, especially as he hoped to be able, if possible, to push on to Abyssinia; but, in the end, he went in independence, as he has undertaken excursions, both terrestrial and mental. What he had in mind all along, however, and possibly Eliot did too, was the eventual production of a book. This was to be not just a travel book but one which should be of use if, as seemed increasingly likely, they should be involved in hostilities with Italy: a circumstance which he nevertheless felt could, with diplomatic skill, be avoided.
