ARMSTRONG, Anthony

   Working name of UK author and journalist George Anthony Armstrong Willis (1897-1976), a regular contributor to the magazine Punch. AA began writing as a novelist with two historical fantasies, Lure of the Past (1920) and The Love of Prince Raameses (1921), which were linked by the common theme of REINCARNATION. The historical framework was again used in his LOST-WORLD adventure Wine of Death (1925), a bloodthirsty novel about a surviving community of Atlanteans. When the Bells Rang (1943), with Bruce Graeme (1900-1982), is a morale-boosting alternate-history tale of a 1940 INVASION of the UK by the Nazis, and of their subsequent defeat (HITLER WINS). AA's short stories are, by comparison, slight, and are generally humorous. Of note are his two early Edgar Rice BURROUGHS parodies, The Visit to Mars and The Battlechief of Mars (1926 Gaiety) which briefly outline the extraordinary exploits of John Waggoner; they have yet to be reprinted. Other works: The Prince Who Hiccupped and Other Tales (coll 1932); The Pack of Pieces (1942; vt The Naughty Princess 1945); The Strange Case of Mr Pelham (1957). See also: ALTERNATE WORLDS; HITLER WINS.