Letter from America: 1946-2004 [Hardcover]

Cooke's debonaire, transatlantic tones are unmistakable... -- FT Magazine, March 8, 2008 --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

When Alistair Cooke retired in March 2004 and then died a few weeks later, he was acclaimed by many as one of the greatest broadcasters of all time. His Letters from America, which began in 1946 and continued uninterrupted every week until early 2004, kept the world in touch with what was happening in Cooke's wry, liberal and humane style. This selection, made largely by Cooke himself and supplemented by his literary executor, gives us the very best of these legendary broadcasts. It is a remarkable portrait of a continent - and a man.

Many will have felt great sadness at hearing about the death of Alistair Cooke earlier this year. His long broadcasting career spans spanned the greater part of the 20th century and his weekly Letter From America gave generations a marvellous insight into our powerful ally.
BBC Audiobooks is proud to be publishing this box set that includes Alistair Cooke at the BBC, plus three volumes of Letter From America and the tribute programme that Radio 4 broadcast to commemorate Cooke’s eventful life as an English journalist reporting for most of his life from America. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Alistair Cooke was born in Manchester in 1908 and educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, Yale and Harvard Universities. Throughout his long career he worked as a journalist and broadcaster for a number of different organisations including the BBC, The Times and the Guardian, and won numerous awards for his work. He is best known both at home and abroad for the weekly Letters from America, far and away the longest-running radio series in broadcasting history. He died in March 2004, just a few weeks after his retirement.