Looking for Trouble: The Life and Times of a Foreign Correspondent [Illustrated] (Paperback)

The Weight of a Mustard Seed by Wendell Steavenson 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £8.99

Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart by Tim Butcher 4.1 out of 5 stars (86)  £5.59

Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom 3.3 out of 5 stars (94)  £4.69

› Explore similar items

Review
"He was the kind of journalist of whom his sub-editing colleagues back in Fleet Street would say enviously, 'He writes like an angel.' Richard did indeed: you can see it in this delightful book."John Simpson "... the best journalistic autobiography since James Cameron's Point of Departure 30 years ago... he provides one of the best concise accounts of Watergate, as well as writing about Vietnam with a rare understanding and sympathy." Anthony Howard, The Sunday Times "Sometimes this book makes one's heart ache for a vanished world, other times one's sides almost split with mirth."Stephen Glover, The Spectator "...marvellous reminiscences of the scrapes, farces and dangers of 40 years filing from the world's danger spots."Michael Binyon, The Times "In my opinion the reporter heads the pack in any newspaper office; and the foreign correspondent, so often called upon suddenly to cover the impossible story, comes just ahead of him. Dick Beeston belongs to that distinguished genre."Lord Deedes, The Daily Telegraph "Richard Beeston was the last of a breed, a foreign correspondent at a time when abroad was as important as home. His gentle memoir combines Scoop-like anecdotes with the authentic feeling of being there." Robert Chesshyre, New Statesman "Journalism is the first raw draft of history". Phil Graham, publisher of the Washington Post Conde Nast Traveller (UK Edition), 1 October 2006 (chosen as one of the reviewer's Travel Books of the Month) 'Another breed nearly extinct in its classic form is the foreign correspondent. They didn't come much better than Richard Beeston...for a history of the recent past as it actually happened...read this excellent book.' - Giles Foden DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Like the best of the foreign correspondents' memoirs, it reads like a cocktail of the hard stuff- political insight, on-the- ground analysis- topped off with fizzy draughts of intercontinental gossip, reckless flights into war zones and run-ins with rebels and despots.' -Jonathan GibbsCONTEMPORARY REVIEWBeeston's experience covered some of the greatest conflicts of the last century, from the Belgian Congo to Vietnam.

Product Description
"Looking for Trouble" is a vivid account of 35 years in journalism by a former foreign correspondent and bureau chief of "The Daily Telegraph". It recounts an extraordinary and eventful period in the years before instant communication and mass TV coverage and provides a riveting first-hand record of history unfurling during many of the world's most dramatic events of the Cold War era. Richard Beeston describes what the restless, nomadic life of a foreign correspondent is like, providing colourful and lively portrayals of daily life in "Fleet Street" and communist Moscow; of his years with a radio station for MI6 in the Middle East; and of his acquaintance with the notorious Soviet agent, Kim Philby. Richard Beeston led a truly extraordinary life, superbly captured in this acclaimed memoir - now published in paperback for the first time.

See all Product Description

First Sentence
It was just after the Suez fiasco and I was back in London from Beirut looking for a job when Frank, a friend from MI6, contacted me. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

Search inside this book:

1 Review 5 star:  (1) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining from A to Zed!, 2 April 2006 By  F. S. L'hoir (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       This review is from: Looking for Trouble: Life and Times of a Foreign Correspondent (Hardcover) I am surprised that Richard Beeston's "Looking For Trouble", published, 1994, in England, and 1997 in the US, is not more widely available (judging by the fact that there are only a few copies listed on the U.S. Amazon Marketplace). Fast paced and more exciting than any novel, "Looking for Trouble," presents a journalist's-eye view of some of the most thrilling (and dangerous) events in the 25 years that followed World War II. From Afghanistan to Zanzibar (but in reverse order), Beeston, a foreign correspondent for London's "Daily Telegraph," witnessed the crumbling of the British Empire, the disintegration of the French Colonial system, and many other pivotal events of which we are still feeling the repercussions. Beeston also chronicles the rise of nationalism in what are still the hot spots of the world (e.g. Lebanon and Iraq), and the reactions to these movements on the part of the major world powers. In other words, in a style that is both entertaining and witty, Beeston's memoir explains how we arrived "here," historically, from "there." Beeston's hazardous adventures begin during the EOKA crisis in Cyprus, where he is broadcasting on a SIS-run radio station; then, as a foreign correspondent, he takes us with him to Jordan (and the perilous beginnings of the reign of the young King Hussein), to Lebanon (where he and his family used to go on picnics with fellow-journalist--and Soviet spy--Kim Philby), to the Congo (where his pre-Telegraph London Newspaper folds in the midst of a bloody revolution, leaving him jobless), to Aden (where he finds himself in the midst of another bloody revolution), and to Baghdad (ditto). Then after a stint in London, where he joins the "Daily Telegraph," he takes us to Yemen (guerilla warfare and gas attacks), East Africa (more revolutions), to Vietnam (no need for explanation), back to Lebanon (civil war), and then on to Washington (Watergate), and to Moscow (where he accidentally meets his old friend Philby at the Bolshoi opera, after which encounter the Beeston family's problems in finding an apartment are suddenly solved), and finally to Afghanistan (where his career as a foreign correspondent almost ends in a Mujehedin ambush during the Soviet-Afghan war). The narrow escape in Afghanistan is only one of Beeston's brushes with death, all of which he relates in an entertaining manner that allows the reader to experience the dangers along with him. The book is appropriately named, for Richard Beeston's journalistic career not only had him looking for trouble, but also finding it! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all customer reviews...		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

Central Asia Overland - September 2008 - Our reading list: A list by Mary Loosemore   Books2: A list by w "w"   Books of my Life: A list by H. Beaton Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

• Books > Business, Finance & Law
• Books > History > World History
• Books > Reference > Library & Information Sciences
• Books > Reference > Writing > Journalism
• Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences

• Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
• I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
• I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.