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Review
‘He’s much more than a newsreader. He understands what’s happening and he provides intellectual underpinning. We know what he stands for and relate to it…and trust him as a man.’ Observer
‘A compelling read, weaving boys’ own adventures with impassioned, often angry commentary.’ Mail on Sunday
‘Snow is the closest thing we have to a modern-day George Orwell…A vivid, accurate, hones guide to the key world events from 1975.’ Independent
‘Pacy, candid and anecdote-laden, Snow’s account of a childhood spent in awe of his father is a delight.’ Daily Mail
Review
'He's much more than a newsreader. He understands what's happening and he provides intellectual underpinning. We know what he stands for and relate to it!and trust him as a man.' Observer 'A compelling read, weaving boys' own adventures with impassioned, often angry commentary.' Mail on Sunday 'Snow is the closest thing we have to a modern-day George Orwell!A vivid, accurate, hones guide to the key world events from 1975.' Independent 'Pacy, candid and anecdote-laden, Snow's account of a childhood spent in awe of his father is a delight.' Daily Mail
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those who think Snow degenrates into name-dropping, it must be kept in mind that good journalists are not circus perfomers - they will inevitably hit the news room, and shift in their opinions. The quality of news in Britain is disturbing at best, and having read several autobiographies of leading journalists it is refreshing to see Snow as the anti-establishment figure in the field, as well as the studio.
I enjoyed this almost as much as the Campbell interview on C4 News. The idea of a "new world disorder" might not be fully fleshed out, but this is compulsive reading nevertheless.
I enjoyed this almost as much as the Campbell interview on C4 News. The idea of a "new world disorder" might not be fully fleshed out, but this is compulsive reading nevertheless.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a terrific memoir: it is hard to classify, though: he mixes an account of his professional life with his views on world events, while the first part is essentially an autobiography of his life up to the age of 21. Here, his account of being brought up by an authoritarian pillar of the establishment and failing to please him is an excellent evocation of being a child in England in the early Sixties.
Yet the real heart of the book is Snow's years as a foreign correspondent for ITN. He tells his tales with flair, passion and insight.
Thus, on one page, you are wondering about Britain's failure to accept its responsibilities to Uganda in the 1970s; on the next, you are wondering about the fall-out from a whirlwind relationship he falls into, while covering events there: it's a beautifully written little vignette. For me, this made it a wonderfully entertaining read, though I imagine it would be frustrating for some.
That it is self-consciously subjective means that he can afford to be opinionated as he can't on Channel Four News. A good example of where this works well is in his chapters on America. As he covers the wars in Central America in which the States played an ugly hand in the 1970s, you sense his anger. Thus, it is all the more compelling when he becomes Washington correspondent in the 80s and is instantly seduced by America's can-do culture and sympathy for freedom of information and values he holds dear.
It's inevitably less interesting once his career takes him behind the News desk in the 1990s, but he still has a coherent and interesting take on world affairs which is worth reading.
Ironically, given his antipathy to the BBC, Snow has achieved the Reithian triumvirate: he informs, he educates and he entertains.
This would make a great Christmas or birthday present for anyone with a reasonable interest in world politics but wouldn't enjoy having to wade through a dry history. I am already planning it to give it to several friends.
Yet the real heart of the book is Snow's years as a foreign correspondent for ITN. He tells his tales with flair, passion and insight.
Thus, on one page, you are wondering about Britain's failure to accept its responsibilities to Uganda in the 1970s; on the next, you are wondering about the fall-out from a whirlwind relationship he falls into, while covering events there: it's a beautifully written little vignette. For me, this made it a wonderfully entertaining read, though I imagine it would be frustrating for some.
That it is self-consciously subjective means that he can afford to be opinionated as he can't on Channel Four News. A good example of where this works well is in his chapters on America. As he covers the wars in Central America in which the States played an ugly hand in the 1970s, you sense his anger. Thus, it is all the more compelling when he becomes Washington correspondent in the 80s and is instantly seduced by America's can-do culture and sympathy for freedom of information and values he holds dear.
It's inevitably less interesting once his career takes him behind the News desk in the 1990s, but he still has a coherent and interesting take on world affairs which is worth reading.
Ironically, given his antipathy to the BBC, Snow has achieved the Reithian triumvirate: he informs, he educates and he entertains.
This would make a great Christmas or birthday present for anyone with a reasonable interest in world politics but wouldn't enjoy having to wade through a dry history. I am already planning it to give it to several friends.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For me the main reason to watch Channel 4 news is Jon Snow: He's intelligent, passionate and very witty and he tries valiantly to extract some meaning from the usual blah blah of our beloved politicians (mostly even he doesn't succeed, but at least he shows them up as the useless twats they generally are).
His book is a mixture of biography, travelogue, recent history and political manifest. Jon was present at most of the crucial events of the last 25 years and his recollections are absolutely fascinating and in the book he can be less neutral than on the news. Highly recommended!
His book is a mixture of biography, travelogue, recent history and political manifest. Jon was present at most of the crucial events of the last 25 years and his recollections are absolutely fascinating and in the book he can be less neutral than on the news. Highly recommended!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Eyewitness to history
As an onlooker to many major world events of the last half-century, Jon Snow is well qualified to write this account. Read more
Published 5 months ago by History Geek
A Fantastic Read!
Wonderfully insightful, genuinely engaging and at times, entertaining...And that's just the author!
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Published on 10 Feb 2010 by Karen
Shooting History: A personal journey
A well written book about a character that one sees everyday and knows very little about. Details his more than colourful up bringing and early career. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2008 by Farmer Ted
Scandal: A respectable man in British journalism. Film at eleven!
I received this book as a present as my other half knows I enjoy Channel 4 news (pinko commie that I am). Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2007 by Dr. P. J. A. Wicks
Better On The Road Rather Than In The Studio
I agree with some of the other reviewers: The book starts well & gives some interesting 'right on' views on world (especially Africa) events but somehow once the field based... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2006 by Tastydogs
A good read, but flawed.
As a fan of Mr Snow and Channel 4 News, this was an essential purchase.
The tale of his early life, student activism, work with drug addicts in Soho and time with the VSO in... Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2006 by wandojames
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