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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rollicking good read, 31 Aug 2004
This book is a rollicking good read. It is also immensely informative. Max Hastings was editor of the Daily Telegraph for almost 10 years and his memoirs show just how a national newspaper gets it together each day (the words "seat" and "pants" spring to mind). He also provides a fresh perspective on events that shook the UK and the world in the late 1980s and 1990s: the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and of apartheid in South Africa, German reunification, Mrs Thatcher's demise and much else.Of course, we take the results of these events for granted now. But, Max Hastings shows how much they were resisted in certain quarters at the time. Perhaps the most endearing quality of the book is Hastings' ability to laugh at himself. One obvious example of this is an unflattering photograph of the great editor "leering unbecomingly" at the Princess of Wales. There are many others. Hastings' pen portraits of colleagues and foes are equally irresistible. Frequently, there are no lengthy descriptions and he lets the subjects' words speak for themselves. Niall Ferguson, when asked by Hastings at an interview what he imagined he would be doing five years hence, responds: "I want to be the A. J. P. Taylor de nos jours". Conrad Black, when visiting Hastings after the latter's departure from the Daily Telegraph, pronounces: "Nice house you've got here, Max - but it would have been twice the size if you'd stayed with us!" There are also some piquant observations on the leading politicians of the day, including Mrs T, John Major and Tony Blair. This is a book which manages to be gossipy without being malicious and hugely entertaining without being light-weight. Highly recommended.
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by Sir Max Hastings
by Max Hastings Sir
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