well written, gets you involved, doesn't spend ages on the politics
Disadvantages:
You don't want it to finish and you may want to be him !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I picked up this book, which belongs to my flat mate (Thanks Blonde!), purely because I had nothing else to read on the train on the way to work. I am now reading it for the 4th time and I am totally hooked on it.
John Simpson was born in 1944; he has worked for the BBC since 1966 working in positions that range from foreign correspondent to Political Editor. He is also one of only two people to have twice been the Royal Televisions Society Journalist of the Year, first in 1991 for his coverage of the Gulf War from Baghdad and again in 2000 for his reporting from Belgrade during the NATO bombing campaign. He has also won 3 BAFTAs, including the Richard Dimbleby award in 1991 and the News and Currant Affairs award in 2000 for his coverage, with the BBC news team, of the Kosovo conflict.
So there is the official blurb that come with him but I must confess that before reading the book I knew his as 'that guy on telly' who always seems to be in places where he is at high risk of being shot!!
After reading it however he strikes me as being a man who has met hundreds of very interesting people and has seen places that I can only dream of going in daydreams or nightmares.
It is not all terrible war stories though, there are parts that will have you laughing out loud such as the interview he did with Colonel Gadhafi in 1998 which the Colonel himself was constantly breaking wind, him and his team crawling past a customs desk on their hands and knees due to lack of passports and him being punched by Kurt Waldheim and Harold Wilson!
But inevitably it does have some tales in it that will make you sit and think about how lucky we are to have what we have and the freedoms we take for granted.
He also covers in one particular chapter (entitled ‘Icons’) in which he talks about the icons he has met and his experiences with them; the list includes Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela and many others that you may be as surprised as I was on how ordinary they are. Even an example of John Simpson standing and talking to Princess Diana and the Duchess of York – apparently the Queen walk past and muttered something to Fergie to which he got to witness Fergie poking her tongue out at the Queens back as she walked away!!
This book is a must read for anyone – I have to admit I am very slack when it comes to current affairs and history but this book isn’t about the wars its about the people he met and the places he has been.
The other details:
ISBN number: 0-330-35567-8
Book price £7.99 but is on Amazon for £6.39 new and cheaper for used copies.
It has been published by Pan Macmilliam books, URL http://www.panmacmillian.com
Photos – which are also stunning - are the original footage of Nigel Bateson BBC
Read it and you will be pleased you took the time to do it
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correspondents, John Simpson has been at the epicentre of many of the world's flashpoints for more than 30 years. Afghanistan, Belgrade, Hong Kong, Baghdad; you name it, h...
correspondents, John Simpson has been at the epicentre of many of the world's flashpoints for more than 30 years. Afghanistan, Belgrade, Hong Kong, Baghdad; you name it, h...
