Book description
This is a diary packed with famous names and extraordinary stories. It
is also rich in incidental detail and wonderful observation, providing
both a compelling record of five remarkable decades and a revealing,
often hilarious and sometimes moving account of Gyles Brandreth's
unusual life -- as a child living in London in the 'swinging' sixties,
as a jumper-wearing TV presenter, as an MP and government whip, and as a
royal biographer who has enjoyed unique access to the Queen and her
family. Something Sensational to Read on the Train takes the reader on a
roller-coaster ride from the era of Dixon of Dock Green to the age of
The X Factor, from the end of the farthing to the arrival of the euro,
from the Britain of Harold Macmillan and the Notting Hill race riots to
the world of Barack Obama and Lewis Hamilton. With a cast list that runs
from Richard Nixon and Richard Branson to Gordon Brown and David Cameron
-- and includes princes, presidents and pop stars, as well as three
archbishops and any number of actresses -- this is a book for anyone
interested in contemporary history, politics and entertainment, royalty,
gossip and life itself. Gyles Brandreth is a writer, performer, former
MP and government whip whose career has ranged from hosting Have I Got
News For You to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in
London's West End. Currently a reporter with The One Show on BBC1 and a
regular on Radio 4's Just a Minute, his acclaimed Victorian detective
stories - The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries - are now being published in
nineteen countries around the world.
