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Sean Magee - Desert Island Discs (70 Years of Castaways) (2nd Hand Hardback)

SKU B002900
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Synopsis

From one of BBC Radio 4's best-loved programmes.

With foreword by Kirsty Young.

For 70 years now Desert Island Discs has managed that rare feat - to be both enduring and relevant. By casting away the biggest names of the day in science, business, politics, showbiz, sport, and the arts, it presents a cross-sectional snapshot of the times in which we live. As the decades have passed, the programme has kept pace; never frozen in time yet always, somehow, comfortingly the same.

BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs celebrated its 70 birthday in 2012. Since the programme’s deviser, Roy Plomley, interviewed comedian Vic Oliver in January 1942, nearly 3,000 distinguished people from all walks of life have been stranded on the mythical island, accompanied by only eight records, one book, and a luxury. Here the story of one of BBC Radio 4’s favourite programmes is chronicled through a special selection of castaways.

Roy Plomley, inventor of the programme as well as its presenter for over 40 years, quizzes the young Cliff Richard about "these rather frenzied movements" the 1960s pop sensation makes on the stage. Robert Maxwell tells Plomley’s successor, Michael Parkinson, that "I will have left the world a slightly better place by having lived in it." Diana Mosley assures Sue Lawley that Adolf Hitler was "extraordinarily fascinating" and had mesmeric blue eyes. And Johnny Vegas tugs Kirsty Young’s heart-strings with his account of a childhood so impoverished that family pets were fair game: "My dad had always claimed that rabbits were livestock, but we’d never eaten one before."

Desert Island Discs is much more than a radio programme. It is a unique and enduringly popular take on our lives and times - and this book tells in rich detail the colourful and absorbing story of an extraordinary institution.

Details
  • Format : Thick, Glossy 2nd Hand Hardback with Dust Jacket
  • Condition : As New
  • Category : Non-Fiction - Music, Stage Screen & TV
  • Published : 2012 (Transworld Books / Bantam / BBC - 1st Edition, 1st Printing)
  • ISBN : 9780593070062
  • SKU : B002900
  • PPC : SP1400gm
  • RRP : £25.00 (Unclipped)
  • Quantity Available : 1 only.

Full Colour & Glossy.

External Reviews

"Magee divides the book into decades with an interesting precis of events and history occurring during each one plus other personalities unable to be accommodated in his interview choice. A listing of all interviewees is at the end of the book. He also provides a summary of the individuals before the interviews that follow . . . Many hours of material are here to explore and discover within the pages of this handsomely produced and presented book. Fuller interviews would have been appreciated with less editorial comment but overall this is packed with enjoyable reading and colourful illustrations." - Google Review.

"Loved reading this over time and getting an interesting insight into people across so many different areas of life from politicians to scientists, poets to musicians, historians to actors. Choosing memorable Ines from each decade added to the enjoyment. Tragic to think that many have been lost for ever given the policy of over writing the early recordings, seems sacrilege in these days of ubiquitous cheap storage. Great book for the small room . . ." - Goodreads Review.

The Editor

Sean Magee is a prolific author & editor based in the UK.

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