Capture Something Sensational To Read In The Train: The Diary Of A Lifetime Conceived By Gyles Brandreth Conveyed As Electronic Format

don't generally read biographies or as in this case published diaries, but I made an exception here.
This book doesn't set out to be funny it contains plenty of humour, but that is largely incidental as beyond the process of selecting which diary entries to include, the content is determined by Mr Brandreth's GB's life experience.
That said, we all view the world through our own eyes and each see our own version of it.
GB's perspective does season his diaries with a certin abount of comedy but I wasn't left feeling I'd read a funny book.


I did find certain things fascinating reading about GB's childhood, and being able to 'watch' the development from childhood to adulthood was an interesting psychological exercise I was also intrigued to read about the circumstances and chain of events through which he became the person we see today.
I didn't particularly enjoy the section on his political career, but I suspect that was as much because I didn't feel he enjoyed it either as because I'm not very interested in the subject matter.


These diaries are candid and apparently honest without being unnecessarily sensationalist, They do provide some fascinating insights into some of the more 'significant' people and events of the last half century.
They are as one might expect well written, and perfectly judged, They are also poignant, and whether or not you like him leave you feeling you know the realMr Brandreth a great deal better.
I think it's the first time I've read the biography of a personality who is still alive.
I've very much enjoyed all the gossip and ambition that shines through these diaries, My review is at my website, so please click on the link and take a look!

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Thank you! I've got this book by a sheer accident but it was really lucky strike this book is so funny.

I've never heard about this author before and I've learn that he was a very popular television personality and so much more.
I would say extraordinary life, .
The book has been written in a form of a diary since it's authors early childhood.

It's hilarious at some points and highly recommended, Everytime I picked up this book I smiled, which during lockdown has been just the tonic! I enjoyed his anecdotes and what he thought of famous people, some were a bit harsh but probably fair! I'm still not sure what to make of him but I like him more after reading this! 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 jumperwearing 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 rollercoaster 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, 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.
It's a really good dipper in dip out book which I've kept handy forormonths reading a page here, a page there.
Self indulgent totally, but with great humour sums up a hard working man living a rich and pampered life style with right Political views which sums up a Class within Britain who not only have no clue how the other half live, they don't care.
Lengthy record of a varied life

From the inescapable smugness of the pushy young Brandreth to the moving eulogy for his best friend, Simon Cowell this is am honest and amusing record of a kind but gullible man.
With a soft spot for blatant crooks like Jeffrey Archer described in his full pompous horror to the dismal corrupt Hamiltons, Gyles gives an insight into the bizarre worlds of showbiz and politics.
The last give pages are so honed and moving that they compensate for Gyles sad wish to be liked by some obvious tossers.
A fun read.
Gyles has met everyone and done most things and worn the pullover!
These diaries cover from his early life, school, University, TV, MP and beyond.

All life is here and he has a lovely way with gossip,

Thoroughly enjoyable escapism as the title suggests, An epic read that I enjoyed a great deal, Brandreth has kept a diary since he was a child and this book is an extensive selection detailing a life actively lived.
From his early days at prep school, to the strange and rather predatory teacher he became the favourite of, through university, courtship, journalistic and television careers, his growing role as a speaker and organiser of charities and causes, through to his political career and beyond he's met everyone, done everything and shares it all with an exemplary enthusiasm and openness to life.
I've never been a diarist, but Gyles Brandreth certainly is, Thepages here apparently represented only aboutof his diaries at the time of publication, I'm not sure how he found time to do all the things he writes about, to be honest!

Containing entries across the period, we see Gyles as a boarding school boy, college student, aspiring actor, writer, entrepreneur and politician.
We don't see much of him as a husband or father his wife and children get mentioned,

of course, but he made a decision to keep such material at a minimum within the work.


As someone who is aboutyears younger than Brandreth, I found this fascinating reading, Not always for Brandreth himself, but for the view it gave of English society, First in the generation just prior to my birth, and then over the years of my childhood.
It's very clearly just one view of those years and the view of a socially privileged white man, at that but it brought home just how much has changed since, and just how tumultuous the earlys were for the UK.


I'm not sure I would recommend just reading this cover to cover, but it is definitely an interesting personal history of last forty years of theth century, and I enjoyed having it as a secondary read, dipping into it for a few pages a night while focusing most of my attention on other books.
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