The Author Archive Podcast

Roger Hammond: Lyn and Me. Our life with MS and beyond.

Roger Hammond writes in fearless detail how he was his wife's carer for thirty of their forty seven years of marriage.

Lyn was diagnosed with MS when they were a family of four with two young daughters.

Roger writes about the challenges but he also recounts how they dealt with them and enjoyed a happy and fulfilling marriage.

They never forgot how to enjoy life ...... their holidays were fabulous!

 

 

 

Andrew Lownie - Entitled

Prince Andrew seems to be in trouble yet again.

Andrew Lownie has spent four years researching the lives of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duke and Duchess of York.

The book is full of dramatic details of lives spent sailing very close to the wind but mostly protected by their royal status.

What Andrew Lownie tells me will stop you in your tracks.

 

 

Jilly Cooper : Pandora

Sad to report that Jilly Cooper has died.

She was always great fun to chat to and consistently jolly. Hugely successful but not grand at all!

This conversation was recorded when her novel Pandora was first published. 

Jackie Collins , Joan Collins

Some interviewees I remember as 'troupers'.

At the very top of that tree were the Collins sisters. Joan is now 92.

I remember a televised conversation I had with Joan. Her assistant decreed that the lighting must be subtle but Joan herself insisted on full on straight in the face spots. I had theories why this might be her preference.

Over the years I interviewed Joan and her sister Jackie a few times. It was always 'an event'.

The Collins sisters spoke to me in London at the end of the last century. Jackie was promoting her novel 'Thrill' about the glamorous world of Hollywood, and Joan was encouraging interest in her autobiography 'Second Act'. Both sisters were happy to talk about themselves.

Sadly Jackie died in 2015 .... but Joan marches on!

Ross King, ‘The Bookseller of Florence‘, Adrian Levy on the terrible condition around the jade mines in Myanmar.

Ross King is a superb history storyteller.

He will be talking to me here at the Author Archive soon about his new book 'The Shortest History of Ancient Rome'.

His previous book is tells of a different dimension of Italian history. .'The Bookseller of Florence'   is all about the surprising trade in manuscripts and books in Renaissance Italy.

Adrian Levy tells David about his visit to the Jade mines of Myanmar and the inhuman conditions that he found there.

This visit was 20 years ago and one can only hope that conditions have improved.

James Patterson - Roses are Red

James Patterson is a phenomenon. His skill as a storyteller has made him very wealthy.

David Freeman met him in London to talk about his sixth Alex Ross story 'Roses are Red', when the paperback was first published in the UK.

R.J.B. Bosworth on Mussolini, Gitta Sereny tells of attending a Hitler rally, Donna Leon talks about her Venetian detective and Hugo Vickers talks about Princess Andrew.

Prince Andrew has been in the news. In this episode Hugo Vickers discusses  his biography of Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece mother of the Duke of Edinburgh:

Donna Leon tells the story of her novel “Wilful Behaviour “ set in Venice:

R.J.B. Bosworth recounts his research into the life of Mussolini and Gitta Sereny remembers Germany in the 1930s as told in her book “The German Trauma”

We have seen the power of the political rally to stir followers. Gitta Sereny actually attended a Hitler rally.

With the spectre of authoritarianism on the rise again this is frighteningly relevant.

Lessons from history.

Angus Hanton - Vassal State

This unsettling  book examines the astonishing extent of American ownership of UK business.

In a Trump world this could be even more of a  cause for concern

Whether you are interested in 'taking back control' or how much of our day to day financial transactions happen via the US, you will find this fascinating and possibly horrifying.

Catherine Nixey - Heresy : Jesus Christ and other sons of God

As the American President declares that he has been saved by God to make his country great again, I find it impossible not to wonder about the precise nature of the deity that he professes to believe in. Are Donald and his advisers familiar with the writings that are the basis of his religion? 

This book by Catherine Nixey is terrific - its a revelation and it's now available in paperback format.

Catherine has studied texts written around the same time as the writings we know as the gospels. 

Some of these ancient documents tell the story of the bible characters we are familiar with in a totally different way.

Listen to Catherine talk about her research and you will be surprised ..... probably very surprised!!

Every time I see a politician leaning in a faith direction I want to urge them to read this book!

Spike Milligan

Recently there has been a surge of on line interest in the  anarchic radio comedy The Goon Show.

The genuis behind the comedy was Spike Milligan .

In this episode Spike talks to David Freeman about his life in comedy, The Goons, and the mental health problems that dogged his life after he was blown up by a wartime bomb.