Humphrys' mixture of knee-jerk overpraise for some colleagues and score-settling for others is not always appealing and his arguments can be laboured but an enjoyable, perhaps an important book. Enjoyable for his Welsh childhood, beginnings in journalism and insights in interviewing 8 prime-ministers. Important for incisive views on the BBC's 'group think' which blind-sided it to comprehend that anyone could vote for Brexit. Part curmudgeon, part vital critic of the powerful, Humphrys shows himself an upholder of Orwell's definition of liberty: . . . the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 95 Winter 2020 ) |
