A Day Like Today: Memoirs - Hardcover

Humphrys, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007415575 ISBN 13: 9780007415571

Publisher: William Collins, 2019

Synopsis

For more than three decades, millions of Britons have woken to the sound of John Humphrys’ voice.

As presenter of Radio 4’s Today, the nation’s most popular news programme, he is famed for his tough interviewing, his deep misgivings about authority in its many forms and his passionate
commitment to a variety of causes.

A Day Like Today charts John’s journey from the poverty of his post-war childhood in Cardiff, leaving school at fifteen, to the summits of broadcasting. Humphrys was the BBC’s youngest foreign correspondent; he was the first reporter at the catastrophe of Aberfan, an experience that marked him for ever; he was in the White House when Richard Nixon became the first American president to resign; in South Africa during the dying years of apartheid; and in war zones around the globe throughout his career. John was also the first journalist to present the Nine O’Clock News on television.

Humphrys pulls no punches and now, freed from the restrictions of being a BBC journalist, he reflects on the politicians he has interrogated and the controversies he has reported on and been involved in, including the interview that forced the resignation of his own boss, the director general. In typically candid style, he also weighs in on the role the BBC itself has played in our national life – for good and ill – and the broader health of the political system today.

A Day Like Today is both a sharp, shrewd memoir and a backstage account of the great newsworthy moments in recent history – from the voice behind the country’s most authoritative microphone.

About this title

Review:

‘Offers readers the best bits of an extraordinary – and lucky – life that canters through key moments of recent history...Humphrys even offers us glimpses of his human side off-mic’ Sunday Times, Best Books of the Year 2019

‘This is one of the best books ever written about our industry.’ Piers Morgan

‘The bombshell book everyone is talking about’ Daily Mail

The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing style’ Guardian

‘He bears a magnificent grudge ... This is an unparalleled record of contemporary politics at the jaggy end ... Wry, angry, often poignant ... The BBC’s purpose, the unassailable facts, impartiality:these are his lifelong mission.’ Melanie Reid, The Times

‘Humphrys is impassioned and sometimes furious in this vivid account of his life ... He writes from long experience and close observation ... There are some genuine Humphrys milestones included.’ Sunday Times

‘John Humphrys is a radio genius ... the maestro of the show’ David Sexton, Evening Standard

About the Author:

John Humphrys is an award-winning journalist who has presented the Today programme since January 1987 – almost twice as long as any other presenter. In his 50 years at the BBC he was also their youngest television foreign correspondent and  served in Washington during the Watergate years and southern Africa during apartheid and the Rhodesian war. He presented the Nine o’Clock news on BBC1 for six years and has also presented Panorama and On the Ropes on Radio 4. He has chaired Mastermind since 2003. He’s written eight books, including two on the English language and others on the dangers of intensive agriculture and the case for physician assisted suicide.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0007415575
• ISBN 13: 9780007415571
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416