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Amazon Review
"The great and the good" is a happy phrase that takes in a general appreciation of some people who are great at one thing and other people whose character is the fascinating thing about them. Few would argue with the assertion that the author of this volume about men and women of great distinction is himself worthy of such categorisation. Alistair Cooke's extraordinarily long journalistic career (including broadcasting his Letter from America to BBC Radio 4 listeners for more than half a century) leaves him needing little introduction, on either side of the Atlantic or, indeed, the English Channel (a correspondent for Le Monde in France described him as "the best journalist in the world").During his life Cooke has encountered many luminaries of the 20th century and this volume comprises 23 brief portraits, taking in, among others, writers, statesmen, generals, scientists, musicians and sportsmen, who have made the strongest impressions on him. His style will be familiar to many; succinct, engaging and deeply perceptive, it is never less than a pleasure to read. The warm respect he feels for his subjects shines throughout all; as he makes clear, he does not adhere to the belief "that the business of literary and historical criticism is the cutting down to size of the famous", and the dignity of his subjects is enshrined in each vignette. The collection though, is not intended merely as a series of eulogies, nor in any sense as a definitive list of the greatest figures of the 20th century. They are, rather, very human renderings, capturing from unexpected angles a group of unconnected yet exceptional characters, as Cooke experienced them, whose stories can teach us much about both human nature and the nature of the past century. --Alisdair Bowles
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