Whicker’s War and Journey of a Lifetime

Whicker’s War and Journey of a Lifetime in one ebook for the first time.

Alan Whicker joined the Army Film and Photo Unit as an 18-year-old army officer, following the Allied advance through Italy, from Sicily to Venice. He filmed the troops on the front line, met Montgomery, and other military luminaries, filmed the battered body of Mussolini after his execution and accepted the surrender of the SS in Milan. This is remarkable account of the Italian campaign of 1943 and 1944 as he retraces of his steps over sixty years later. Beautifully written, poignant with humour and pathos, Whicker’s War is a masterful book by one of the 20th centuries greatest TV journalists.

Journey of a Lifetime is the end product of a very personal journey. Whicker retraces his steps, catching up with some past interviewees and reflecting on how the world has changed – for good and bad – over the passing of time. Journey of a Lifetime is lyrical, uplifting and peppered with our favourite globetrotter's brand of subtle satire.

Reviews

Praise for Alan Whicker:

'a vivid warm-hearted record of his experiences as a leading member of the Army Film and Photo Unit in Italy during the second world … Whicker's prose is such a natural expression of his ebullient personality … that reading it one seems to hear that laconic humour and to realize that he is as dapper and jaunty as he was in 1943.'
Sunday Times

‘Riveting – a marathon television series, now a compulsive and fascinating book…’
Radio 4

'My bookshelf would certainly be poorer without this written record. Inspired…and inspiring.'
Manchester Evening News

'It almost doesn't seem like a book at all, for so familiar is the Whicker economy of language and word rhythms that it is impossible to look over the opening paragraphs without hearing the Whicker voice reading the words out loud inside your head.'
Jean Moir, Daily Telegraph

'One of the outstanding broadcasters of the age and a reporter with notable gifts. Surrounded by carnage, corpses and the memory of lost friends, his familiar voice was as lilting and playful as ever, but laced with elegy…It was beautifully written and delivered with such assurance that even the pauses were eloquent.'
Stephen Pile, Daily Telegraph

"Not only is Alan Whicker a friend of mine, he's my hero."
Sir Michael Parkinson

About the author

Born in Cairo, Egypt, 2 August 1925, Alan Whicker attended Haberdashers' Aske's School, London, before serving as captain in Devonshire Regiment during World War II and then a director with the Army Film and Photo Section with British 8th Army and U.S. 5th Army.

His long and extremely distinguished career included positions as a newspaper war correspondent in Korea, foreign correspondent, novelist, writer, radio broadcaster and host of over 30 episodes of Whicker's World between 1959 and 1993. He worked for the BBC and ITV, was broadcast by Channel 4 and was a producer and host for numerous television specials and documentaries.