A Square Peg in Bush House: Memories of a BBC man
The dramatic ups and downs of a World Service producer. Reprimanded and sacked by the Arabic Service, he was then ‘resettled’ and went on to do the BBC’s first controversial interview with the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He then interviewed world leaders for their views on the new President of the United States – Ronald Reagan – and ended up managing the Greek Service.
Truly, a ‘Square Peg’ in Bush House.
This is a vital book because it provides a fascinating, wide-ranging memoir of a BBC employee’s various experiences of running the Greek and Arabic departments at Bush House. All of which involved worldwide travel, interviewing politicians and leaders like Margaret Thatcher and the Ayatollah Khomeini. It also reveals the technical side of broadcasting, the innumerable experiences of travel – both the pleasure and hardship of it – and the frequent clash of personalities between the BBC journalists themselves.
This is a fascinating, readable and invaluable history of a period in the life of a remarkable institution. William Oxley
Paperback – Illustrated £14.99 ISBN 978-1-904851-806