By Arthur Butler
September 2013
Book Guild
Distributed by Trans-Atlantic Publications
ISBN: 9781846249020
159 pages, Illustrated
$34.50 Hardcover
This is a candid account of the early life of Arthur Butler, 'one of the most assiduous and best informed lobby correspondents of the 1960s' (Michael Leapman).
Born into a working-class family in 1929 - the denouement of the Jazz Age - Arthir was brought up with many links to the rich and famous. His grandmother, a celebrated chef, never revealed the identity of his grandfather - possibly a mysterious Italian aristocrat. His mother suffered terrible cruelty as a child but later became a lady's maid to a wealthy American widow, travelling around Europe & the USA with the glamorous 1920s 'liner set'.
Arthur was too young to fight in the Second World War but benefited from 'monumental' improvements in state education. After serving in Allied-occupied Germany during national service and studying at the London School of Economics, Arthur's keen interest in politics helped him on his way to achieving his ambition of becoming a successful Fleet Street journalist.
Sometimes poignant, ofter humorous, these memories give an insight into mid-twentieth-century Britain through the experiences of one man who found success and fulfilment amidst the changing social order of post-war Britain.
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