Description
Book SynopsisThis compelling account of a turbulent period in the history of the BBC opens at a time of national decline under the Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, and ends during Margaret Thatcher's iconoclastic Conservative premiership. The intervening years saw mass unemployment, trade union strikes and war in Northern Ireland and the Falklands - as well as legendary BBC programmes such as Live Aid, Fawlty Towers and Dad's Army, The Singing Detective and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and David Attenborough's Life on Earth. Comprehensively revised and expanded for this new edition, Jean Seaton's perceptive study presents an absorbing analysis of an institution that both reflects Britain and has helped to define it.
Trade ReviewNot the least of this very readable book's main virtues is that it tells us so much about the country that created the BBC as well as the public service broadcaster itself ... a book that is both hugely entertaining and wise. -- Chris Patten * Financial Times *
The best argument I have read in favour of the BBC. -- Nick Fraser * Observer *
This is a rich and essential history. -- Peter J. Conradi * Spectator *
Essential reading for anyone concerned, in any way, about the future of the BBC. -- Graham McCann * TLS *
[Seaton] writes in prose that would have impressed Orwell himself. Unsentimental, robust, devoid of jargon, and clear as hell, Pinkoes and Traitors demands what Orwell himself asks of us: to stand outside. Look around. Assess. And tell it like it is in an English as direct as you can. Like Orwell's work, Pinkoes and Traitors makes you walk out into the world and see the familiar anew. -- Bonnie Greer * The Independent *
