All of These People: A Memoir - Hardcover

Keane, Fergal

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007176929 ISBN 13: 9780007176922

Publisher: HarperCollins UK, 2006

Synopsis

Journalist Fergal Keane's memoir is the account of a journey, a story about bearing witness to horror but also confronting the ghosts within. At its heart is the story of a son's journey in search of his father and the reconciliation that is possible even after death.
In this book, Fergal Keane addresses his experience of wars of different kinds, some very public and others acutely personal. Often deeply moving and painful, but equally often ruefully funny, he describes intimately a life uneasily shadowed by the spectre of alcohol.
As a nephew of a famous writer and son to a much-loved actor his was a family of storytellers, from whom Keane inherited a love of words and adventure. Growing up in Ireland in the 60s and 70s the country of myth and reverence was being dismantled in front of his eyes with the first stirrings of a sexual revolution; later he became a cub reporter in an atmosphere filled with the smells of drink and cloudy with cigarette smoke, then followed his childhood dream to go to Africa. Here he witnessed the violence of the South African townships and the terror in Rwanda, the most extreme kinds of human behaviour.
Keane's life as one of Britain's leading war reporters is all that we imagine: journeys across landscapes traumatised by death and hunger, encounters with some of the most evil figures of the last half century. Life in such vulnerable areas of the globe is emotionally draining, but can be illuminated with astonishing moments of camaraderie and human bravery. And so this is also a memoir of the human connections, at once simple and complex, that are made in extreme circumstance.

About this title

About the Author:

Fergal Keane OBE was born in London and educated in Ireland. He is one of the BBC's most distinguished correspondents, having worked for the corporation in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Asia and the Balkans. He has been awarded a BAFTA and has been named reporter of the year on television and radio, winning honours from the Royal Television Society and the Sony Radio Awards. He has also been named Reporter of the Year in the Amnesty International Press Awards and won the James Cameron Prize and the Edward R.Murrow Award from the US Overseas Press Association.

Review:

‘Keane’s real distinction was in his reporting talents, which as this book shows, are considerable.’ Evening Standard

‘His book is a memoir but it is so much more than that...a volume of the most exquisitely written and moving truth and honesty.’ TLS

‘A completely honest account of reporting conflict.’ Independent

‘An empowering story of triumph over adversity.’ Irish Times

‘Profoundly honest.’ Observer

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0007176929
• ISBN 13: 9780007176922
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 396