Footfalls in Memory: Reflections from Solitude

For the first year of his solitary confinement in Beirut, Terry Waite was given nothing to read. During those days, not only did he write his autobiography in his head, but he also attempted to remember all the books, poems and prayers he had read during his life. Eventually his guards mellowed and he was given books. He received a wide variety ranging from Herodotus to the novels of Dorothy L. Sayers. Here Terry Waite has gathered together selections from the books he remembered, the books he received and some of the books he wished he had received. Some of the selections evoke personal memories and Terry Waite relates these stories as he takes the reader down the corridors of memory into the world of books.

For the first year of Terry Waite's solitary confinement in Beirut he was given nothing to read. During those days not only did he write his autobiography in his head, but he also attempted to remember the books, poems and prayers he had read during his life.

Eventually his guards mellowed and he was given books. He received a wide variety ranging from Herodotus to novels.

Now, Terry Waite has collected together selections from the books he remembered, the books he received and the books he wished he had been given. This selection provokes memories of childhood, travels and captivity as he vividly recalls personal stories and anecdotes and as he takes the reader down the corridors of his memory.

Footfalls in Memory, through the works of Solzhenitsyn, T.S. Eliot, William Styron, John Bunyan, Dostoevsky, Irina Ratushinskaya and many others, plus extracts from the Bible, and the Book of Common Prayer, gives another fascinating insight into a life illuminated by literature of all kinds.