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Alistair Cooke lived for nearly one hundred years and that's about how long it will take you to read this book .

On the plus side , author Nick Clarke has certainly been thorough . He does provide an insight into the subject's career , his personal life and his complex personality. Unfortunately ,however, the whole thing moves along at a snail's pace and at well over 500 pages you'll need the dedication of a Tibetan monk in order to stick with it.

In my opinion , it should have been trimmed back and sharpened up substantially with alot more pace being injected into the text during the editing process.

Cooke , a veteran journalist and prolific author himself , was a master at creating bright and colourful profiles of famous people , places and events. I only wish that he had written his own autobiography.

This publication IS definitely worth adding to your bookshelves if you are a fan of "Alistair the Great" . It does the job but it lacks the master's touch.