Confessions

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Brought face to face with the author of his obituary and his own inevitable mortality, Edward Stourton is prompted to reflect on the life he has led and the events that have shaped him.

Ed was born into a life of privilege: the son of expat parents in colonial Nigeria, he was sent back to Britain to be educated by Benedictine monks at Ampleforth, the public school now tarnished by revelations of decades of abuse. He then went up to Cambridge, where his life as an undergraduate gave him access to a network of future ministers, judges and newspaper editors. As a young journalist he reported first from party conferences and picket lines and then from war zones, witnessing the events making international headlines, from Haiti to Hong Kong, before returning home to join the infighting on BBC Radio 4's Today.

During this time, the Empire has given way to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, men-only clubs have been replaced by Me Too, and instead of a choice selection of voices on a handful of radio and television channels, we have millions of voices on YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok.

The world has changed, and so has Ed. In Confessions, he describes this remarkable journey with candour, humour and the insight that only forty years' experience of writing and reporting can provide.

© Edward Stourton 2023 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

Critics Review

  • The quiet confessions of a Radio 4 gent … You can’t help hearing the familiar tones of the author speaking the words … Entertaining … nicely self-mocking … I’m glad to have his civilised and ever-optimistic voice in my ear.

    The Times

  • A searingly honest insight into the life of one of our great journalists. Hugely entertaining too.

    John Humphrys

  • A model of its kind. Calmly, bravely written, infused by his Catholic upbringing, and intriguingly haunted by the posh question … filled with qualities that are the marks of a good life: candour and courage, deployed with generosity and modesty, all of them here in spades.

    Adam Nicolson

  • A wonderful, poignant memoir – fluent, compelling and full of adventure.

    Cristina Odone

  • A clear-eyed and compelling account of a life, told with honesty and much wry humour.

    Luke Jennings

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