Chronicles of Wasted Time [Paperback]

Malcolm Muggeridge (Author), Ian Hunter (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

Back in print for the first time since Muggeridge's death in 1990, both published volumes of his acclaimed biography-The Green Stick and The Infernal Grove, plus the previously unpublished start to an unfinished third volume entitled The Right Eye-all brought together in one unabridged volume. "There is not a flat page in this mingling of anecdote, comment and self-criticism. . . . An international throng of writers, politicians, soldiers, spies, traitors and eccentrics jostles in these page from Attlee to Wodehouse via Burgess and Philby, Churchill, de Gaulle, Gide, Chanel, Montgomery, Evelyn Waugh." -The Daily Telegraph "Much of it . . . is very funny indeed; his description of being inducted into the mysteries of invisible writing when he joined the M16, for instance, is one of the great comic set-pieces that are artfully placed throughout the book. . . . Apart from these, the wit sparkles on almost every page." -The Observer ". . . this is one of the most delightful and entertaining memoirs of our age." -The Washington Post "A sure hand pushes the pen; a splendid mind guides the hand. There are paragraphs in this book that . . . are models of the best of clarity, grace and beauty in the English language." -The Dallas Morning News Born in 1903, Malcolm Muggeridge started his career as a university lecturer in Cairo before taking up journalism. As a journalist he worked around the world on the Guardian, Calcutta Statesman, the Evening Standard and the Daily Telegraph. In 1953 became editor of Punch, where he remained for four years. In later years he became best known as a broadcaster both on television and radio for the BBC. His other books include Jesus Rediscovered, Christ and the Media, and A Third Testament.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Regent College Publishing (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573833762
• ISBN-13: 978-1573833769
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulously Written Autobiography - Funny, Spiritual, March 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Chronicles of Wasted Time: An Autobiography (Paperback)

For those who don't know, Muggeridge was a British journalist - editor of Punch, television journalist, etc. He was raised among some of the most "forward thinking" (an ironic phrase) socialist minded, trendy (naturist, vegetarian, etc.) people in London - very much a Fabian set. In his 30s, after he had been a policeman in India and a journalist in the U.S.S.R., he underwent an awakening to the fraud in much of the "progressive thinking" with which he had been inculcated and by which was completely adopted by all his right-thinking journalistic and political circles. He underwent a religious conversion to a high Anglican church (I think - or is it Catholic?) belief - it was later he who publicized Mother Theresa to the world. He is quite moving in describing his religious beliefs and is among the finest prose writers I've ever read - shockingly out of synch with secular modern ideas, and truly an original. He's terribly funny in his tales of the absurdity of Emperor without Clothes leaders and thinkers of the 20th century - particularly those who believe that collective policies by governments can improve mankind. He is as humorously cynical about man and his pathetic attempts to "improve himself" as anyone you'll ever read. He is also truly a fantastic prose writer - these two successive volumes in one are beautifully written and moving.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An fascinating and incisive autobiography, August 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Chronicles of Wasted Time: An Autobiography (Paperback)

This book is wonderful. Editor of Punch, a member of British intelligence during the 2nd World War, a correspondent in Russia under Stalin for the Manchester Guardian, the man who introduced the world to Mother Teresa - Muggeridge was a fascinating and many-faceted man. He writes with an insight into the value of that which is eternal as only a man at the end of his time can.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muggeridge; Spy, Sinner, Sage and Saint, October 15, 2006

By 

Richard D. Williams (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chronicles of Wasted Time (Paperback)

It is almost sixteen years since the death of this great writer, broadcaster, actor, soldier-spy and latterly Christian apologist and his voice is greatly missed, particularly at this time with so many major and controversial issues dominating the news agenda. Because love him or loathe him, Muggeridge always had a unique, and often tangental, view to offer on the significant events of the day.
Without doubt, Chronicles was his greatest work and should be compulsory reading for anyone learning English literature, for it will be found a totally engrossing read, start to finish. Spanning the early part of the twentieth century, Muggeridge was a master in use of the English language and his love of writing comes out on every page, together with his wit and wisdom. The Malcolm Muggeridge Society is bringing more of his work back into print and I'd like to think that it will be read not by existing fans but by a new generation.