Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • An Improbable Life

  • The Autobiography
  • By: Trevor McDonald
  • Narrated by: Trevor McDonald
  • Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (280 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
An Improbable Life cover art

An Improbable Life

By: Trevor McDonald
Narrated by: Trevor McDonald
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Everything Is Everything cover art
Parky cover art
Foreign Native cover art
Oh Miriam! cover art
That's Another Story cover art
Is It Me? Terry Wogan: An Autobiography cover art
Keep Talking cover art
David Attenborough - Life on Air cover art
A Life in Questions cover art
Past Imperfect cover art
What Are You Doing Here? cover art
The Abuse of Power cover art
Assignment Russia cover art
The Trials of Harry S. Truman cover art
The Promise and the Dream cover art
A Del of a Life cover art

Summary

Features an audible-exclusive Q&A between Sir Trevor McDonald and his editor. 

Sir Trevor McDonald is an extraordinary man and he has led an improbable life. Now, in his 80th year, he is known and loved by people the world over for his humility, charm and natural ease. As a natural storyteller and communicator, he has few equals. 

In An Improbable Life, Sir Trevor recounts his personal experience of world events, and interviews with globally famous - or notorious - figures. He has witnessed war and death, and risked his own life to meet and talk with despots and liberators. We learn about his first trip to South Africa, and obtaining the first British television interview with Nelson Mandela, his reflections on the Windrush generation, and experiencing Barack Obama's momentous inauguration as President of the USA. We are also present at his dramatic meetings with Saddam Hussein (the first and only by a British television correspondent), and Muammar Gaddafi.

Engaging, intimate and moving, this is the life story of an exceptional journalist and broadcaster who over decades has expertly revealed to us history in the making. This audio edition also features an exclusive conversation between Sir Trevor McDonald and his editor – this material is only available from Audible.  

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our Desktop Site.

©2019 Trevor McDonald (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group

More from the same

Author

What listeners say about An Improbable Life

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    211
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    207
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    175
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting to begin with.....

Quite interesting to begin with, quite fascinating actually, for about 35% of the book. However there after it became rather more dour and a tad tedious. I am sure fans of his will love it. Rather too much an advert for ITN. Not so much an Autobiography, more ones man view of ITN, how 'brilliant' it was, and views of historic events. Credit returned

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Truly Remarkable

I never imagined the news presenter who I used to watch on TV as a youngster would have has such an exciting life. He had the opportunity to Interview legends like Nelson Mandela. Interview tyrants and dictators like Sadam Hussain, George W Bush and Gaddafi. Trevor was really honest in his book and it was a pleasure to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent. A fascinating listen.

For anyone who has lived in the UK, Trevor McDonald is a name and face that they know well.
He is a skilled news reader and interviewer who like the best of them is able to draw in both his interviewees as well as his audience.
I approached the book rather jadedly as I see him as representative of the mainstream media, with which I am fairly disgusted at present. However, all his views and opinions always seem to be tempered with a gentle awareness of alternative views.
In fact it is heartening to hear from a man who has rubbed shoulders with so many establishment figures and essentially been part of the msm, condemning things like the Iraq war, Thatcher's stance on Mandela, the bombing of Libya and the foreign policy of UK and USA.
His stories of following his dream and his reflections regarding being a black immigrant in UK are riveting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Trevor McDonald makes the improbable, remarkable

Sir Trevor McDonald has published his memoirs shortly after the BBC's John Humphries. They are both titans of late 20th century broadcast journalism and can both claim to have had a "ringside seat to history" during their respective careers.
Of the two, having listened to both of their stories, I would argue that Trevor McDonald's is the more remarkable. A cub reporter from Trinidad commentating on, amongst other events, horse racing and water polo, came to London in the late 60s to work on the BBC World Service before joining the fledgling ITN news network and worked his way up through various foreign postings where he built his reputation as a fearless reporter. It was in Northern Ireland during the "troubles" that he made his name and eventually secured the prime spot as presenter on News at Ten. So far, so improbable. It was later events where he really made his mark; he was the first journalist to interview Nelson Mandela after his release from Robben Island in 1990 and this chapter is the longest and most fascinating of these memoires. You could have thought that this would be sufficient for most journalists but Trevor went on to secure the first interview with Saddam Hussein following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and also has an audience with Libya's Colonel Gaddafi at the height of his reign. Trevor McDonald remains typically modest about his life throughout these memoirs and delivers the audio reading in his familiar clipped annunciation that the nation has come to know and love. Other than his well known love of cricket there is little in terms of his personal life in these memoirs but we do learn that he does get nervous before big interviews and likes a good whisky to calm his nerves.

And finally.... following Trevor's reading of the book, there are no funny animal stories but there is an interview with him where he reveals a little more about what makes this improbable life, quite remarkable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting and well presented

This book was interesting and very well presented as you would expect from Trevor, However, I bought the book because I was interested in you as a person and I felt that you did not wish the share that knowledge with your reader.this is of course fine, but then it is not for me a biography.

I still love to listen to you talk and enjoy the work you do.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

facts not right

His Story of Northern Ireland is unbalance and not the Northern Ireland that I was born and lived in all my life. if it wrong thier what is right? deeply disappointing I thought it would be better, I thought more of Trevor until listing to this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read for those who want the inside track about our world

An absolute master class in use of language,and description to portray a fascinating insight into a varied and eclectic life’s work of one of Britain’s favourite national treasures. Truly inspiring and aspirational.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Left me wanting more

What an interesting and intriguing life. It was fascinating to hear the small glimmer of how Trevor Mcdonald came to be the Trevor Mcdonald I grew up with and the house hold name. The way it was left me wanting to know more. I really hope there is a continuation to this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

I grew up with Sir Trevor reading the news. He was and still is a great asset to television. However his narration of this book was disappointing. Found vast sections dull and dreary. Going off on tangents didn't help either. Expected better from a well established and respected journalist. Nevermind, I'll still watch any programmes featuring him.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the whole book

I love the fact how much you learn about him and his background. what he sees and everything you can almost see it in front of you

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!