Utter wonderful. Download; you won't regret it.

Hours upon hours on delightful listening. This gentle, humble, tenacious man takes us on the journey of his life and, if like me you grew up with him on the television, our lives too. Always compelling, sometimes a little sentimental but always delightful I sometimes sat on a bench once getting off the tube before going to where I had to just to here the end of a story. It's an utter delight and I will easily, nay definitely, listen to it more than once.

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15 people found this helpful

What a life! Fantastic.

Despite now being a certified "National Treasure" (an accolade he must hate!), David Attenborough is a naturally gifted story-teller, who has led an extraordinary life, during a unique period of our history.

He was there, telling how it was in the very early days of BBC television, where thick white makeup was mandatory, the lighting had to be blindingly bright, and the huge immovable cameras were only inches from your face. ascending to become controller of BBC2, as the first colour TV channel and finally "controller of programmes". It was DA who commissioned greats such as "The Ascent of Man", "Civilization" and "Cosmos", before getting bored of management and going off to create his own fantastic mega-series such as "Life on Earth", "The Living Planet", "The Life of Plants" and the whole cannon of his natural history and anthropological works.

As part of his pioneering work in the BBC, he ventured to wild and far-flung places, to live among aboriginal tribes, traversing the outback or hacking through dense jungles to study rare and exotic species, some of which are now extinct. Who can forget his exchanging glances with a Silverback Gorrilla in the jungle! His courageous adventures into dangerous terrains show there is much more steel to his character than the urbane, gently spoken persona might lead us to believe.

I feared I would not enjoy this book, as it covers very little of his formative years, and such adult autobiographies can become lists of names to be credited. Not a bit of it - while giving full credit to those he worked with, his narration is delightful and enchanting, full of wonderful anecdotes and never for a moment dull. I cannot give it less than 5 stars!

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3 people found this helpful

Fascinating

Just imagine, you come out of WW2 with no plans and are asked to run the new BBC channel BBC 2 where apparently you can do more or less as you like....you sponsor modern drama and spearhead a whole new genre of wildlife documentaries, you become a national treasure..... but apparently you stay relatively modest and keep your interest in life. I wish I could be so impressive at nearly 90.

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Wonderful!

A real insight into the persona, into the beginnings of television broadcasting in Britain, the behind the scenes anecdotes were quite fascinating. Read by a voice one knows so well, David Attenborough continues to do a fantastic job well into his eighties! A must!

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Fascinating LIfe

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

What a fabulous career, loved the book/listen was also great to have been narrated by David Attenborough. Any one who is interested in natural history I would strongly recommend this.

What was one of the most memorable moments of David Attenborough - Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster?

I think his version of events surrounding Elisa the lioness form born free, I grew up believing it was a fabulous fairy tale, but his real life account and perspective brought it back to reality for me.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

many moments but his account of the filming of the cannibalistic monkeys

Any additional comments?

Fabulous thank you for sharing it with us

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David at his best.

What a life! David Attenborough is an amazing man. His voice has magical qualities and I will never tire of listening to him. It's a privilege to listen to his story.

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One of my go-to books

I've lost count of how many times I've listened to this book. The scope and variety of experiences in David Attenborough's life make for a fascinating listen and his voice is wonderful to listen to.

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An absolute pleasure

Wow, what an amazing history of broadcasting. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Incredible to hear about the development of TV and his massive part in it. There are more laughs than you’d expect and most of the stories are riveting.

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Simply wonderful

The book and its presentation is a joy to listen to, especially having David Attenborough reading his own words.

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Easily the best book I've listened to this year

David Attenborough re lives his life as a broadcaster from the early days of Zooquest to the time this book was published in 2002. The stories are wonderful and makes you find and view the old classics. His style is oft imitated, but never matched.

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