Author:Noel Coward,John Moffatt,Rosemary Leach,Full Cast
This Happy Breed opens in 1919, when the Gibbons family have just moved to their smart new home in the suburbs of South London. Against a background of social change and national upheaval spanning twenty years, the family celebrate their own triumphs and deal with their personal traumas. Coward’s moving and humourous production, showing what life was like for a typical suburban family between the wars, was a huge hit and was adapted into a famous 1944 film starring John Mills and Celia Johnson. Among the distinguished cast in this 1989 BBC Radio 4 production are John Moffatt, Rosemary Leach, Anna Cropper and Doris Hare.
'Fascinating... Generally persuasive and always entertainingly argued... An arresting thesis... McWhorter's...examples reflect a wide-ranging knowledge of popular culture, and he is full of odd, illuminating facts.'
'Every generation believes that language is in decline, but Doing Our Own Thing argues that this time the concern is real... John McWhorter's...analysis is insightful, richly documented, and yes, eloquently written.'
—— Steven PinkerA propulsive read
—— The TimesChatty, funny, hugely engaging ... an endearingly honest account of his life so far...
—— HeatWitty with bursts of Smithy-style sincerity - it is distinctively Corden.
—— IndependentIt'll make you lol but is also full of poignancy in classic Smithy Style
—— Company MagazineStrong accounts of his highs and lows... [the book] lays bare the distorting lens of modern celebrity.
—— London LifeA vivid, sympathetic account... provides a definitive explanation of Welles's ultimate, lingering downfall
—— Financial TimesI am already looking forward to [the third volume] such is Callow's sympathetic absorption in the mass of material, which he handles with a light and ironic touch, that I found myself utterly hooked... As an actor himself Callow writes illuminatingly about Welles's performances
—— Mail on SundayCallow's enterprise is one of the rarest in publishing. It leaves the reader dry-mouthed with anticipation for his final, third volume
—— Alan Warner , GuardianThe only biog really worth it's salt this year...reliably entertaining, wise and sane
—— Catherine Shoard , Evening StandardWelles’s packed schedule is rifled through with chatty elegance
—— Catherine Shoard , Sunday Telegraph