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National Observer Home > No. 46 - Spring 2000 > Book Reviews Alistair Cooke : The BiographyLondon: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1999, pp. 528 and index.
Clarke's biography appears to be the first lengthy treatment of this prolific writer and contemporary affairs commentator, despite his being a nonagenarian. Part of the reason for this is Cooke's reticence hitherto to assist in the writing of a biography. Indeed, Cooke acquiesced to Clarke only after Clarke had gathered considerable material, particularly on Cooke's early life. Cooke finally agreed to assist on the basis that, if the book was to be written, it would be better to ensure that the biographer had his facts straight. Cooke came from a humble English background. Born Alfred Cooke in 1908, he spent most of his childhood in the sea side town of Blackpool. Whilst his older brother Sam was to be apprenticed to a butcher, Cooke's academic abilities enabled him to complete his secondary education under the tutelage of some exceptional teachers and to obtain entrance to and a scholarship for Cambridge University. He spent much of his undergraduate life cultivating other interests, particularly the theatre. Whilst his failure to obtain first class honours compromised his chances of a fellowship or an academic position, the award of a two year scholarship to study in the United States gave Cooke his first entrée to that country. Cooke spent two years studying at Harvard and Yale. During this period, as a condition of the scholarship, his holidays were spent travelling around the United States, the first of a lifeline of trips around his adopted country. In this period Cooke also met his first wife, Ruth, and they were married towards the end of his sojourn there. He returned to London in the mid 1930s, where he began his broadcasting career with the B.B.C. Cooke and his wife returned to the United States several years later: his early professional life was marked by uncertain, short term contracts. His relationship with the B.B.C. was variable in those years. In 1946, Cooke married his second wife, Jane. During this period, he began to broadcast his "American Letter". Initially intended to be only a short run series by the B.B.C., the "Letter from America" has become one of the longest running programmes in the history of broadcasting. Each week for over fifty years Cooke has provided insights into American culture, people and history. Most of these insights seem to be the products of Cooke's own observations, insights gained whilst travelling around America and meeting Americans from all walks of life. In more recent years, many of the instalments of "A Letter from America" have contained interesting reminiscences of world-famous events that Cooke either witnessed first hand or remembered well. The popularity of his broadcasts and of the book based on them was, Clarke observes, what finally made Cooke a rich man. Whilst the book was initially envisaged as a means of supplementing the revenue from the series, so popular was it that it went into a number of reprints within the first months of its publications. To this day it is arguably the most readable introduction to the history of the United States. Cooke's other works are also discussed at length throughout the book, particularly his articles that appeared in "The Guardian" and his television series "Omnibus". "Alistair Cooke: A Biography" is a very thorough portrait of one of this century's most interesting journalists. Clarke's detailed description of his subject is reflected in the length of the work, which many readers may find challenging. Michael Daniel National Observer No. 46 - Spring 2000 |
