Life on air: memoirs of a broadcaster.

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Octavo, dustwrapper, 384 pp. colour and black and white photographs.

For fifty years David Attenborough has entertained, educated, and generally enchanted millions worldwide with his pursuit of the secrets of life in its many guises. For such groundbreaking television series as "Life on Earth", "The Private Life of Plants", and "The Life of Birds", he has travelled to the ends of the earth to give viewers their first (and often only) close look at some of nature's wonders - from the great wildbeast migration to the blooming of desert cacti. Now Attenborough invites readers to travel with him once more, as he reflects on a life at least as interesting as any he's managed to capture on camera. "Life on Air" begins when, at twenty-four, Attenborough throws over what looks to be a staid future as a 'gentleman publisher' for an uncertain position in the BBC's fledgling television service.An adventure in itself (with primitive equipment and unpredictable personalities), broadcasting work involves the Cambridge-educated naturalist in hilarious attempts to improve the upstart Talks Department.