Tell Them I'm On My Way: Memoirs

Out of Print

Arnold Goodman's enthusiasms are legendary. He is the leading lawyer of his generation, a political adviser, an emissary, a conciliator in Fleet Street and a potent influence on the arts. Very few understand the workings of government better or - as these superbly well-informed memoirs reveal - have brought more wit, intelligence and insight to the task.

In politics, Lord Goodman was a close adviser to Harold Wilson and a whole generation of Labour politicians from Nye Bevan to Barbara Castle, and, unusually, to Conservatives such as Edward Heath. In his chosen profession, he has been involved in many landmark legal actions, such as the Granada - British Steel affair.

As an emissary Lord Goodman represented two British governments in negotiations with Rhodesia; as Chairman of the Newspaper Publishers Association he played a key role in many dramas with proprietors, government and unions.

But these controversial memoirs are also an account of a parallel life, one devoted to the arts. As Chairman of the Arts Council, Lord Goodman oversaw the planning of the National Theatre, the completion of the Hayward Gallery and the long¬term future of London's symphony orchestras. Those achievements, and occasional crossed swords, are set down, as are friendships with actors, artists and musicians such as Laurence Olivier, Peter Hall, Sybil Thorndike, Francis Bacon, Bridget Riley and Yehudi Menuhin.

The result is a rich, remarkable journey, an astonishing breadth of interests, and above all joie de vivre on every page - Arnold Goodman's gift, and hallmark, through a long and extraordinary life