In the spring of 1956, like two million other men of his generation, eighteen-year-old Leslie Woodhead received a summons to serve Her Majesty. Charting his progress from the austerity of post-war Halifax, via comically bleak RAF training camps and the grim, isolated Joint Services School for Linguistics, My Life As A Spy takes us finally to Berlin and the front line of the Cold War. In the ruins of a city gripped by espionage and paranoia, Leslie Woodhead was hurled into maturity and discovered his vocation as an observer and documenter of people.
This is both a slice of Cold War history and a poignant tale of how our lives can be formed by events and experiences we barely comprehend at the time.
'[a] delightfully irreverent memoir. . . Woodhead's memories exude a wonderful sense of nostalgia for a world of lost innocence that to anyone over 60 is instantly recognisable' Sunday Times
In the spring of 1956, like two million other men of his generation, eighteen-year-old Leslie Woodhead received a summons to serve Her Majesty. Charting his progress from the austerity of post-war Halifax, via comically bleak RAF training camps and the grim, isolated Joint Services School for Linguistics, My Life As A Spy takes us finally to Berlin and the front line of the Cold War. In the ruins of a city gripped by espionage and paranoia, Leslie Woodhead was hurled into maturity and discovered his vocation as an observer and documenter of people.
This is both a slice of Cold War history and a poignant tale of how our lives can be formed by events and experiences we barely comprehend at the time.
'[a] delightfully irreverent memoir. . . Woodhead's memories exude a wonderful sense of nostalgia for a world of lost innocence that to anyone over 60 is instantly recognisable' Sunday Times
Born in Glasgow in 1937, Leslie Woodhead is one of Britain's most distinguished documentary film-makers. His pionnering films, often on major Eastern European themes, have won many awards, including a BAFTA and the Royal Television Society award. He has been awarded an OBE for 'services to television'. He lives in Cheshire.
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