Strange people I have known … and other stories

During a long career in journalism, Andy McSmith encountered Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in a Siberian town called Bratsk; dined with Sir Edward Heath in his home in Salisbury; was mugged in the street while visiting Moscow with John Major; and knew Boris Johnson as a colleague with an ambition to be something more than just a journalist. Unusually, though, early in his career he abandoned journalism, to return after more than a decade as a left-wing political activist and playwright. This brought him into close contact with people he would never otherwise have met. A host of characters pass through this account of his long life – some highly successful, others not, each recalled in vivid detail.

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