Findings, Keepings
Life, Communism and Everything
By Ralph Russell
about the book
' A delightful book - alive, vibrant, and down-to-earth. Here is a man who knows what he is talking about and has the courage not to mince his words, and the trust to know that honesty will not cause offence. Written with humour, love and commitment.' -
Premila Lewis, author of Reason Wounded.
Ralph Russell - the outstanding Western scholar and teacher of Urdu - begins his life story with typical directness:
'Some people think that only famous and important people should write their autobiographies. I'm not famous, except within the small circle of people who study Urdu. So why am I writing this? First, because I think that every human being is important, and that includes me. And second, because anyone who has thought seriously about how they want to live - what they want to live for, if you like - is likely to be interested in the experience of others who have thought like that. So that is why I am writing mine.'
Absorbing and entertaining insights into life through three decades. A Yorkshire country childhood in the 1920s - the scholarship-boy outsider at a public school - communist students in 1930s Cambridge - war time India.
Everywhere it is the man himself we meet - his infectious enthusiasm, his irreverent questioning, his enjoyment of simple things.
Price: £10.50
ISBN: 9 780951 975220
To order this title please email sales@longstonebooks.co.uk
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