Street lamps - Peter Cruttwell

Street Lamps is an unusual type of autobiography
because it describes the life of somebody with absolutely no public recognition. However, it offers a unique personal record of seventy turbulent years in the history of our time; and it is a fascinating and entertaining read. Peter Cruttwell presents this colourful and well-observed portrait of his passage from war-time childhood to his teenage schooling, travel in war-torn Europe as a boy of 15, service in Military Intelligence and a remarkably varied career in business all over the world. Laced with insight and frequently irreverent personal opinion, the book consists of 170 'light-pools' which are individual cameos depicting episodes in a life led randomly and without obvious design or direction but, as the author remarks "propelled by a strong instinct for enjoyable survival".
The years from 1937 to 2007 are
presented in an astonishing range of vivid, amusing, alarming and sometimes very serious snapshots from an adventurous and eventful life.