The glossy years - Nicholas Coleridge

'The most entertaining book of the year' Sunday Times

'The autobiography of magazine kingpin Nicholas Coleridge is a Waugh-like whirlwind of eccentric characters, lavish parties and even a spell in a Sri Lankan jail. It was funny enough to excuse all the name-dropping' Evening Standard, Books of the Year


'A ludicrously well-connected magazine impresario. Whimsical tales of Bob Geldof, William Hague, Princess Diana and George Osborne jostle with recollections of glitzy parties at castles and producing the Eton magazine with Craig Brown. It's gossipy good fun' Sunday Times

'A deliciously moreish memoir of the author's glittering career in magazine publishing. Like having a really good gossip over a glass of fizz with Evelyn Waugh' Sunday Telegraph

'Sparkling. Witty, nimble and engaging, it is wonderfully entertaining and a marvellous slice of social history' Jane Ridley, Spectator

'Brilliant. I laughed almost continuously' Charles Moore, Spectator

'An irresistible read, hilarious, honest and insightful. I adored it' Tina Brown

'Forthright, witty and gossipy. A passion for glossy magazines shines through this effervescent memoir' Sunday Express

Nicholas Coleridge has been Managing Director of British Cond Nast and President of Cond Nast International, publisher of 130 magazines around the world, including Vogue and Vanity Fair. Journalist, editor, magazine executive, author,
environmental campaigner, and Chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Fashion Council, he has for three decades been a prevalent figure in the publishing and fashion industries. Nicholas Coleridge and his wife live in London and Worcestershire. They have four children.

Coleridge is a witty writer . . . reading this book is like sitting next to a sharp but generous-hearted raconteur at dinner
Mail on Sunday

Has bounding vitality, glorious zest and and an uplifting generosity of spirit. It is always playful, sometimes hilarious - but above all it is wise
Richard Davenport-Hines, Literary Review

In these dark days of everlasting Brexit, Nicholas Coleridge's sparkling memoir is a welcome reminder that all is not gloom and doom. Witty, nimble and engaging, it is wonderfully entertaining and a marvellous slice of social history
Jane Ridley, Spectator

A deliciously moreish memoir of the author's glittering career in magazine publishing. Like having a really good gossip over a glass of fizz with Evelyn Waugh.
Allison Pearson, Sunday Telegraph

Tittle-tattle, tiffs and titanic egos, this book has them all. A hugely entertaining read by the ultimate insider

A Sunday Times best memoir of 2019

Forthright, witty and gossipy . . . a passion for glossy magazines shines through this effervescent memoir
Sunday Express

A Waugh-like whirlwind of eccentric characters, lavish parties and even a spell in a Sri Lankan jail. It was funny enough to excuse all the name-dropping
Evening Standard, Books of the Year

I truly think this is a brilliant book. laughed almost continuously
Charles Moore, The Spectator

Beady and slyly funny, my favourite bit concerns punctuation in the late Betty Kenward's society column. It's that kind of
book
India Knight, Sunday Times

Gloriously funny, affectionate and well-written, his ear for how other people speak is mischievously spot-on and his optimism is infectious
Daily Mail, Memoirs of the Year

Worth every penny for names dropped, inside stories, expertise in how that world worked and, endearingly, how his happy marriage and family have too
Susan Hill, Spectator

The most entertaining book of the year
Sunday Times

An entertaining whirlwind
Evening Standard

Gentle, jolly . . . Blissfully funny . . . One might wish to make people as happy, personally and professionally, as Coleridge has done - and will continue to do with this amusing book
The Sunday Telegraph

I adored it. Coleridge has a Waugh-like eye for
hilarious social nuance and a Henry Jamesian ear for precision. He is both self-deprecating and shrewd as he regales us with his rollicking ride as editor and tastemaker in the world of British glossy magazines: an irresistible read
Tina Brown

The memoir of a ludicrously well-connected magazine impresario. Whimsical tales of Bob Geldof, William Hague, Princess Diana and George Osborne jostle with recollections of glitzy parties at castles and producing the Eton magazine with Craig Brown. It's gossipy good fun
The Sunday Times Best Memoirs of 2019