Across Ten Decades

The author was born in 1920 and so wrote this autobiography in the tenth decade of his life - hence the title. The structure of the book is deliberately episodic, rather than continuous and comprehensive. The author felt that the latter approach, although orthodox, would be boring to write and probably boring to read. The episodic approach, on the other hand, gives the opportunity to select experiences, events and activities that are particularly significant for each decade. Every chapter deals with a single decade, the general nature of which is indicated by the title. In his particularly long, interesting and active life the author travelled widely. The accounts of the people he met and the places he encountered are distinctive elements of the book. Also his very varied professional experience, in several occupations, is a further distinctive feature.