BETJEMAN: THE BONUS OF LAUGHTER

"This book completes Bevis Hillier's trilogy on John Betjeman." "The third volume finds Betjeman at the height of his fame, universally adopted as Teddy Bear to the Nation." "By now he is known not just as a poet but as a television personality too; we see him, for instance, improbably celebrating Metroland from a helicopter with the BBC's Eddie Mirzoeff. He is also the essential public face of conservation, fighting - not always with great efficiency or success - to save the Euston Arch, Bedford Park, or the Nash Terraces of Regent's Park. We live with him the triumph of Summoned by Bells, his richly emotional autobiography in verse; but also follow his tribulations as Poet Laureate, despairingly in search of inspiration in the bombastic events of royal and public life. Perhaps least expected of all is the pleasure he found in Banana Blush, the poems he recorded to the music of Jim Parker." "Also brilliantly evoked is his ever-widening circle of friends, now including Barry Humphries, Simon Jenkins, Mary Wilson, Mervyn Stockwood and the Prince of Wales."--BOOK JACKET.