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In his new book Cultural Amnesia, and here for Times Online, Clive James is talking culture — and in the widest possible sense. Culture spanning arts, politics, media and literature; and, significantly, “culture” embracing those figures that he believes have shaped our world and our lives, for good and bad.
Within his book, arranged alphabetically as a series of polemical profiles, James ranges freely and critically from Louis Armstrong to Walter Benjamin, Albert Camus to Tony Curtis, Beatrix Potter to Marcel Proust, Margaret Thatcher to Evelyn Waugh. He also analyses the motivation behind the thoughts and deeds of some of the most despised and feared figures of all time — Chairman Mao, Stalin and Hitler.
And here, in a series of three films produced exclusively for Times Online, Clive James picks out nine figures from the book and talks about their lives, thoughts and legacies. All his insightful commentary is accompanied by fascinating archive footage that paints a vivid picture.
Click here to watch or download the first film.
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