Product Description

the BBC Third Programme, which first went on air on 29th September 1946, became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces in Britain. Written with unlimited access to the BBC's archives and letters of such notable figures as Bertrand Russel, Harold Nicholson and Dylan Thomas, and including exerpts from outstanding talks, documentaries and drama, this book charts the history of this very Briish institution.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #504499 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 431 pages

About the Author
Humphrey Carpenter was born in 1946. After Oxford, he worked for the BBC, and then became a freelance writer. He has written numerous prize-winning biographies as well as a highly successful children's book series. He is a regular book reviewer for the Sunday Times, and was the director of the Cheltenham Festival of Literature 1994-6.

Customer Reviews

The Envy of modern Britain
'The Envy of the World' is a fascinating story of British radio after the war. It is interesting to learn how even in its heyday the BBC was unsure of producing 'high brow' radio for a small audience, and how listening figures were the usual benchmark of success even then. Thank goodness for those who stood against that trend - where are the William Haleys today. This is an excellent book that I thoroughly recommend especially in today's climate of low brow, mass audience entertainment. Maybe one day we can return to a time where intellectualism and learning are not dirty words.

The Envy ... and rightly so
Humphrey Carpenter's 50th anniversary volume is an insider's affectionate portrait of the BBC Third Programme (later Radio 3)which succeeds in being a thorough piece of serious scholarship. The radio station was highbrow, funny, with an amateur's unconcern for the minutiae of broadcasting (like starting and ending programmes on time), setting high standards for itself and its listeners - how could it survive, supporting orchestras, commissioning new music and drama, in a time of cost counting and popular culture? Yet somehow it has - just.

Fascinating to read about the debates which raged, and still rage now, as to the viability of - or necessity for - a station dedicated entirely to the high arts.

As cultural frontiers become blurred and mass audience entertainment encroaches further into the arts sphere, this book gains in relevance, not least as a document to the way that educational standards have altered. There was a time when the Third Programme was branded as pretentious, aimed merely at Bloomsbury luminaries. In reality, the Evening Standard proclaimed, it should be beamed at the average Albert Hall Promsgoer, the average public library user.

Where should it be aimed now? At the "discriminating" music lover who recognises the superiority of Radiohead over Blur? Or who reads John Grisham rather than comic books? It all rather depends on cultural trends and the prevailing thinking at the BBC. This book will cast a disquieting look on the arts world for some time to come.

A Quality History of a Quality Station
Having bought this book on a recommendation some time ago I was concerned that it would contain more personal reminiscences of the station by former or current announcers than actual history. Thankfully my fears were unfounded and Humphrey Carpenter really has delved deep into the archives to produce an enjoyable and highly readable account of Radio 3 from its inception in 1946 up to the time of publication in 1997. If you are interested in reading about a cultural British Giant then this book is for you.