London: Macmillan, 2006. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. [8], 838 Pages. Index. Signed by the author on the title page. Contents include Introduction, Second World War, British Politics, International Affairs, Royal Family, Social Issues, Race and Immigration, Africa, and Journalism. William Francis Deedes, Baron Deedes, KBE, MC, PC (1 June 1913 – 17 August 2007) was a British Conservative politician, army officer and journalist. He was the first person in Britain to have been both a member of the Cabinet and the editor of a major daily newspaper, The Daily Telegraph. Deedes fought with the British Army in the Second World War as an Officer in the 2nd Battalion, Queen's Westminsters, one of the Territorial Army (TA) units of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He gained the Military Cross near Hengelo, the Netherlands in April 1945. He was also the only officer to serve in 12th King's Royal Rifle Corps (2nd Queen's Westminsters) for the duration of the war. Deedes came from a family with a tradition of public service. He was very proud of the fact that there had been a Deedes member of parliament in every century since 1600.
Deedes was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashford in 1950. First serving as a junior minister under Winston Churchill for three years, he later entered Harold Macmillan's Cabinet in 1962 as Minister without Portfolio. He left the Cabinet in 1964, as Minister of Information. He was editor of The Daily Telegraph from 1974 to 1986 and, after he was replaced by Max Hastings, continued his career as a journalist. He continued to comment on social and political issues through his newspaper columns until his death. More