Who on earth wants a biography almost 300 pages long on Michael Grade? Certainly not Michael Grade who refused to cooperate with the author. I am a little surprised at some of those who did, given the lottery of such unauthorised essays. The result is an unbalanced account which lists to where it found most access, takes secondary sources such as Docherty’s book on LWT as gospel, and fails to grapple thoroughly with the most fascinating aspect of Michael Grade – his childhood and his family background.

With these reservations, Mihir Bose has written a readable and serviceable account of Grade’s career as an agent and television executive. The ‘battles’ – which would scarcely register in the wider world of the Literary Review but are folklore in media salons – are described with relish; ‘Snatch’ of the