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MAGNUSSON, MAGNUS: : I've Started,So I'll Finish: The Story of Mastermind. [Autor SIGNED copy.]

LONDON.LITTLE,BROWN and COMPANY,1997.

ISBN 0316641324.

UK,8vo HB+dwdj,SIGNED,1st edn.No owner inscrptn,but author's neat handwritten, black ink inscrptn:'For Deidre, With best wishes ---- Magnus Magnuson.' to title page and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright, crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour photographic illustrated dw/dj panels - spotlighted Mastermind chair to front and author's colour portrait photograph to rear with silver gilt,red and white lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Some minimal,light creasing to edges,a tiny closed tear/nick with a sellotape repair internally,to rear lower corner,and some light superficial scoring/indents to to rear panel also - but without adversely affecting the boards beneath.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean, sharp-cornered,publisher's original,plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp, stamped silver gilt letters to spine/ backstrip and immaculate plain black endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn, viii-xvpp+2-272pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,acknowledgements,a preface by Bamber Gascoigne (hosted University Challenge),author foreword,13 chapters,profuse b/w contemporary biographical portrait photographs etc. throughout the text and the book, appendices(I-V) and an index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title,SIGNED title page,full page poem (Roger Woodis, 'Remembrance of Things Past',published in the Radio Times,30 August - 5 September 1980,at the start of that year's season of 'Mastermind'.) 'IT'S ONLY A BLOODY GAME!' Thus Magnus Magnusson's words of reassurance at the start of every 'Mastermind' programme,in an attempt to cheer up the nervous contestants as they awaited the ordeal of the Black Chair. But 'Mastermind',of course,was more than just a game: it was a national institution,a must for millions of viewers for twenty-five years.When the BBC announced that it was to come to an end,it made front-page news in every national daily; leaders were written,even an 'obituary' in the Daily Telegraph,and the overwhelming reaction was one of dignified dismay at the loss of a programme whose only star was the human mind at work. In this fascinating book the Interrogator himself,Magnus Magnusson,tells the behind-the-scenes story of a television programme which made broadcasting history.He takes us back to the early days,relates how it all began with an RAF gunner being interrogated by the Gestapo,and how a philandering TV character and Mrs Mary Whitehouse catapulted the show into a prime time viewing slot.He tells of the locations,the question-setters,the people who made it work and,of course,the stories of the winners and losers: the retired ambassador; the 'wheelchair vet'; the novelist accused of cheating and,naturally that London cabbie. Drawing on the memories and records of the members of the Mastermind Club - an exclusive haven for the survivors of the Black Chair - as well as his own unique knowledge of the programme,Magnus Magnusson re-creates the drama,the humour, the mishaps and the mind-games that combined to form the most compelling of all quiz shows. Revealing and entertaining,'I've Started,So I'll Finish' is the inside story of a broadcasting institution,and a heart-warming account of a great family of friends and friendly rivals. Since April 2013,again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering its weight allowances, dimensions and lowered its qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact seller,for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn.
'For Diedre,With best wishes ---- Magnus Magnusson'

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