Frank Gardner is the BBC’s Security Correspondent, who was shot five times and nearly killed in Saudi Arabia in 2004. His cameraman, Simon Cumbers, who was filming with him at the time, did not survive the attack.
Gardner opens his biography with that attack – no waiting around until page 300 for the inevitable. Now wheelchair bound for the most part, that was undoubtedly a life-changing moment.
Gardner bounds through a seemingly pleasant upbringing in which he developed an interest in learning Arabic, met Wilfred Thesiger fairly regularly, and headed off to spend a year in Cairo, travelling around the region at the first opportunity.
He then moved into banking and found himself back in the gulf living the life of a rich ex-pat. His story is well told and he’s an engaging writer who’s never too full of himself. He’s certainly lived a full life. Or at least he did until that moment in the streets of Saudi.
Then we get details of how he spent his recouperation period, and it certainly doesn’t seem to have been easy. It’s not over yet, and no doubt never will be really.
Overall, a fascinating book, with a worthwhile look at an earlier period of north African/Arabic life. The biggest shame is the knowledge that I wouldn’t be able to follow in his steps today, staying in the regions of Cairo that he did, and visiting some of the remote areas on the Sudan or Algeria.