December 2009 Book of the Month.
Godfrey’s Ghost is one of the most honest, yet revealing portraits of a man we’ve read in more than a long while. The man is actor Arnold Ridley, probably best known for his late in life acting as Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army. However, as you’ll find out when reading this memoir, there was much more to this man than the gentle, bumbling and rather endearing Godfrey of the small screen. Firstly, he was the celebrated playwright of The Ghost Train, a classic which is still performed today and secondly he saw the horrors of two world wars. His son Nicolas Ridley, in bringing us this memoir has used for reference, both Arnold’s unpublished autobiography as well as his own memories of his father and recollections of life as he was growing up an only child when his father was just a jobbing actor. The result is an original, touchingly truthful account of the life of a much-loved father who knew both fame and obscurity. It’s a truly engaging and life-affirming read.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
| Recommendations: |
Godfrey's Ghost is, at its heart, the story of a father written by his son. As a young man, Arnold Ridley was chiefly known as the author of the long-running comedy thriller, The Ghost Train. Today he is remembered for his television performances as Private Godfrey, the oldest member of the Dad's Army platoon. But Army came towards the close of a long life, and although Arnold Ridley was Private Godfrey, Private Godfrey was not Arnold Ridley. From humble beginnings living above the family boot-shop in Bath, through the horrors of the Great War, to the life of a celebrated playwright in London's West End. From unprecedented success and sudden wealth to unforeseen disaster and financial ruin. From the nightmare of another war through painful years of struggle and obscurity to a new, late-flowering fame in a television classic. Anecdotal, engaging and truthful, Godfrey's Ghost is an affectionate - and often moving - portrait of a remarkable man who, faced with more than his fair share of life's vicissitudes, through love, courage and the kind of well-grounded philosophy that doesn't recognise itself as such, lived his life valiantly and well.
Godfrey's Ghost: From Father to Son features in the following genres: Biographies & Autobiographies, Books of the Month, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, Recommendations
Godfrey's Ghost: From Father to Son is available in Paperback
Godfrey's Ghost: From Father to Son was written by Nicolas Ridley and published by Mogzilla
Godfrey's Ghost: From Father to Son has 258 pages
