From childhood through to adulthood ­- if not necessarily maturity - The Book of Life offers the literary journal of a lifetime, in the company of the most fascinating and talented figures in history.

From Alan Bennett's wartime childhood in Yorkshire to Mahatma Gandhi's experiment with cigarettes; Katherine Hepburn on her first acting job aged 21 and Primo Levi on being captured by Fascist militia at the same age; Darwin on his lifelong love - his work - and Nelson Mandela on his release from prison aged 71 ... life and living in all its manifold glories is represented.

With insights that encompass generations and continents, this is a uniquely enjoyable immersion in some of the world's best, and most personal, writing.