livesinprint

Memoirs of a diplomat and teacher
Selby Martin

9781911175315
Selby Martin was born into a middle-class family in Broadstairs. His father, owner of a successful building company, married a widow who had asked him to build a house for her and they went on to have three children, Selby being the youngest. At the outbreak of war, the family moved to a shooting lodge at Rannoch in Scotland and Selby went to Wellesley House, a Broadstairs preparatory school which had been evacuated there. A chance incident led him to study German and, on gaining a scholarship to Marlborough, he specialised in modem languages. After National Service in the RAF he went to Cambridge University where he became interested in Scandinavia, in particular Finland.
Published:1st April 2017
Paperback:324 pages
Price:£10
ISBN:9-781911-175315
Paperback edition
£15.00 (+ £2 postage)

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Selby joined the Foreign Office after unsuccessfully applying to join MI6. His postings included Moscow as Private Secretary to the Ambassador and La Paz as Commercial Secretary. After marriage on home-posting in London, he was sent to Rawalpindi but left early on transfer to Sofia. He and his wife Rachel then decided to leave the Diplomatic Service and after a PGCE course at Leeds University he was appointed to Shrewsbury School where he taught for twenty-four years, as well as campaigning on environmental issues.
Reader Reviews...

Sir Derek Thomas (Foreign Office)

Reading this book has convinced me that few chose a route as challenging, as fulfilling or as rewarding for others as Selby Martin, and we owe him a considerable debt for being willing to share the whole story with us.