Kindle Price: $11.99

Save $6.00 (33%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Alistair Cooke
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Six Men Kindle Edition

by Alistair Cooke (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 72 ratings
See all formats and editions
Drawing on a lifetime of journalistic encounters with the great and the famous, Alistair Cooke profiles the six extraordinary men who impressed him the most

Over the course of his sixty-year career as a broadcaster, television host, and newspaper reporter, Alistair Cooke met many remarkable people of the twentieth century. This entertaining and insightful collection shares his unique, often startling personal vision of six key figures from the worlds of literature, entertainment, and politics.

They are: Charlie Chaplin, whom Cooke befriended in Hollywood and who courted controversy in his politics and romances; the charming-yet-naive Edward VIII, whose love affair changed the course of World War II; Humphrey Bogart, the first antihero hero onscreen and a sensitive gentleman at home; H. L. Mencken, brilliant, inspirational, and deeply flawed; Adlai Stevenson, whom Cooke labeled the failed saint; and Bertrand Russell, who had the courage and the audacity to try to make the world a better place.

The subjects of Six Men are united by the deep complexities of their characters. In balancing informed details of their lives with an objectivity set against the ever-changing landscape of their times, Six Men is a master course in the art of concise biography.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    217 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    March 3, 2015
  6. File size
    2331 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Cooke] has the great journalist’s gift of reducing the bewildering diversity of personality to an identity, of selecting the significant and rejecting the trivial.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A rare delight . . . [Cooke] has the priceless gift of the gods, irresistible readability.” —The Spectator

“The journalist’s memoir par excellence.” —Newsweek

“The quintessential Alistair Cooke.” —The Economist

About the Author

Alistair Cooke, KBE (1908–2004), was a legendary British American journalist, television host, and radio broadcaster. He was born in Lancashire, England, and after graduating from the University of Cambridge, was hired as a journalist for the BBC. He rose to prominence for his London Letter reports, broadcast on NBC Radio in America during the 1930s. Cooke immigrated to the United States in 1937. In 1946, he began a tradition that would last nearly six decades—his Letter from America radio appearances on the BBC. Cooke was also beloved as the host of PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre for twenty-one years. He wrote many books, both collections of his Letters from America and other projects. After his death, the Fulbright Alistair Cooke Award in Journalism was established to support students from the United Kingdom seeking to study in the United States, and vice versa.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00S5OJUXG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (March 3, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2331 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 217 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 72 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Alistair Cooke

Alistair Cooke

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Venice Rembold
5.0 out of 5 stars Alistair Cooke was a remarkable man. He passed away ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
Alistair Cooke was a remarkable man. He passed away in 2004, but his astute observations on history and the personalities that made history stand as his legacy.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Chris Maska
4.0 out of 5 stars Not his best
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
While not his best this is an interesting portrait of the six subjects and the author himself. All seven of whom, led amazing lives.
Helpful
 Report
V.B.
3.0 out of 5 stars Do You Know these Men?
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is a well-written book about what the title implies--six men. I loved reading about Charlie Chaplin and Humphrey Bogart and Charlie Chaplain. Then I realized, I didn't much care about the other four. And if you're not interested in someone even Alistair isn't going to keep your interest up. I did get a little way through H.L. Mencken but I just couldn't keep up my interest. For the price I paid, it was well worth it. If I had paid $15.00, I would not have been as satisfied.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
James A. Thorson
5.0 out of 5 stars this guy can write
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
This is Cooke's memoir of six men he knew. The most revealing is with the Duke of Windsor, whose stupidity was only exceeded by his laziness.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Barbara C Browning
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and Unbiased
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2008
Verified Purchase
As is usual with any of Alistair Cooke's writing, that unmistakable transatlantic voice can be heard behind the words as if the author himself was reading his work to an audience of one - you. The generations who would remember the men of whom he has written are fast coming to an end, but there is enough in each of these insightful vignettes to whet the appetite of a true biography-phile of whatever era. I would say that Cooke enjoyed the company of each of his subjects, but that did not put him beyond objective honesty. The saddest, most poignant and ultimately most honest comment of all was that of his summing up of Edward VIII - "The most damning epitaph you can compose about Edward - as a prince, as a king, as a man - is one that all comfortable people should cower from deserving:he was at his best only when the going was good"
13 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Sekhar Banerjee
2.0 out of 5 stars A very tired reading
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2020
Verified Purchase
I thought this will present some facts, but it is only full of words. Who cares about how you feel - I bought this book, only to see if there are some new facts which I did not know about.

Utterly disappointed
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
John W. Kongable
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2016
Verified Purchase
Perfect writing about famous people
Helpful
 Report
Bruce Corneil : Pop culture historian
5.0 out of 5 stars An all class act
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2004
Many of us who appreciate the work of truly great non-fiction writers were deeply saddened by the recent passing of Alistair Cooke.

Although best remembered for his long running radio commentary "A Letter from America" and his various television shows of earlier years, it makes for a pleasant change to go back and rediscover some of Mr Cooke's more substantial literary efforts.

A graduate in English literature from Cambridge University and a print journalist of considerable experience, Cooke managed to perfect a difficult balancing act. Throughout his long and prestigious career he steadfastly adhered to the highest professional and intellectual standards yet still managed to enjoy enviable success within the mass media. In many ways he raised the bar in his field by proving that there was, indeed, a solid market for quality work if it was cleverly presented in an entertaining and accessible style.

In this book the veteran newspaper man draws upon his impressive array of observational and descriptive skills to create a striking collection of penetrating celebrity profiles. Cooke wrote with the deft, light hand of a popular scribe but also with the probing incisiveness of a psychology professor. At all times he examined the inner workings of his subjects with an almost clinical thoroughness and a commendable sense of fairness. When it came to creating word pictures, the man was an old master.

Alistair Cooke was a consummate journalist, an all class act and a credit to his chosen calling .
12 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Roger Morris
5.0 out of 5 stars First-class Memoirs
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
This is my second copy of Six Men. I loved the first one to death. All the pen-pictures are excellently written. Inciteful and droll but above all composed by someone who knew his subjects personally. Remarkable in itself. Cooke was a wonderful writer and broadcaster. He's a great loss. - Roger Morris.
Report
Robin Wormell
4.0 out of 5 stars This order arrived on 06/02/2021, a few days late
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
Apart from arriving a few days late, I was very happy with the order.
Report
Summer
5.0 out of 5 stars great writing from a master
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
although a little old in years this has not dated, cooke is a master storeyteller.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report