Residents are being invited to a coffee and cake morning in West Burton next week, which will also feature the launch of a new memoir by a former diplomat.
The event will take place on Tuesday, March 10, from 10am to 12pm at West Burton Village Hall, in aid of Cancer Research UK.
Local resident Tony Rossiter will give a short talk about his new book, Diplomatic Adventures, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at life as a junior diplomat during some of the most turbulent moments of the 20th century.
Rossiter, a former diplomat, civil servant and international consultant, draws on his experiences in Cold War Moscow, war-torn Pakistan and Argentina during the era of Juan Perón.
As a young diplomat posted to Moscow in 1968, he experienced intense Cold War tensions first-hand, with Western officials kept under close surveillance, their flats bugged and routine harassment from the KGB. From there he moved to Karachi during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, where bomb blasts shook the city and families, including his own, were eventually evacuated after days of air attacks.
A later posting to Buenos Aires came shortly after Perón’s reinstatement as president, at a time when urban guerrilla activity was increasing and Western targets were under threat.
Unlike many diplomatic memoirs, Diplomatic Adventures focuses not on high-level negotiations and bureaucracy, but on the day-to-day realities of life at the coalface, offering what organisers describe as a vivid and personal insight into international diplomacy.
Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the day at a special price of £15, representing a 20 per cent discount on the recommended retail price. Payment can be made by cash or card.
The book will go on general sale from March 15 at The Wonky Tree Bookshop in Leyburn.
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