Lives change on the turn of certain key events. Marmaduke Hussey's was not playing in the 1942 Varsity Rugby match. Fit to play, but fearing that an injury may prevent him from shipping out to the African Front, 'Dukie' was touch judge instead. It changed his life. Without it he may not have been shot and lost his leg, or spent five painful years recovering from a bullet to the spine. Perhaps he would never have joined the Daily Mail, rising to the top of their managerial ranks. Maybe he wouldn't have become Managing Director of The Times newspaper, during the worst crisis the paper had faced in its 200-year history. If he'd played he might never have risen to being the Chairman of the BBC, again at a time of crisis.As Dukie says himself Chance Governs All.

Bursting with unconventional wisdom, riotous anecdotes and deadpan humour, Dukie's memoirs are also a tender and moving testimony to 'Seizing the Day.' This is a truly fitting tribute to a quite extraordinary life;

Marmaduke Hussey was born in 1923, the son of a civil servant. He gained a scholarship to Oxford, though his University education was cut short by World War II. Despite having a leg amputated, he finished his University career and became a manager at the Daily Mail. Since then he has been the Managing Director of The Times group of Newspapers and also the Chairman of the BBC. He is married with two children.