<p><b>'Gloriously funny . . . unfailingly entertaining' &ndash; <i>Mail on Sunday</i><br><br>'What worlds she's seen, what a life she's had &ndash; at long last, the memoirs of the fearless, witty, indomitable Ann Leslie' &ndash; Deborah Moggach</b><br><br>She has been shot at by Bosnian snipers, been pursued by Robert Mugabe&rsquo;s notorious secret police, filed from the North Korean border, propositioned by both Salvador Dali and David Niven and been driven maniacally through London by Steve McQueen.<br><br>But Ann Leslie&rsquo;s life is every bit as remarkable as her career. A daughter of the Raj, she was born in India and the strongest influence on her early life was an illiterate Pashtun bearer, who saved her life during Partition. Her mother, a great beauty, was indifferent to her eldest daughter and she was sent to the first of a series of boarding-schools aged just four, eventually winning a scholarship to Oxford. After graduating she began her career at the Manchester office of the <i>Daily Express</i>, where the news editor took an instant dislike to her - she was a southerner, educated and &ndash; worst of all &ndash; female. Despite his best efforts she was soon given her own column. Then, after a stint covering show business she was appointed Foreign Correspondent of the <i>Daily Mail</i>, an association that endures today, almost forty years later, and one which finally allowed her real talent to shine through.<br><br><i>Killing My Own Snakes</i> is a witty, incident-filled account of an extraordinary life, a fascinating self-portrait of one the most influential journalists of our time.</p>