Charles
Neal Ascherson was born in Edinburgh on 5th October, 1932. He was
educated at Eton and at King's
College, Cambridge, where he was
taught by Eric
Hobsbawn.
Later Hobsbawn described Ascherson as "perhaps the most brilliant
student I ever had. I didn't really teach him much, I just let him
get on with it."
Ascherson
was awarded a triple-starred first but declined offers to become an
academic. Instead he decided to work as a reporter for the Manchester
Guardian. This was followed by The
Scotsman (1959-1960), The
Observer (1960-1990) and the Independent
on Sunday (1990-1998).
Books
by Ascherson included The King Incorporated
(1963), The Polish August (1981),
The Nazi Legacy (1985),
The Struggles for Poland (1987), Games
With Shadows (1988), Black Sea
(1995) and Stone Voices (2002).
