From New Year's Day 1995 to June 1996, Alec Guinness kept diaries in which he recorded not only day-to-day events, but also a range of memories, views and musings. Certain pre-occupations recur: theatre and film, books and paintings; the Church; food and drink and the delights of home and family. Friendship is also central to Sir Alec's life, and his friendship with Alan Bennett, Jill Balcon, Lauren Bacall and Barry Humphries, among others, forms the backbone of these wonderfully amusing diaries.