Jeffrey Archer | Full Address and Q&A | Oxford Union

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A controversial figure in British politics, Lord Archer has had an enigmatic career. As an author, he has sold over 330m copies worldwide and as a politician he has been made a life peer and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Yet he is one of the few peers to serve time in prison, during which he wrote a three-volume memoir entitled A Prison Diary.
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[@revol148]

Mental note: spend your entire adult life telling people you "went to Oxford" when what what you really mean was that you attended the Oxford college of education - not the famous university !

[@uptake2]

Yep.... deliberately vague... a bit like submitting evidence like a diary, with taped down pages purporting to be the truth. I've been to Oxford. (It was a lovely day and I was home by 8pm.)

[@carson3811]

Guy is a hussler money and status that's what he craves

[@ImElliottWolfe]

@@carson3811mission accomplished

[@geetadevi2789]

Feels like he actually loves India and Indians, even if it is for hilarious reasons. He likes R. K Narayan as a short story teller, and Sachin Tendulkar, and so many Indians seem to be sitting among the Oxford graduates. I simply loved his lecture, and undoubtedly he is a complete entertainer and a great speaker. 👌

[@adamtzsch]

"Raise your hand if you've ever done 4 years for perjury and perverting the course of justice. Oh, just me then."

[@samuelclemens1691]

adamtzsch The best comment. Roared out laughing.

[@frankzappaspussy7362]

the essential comment.. but more chillingly - he almost got away with that.. and god only knows what other shit he did get away with..

[@matthewakian2]

arn't we all?

[@adamtzsch]

matthewakian2 “arn’t” we all what?

[@amarjitmalhi7259]

Klass!

[@PetraKidd]

I met Jeffrey Archer when I was working at Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge. I was 19 and on my own in the shop. He wanted Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas and we didn't have it. Let's just say he wasn't happy! I later found out it was on his New Year's reading list. This man is a genius raconteur and writer, he has my total respect. It's great to see he is still thriving and writing. Inspirational.

[@ozrockcafe]

Jeffrey likes to tell us how fabulous and funny he is. Thank you

[@SamOwenI]

Ray Fox to be fair, he is funny.

[@merrillbryans9260]

Bloody hell, he’s brilliant isn’t he? I could listen to him all day, great story teller!

[@benwakefield93]

I will always read his books but Lord Archer is a bellend

[@stephenholmes1036]

Whatever you think of him, He is a very good speaker. I still cannot believe how he treated his wife.

[@Nic64349]

I enjoyed a couple of his books in my life and his lecture, and though I'm somewhat aware of his biography, I'm not really in a position to add to the judgments to which he has already been subjected in the courts. I learned from his lecture, and I'm grateful to him and the others who made it possible for me to watch it.

[@yoriantahidayatsasaerila2752]

Agree with you. Brilliant comment👍

[@johnwatson9702]

A fantastic storyteller!

[@jamesthirtyone]

Like most conmen.

[@uptake2]

When I left Oxford..... Oh dear.. True insofar as that phrase suggests... but not really the truth in terms of the impact of the statement within that room.

[@wholovesyoubabywholovesyou1147]

The thing is I don't know if he was telling the truth or just telling a story

[@Crowka274]

The boss has spoken.

[@satansgenitalia]

Bit of a crook isn't he? A con-man. Listening to him I almost see how he pulled it off. He has some degree of gravitas and charisma.

[@ImElliottWolfe]

He’s an exceptional con-man. I’m fascinated by him.

[@fatmakazim4341]

wonderful speaker

[@Smokedship]

What an interesting lecture. The strict way he deals with the students is how professors should conduct themselves and what you don't really see these days...

[@sharonjanethague7181]

Fantastic speaker. A great writer.

[@kieranosullivan4966]

Very tame questions. He wanted to be PM. Did he want to avoid a prison sentence?

[@georgeroberts7889]

Capable, interesting, good writer, pushed his luck, didn't get away with it. Deserves a second? chance, a little gruff but there are much worse people out there.

[@redatticus7606]

Jayzuz! An opportunity to ask questions to one of the most entertaining authors in of our times, and none of them ask anything about the art of writing, how he comes up with the thrilling stories, settings, people, characters etc......Ask a writer about his craft, not the same old drab British politics and Jihad ughh......BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRINGGGG!!!

[@MrDavey2010]

Here’s a good title for you Jeffrey - A Study in Arrogance!

[@justacrocodile9486]

Are you insinuating Jeffrey Archer is arrogant? I would say, from watching this video, that he is a man who appears confident and self assured, yet has humility, he admits his faults, is able to be wry about his shortcomings, praises other authors, speaks of his love for his wife, his admiration for others, in short he was a captivating speaker and I was riveted. I like his books, they are well written and it is curious to think that had he not lost all his money and been desperate to earn money to repay his debt, that all his books may never have been written and a great many people would not have had the pleasure of reading them.

[@MrDavey2010]

@@justacrocodile9486 He’s taken you in then.

[@Problembeing]

Who said 'crime doesn't pay'?

[@smnhpkns]

He wrote a short story about that

[@TelexToTexel]

If it is so difficult to get on the best seller list, what I really worry about is those buying the Archer books: there seems to be no beginning to your talents when selecting reading material!

[@hurryshorts]

within 1:30 seconds he got me hooked to this video

[@nigelcowie6883]

Brilliant

[@user-mc1co5hg9n]

What a jacket!!!

[@heatherwhittaker6169]

Great Talk

[@johnbacon4414]

Brilliant! A great writer and story teller!

[@readventurekids]

Is it possible to dislike someone after 2 seconds? Yup.

[@neilwedkind9037]

Excellent

[@timclark3391]

Enjoyed the nobodies with knives out almost as much as the talk by the big meanie who has sold a gigaton of books ;-) LOL

[@peterpackiam]

Brilliantly spaced out,. Cheers to Jeffery.

[@sratus]

...whatever that means

[@nobywils]

Great talk!

[@javeriajezzydrjavitalpur]

I love archer, especially the short stories, gosh a lot of my friends too love him, we love you from Pakistan

[@yoganathan001]

In Pakistan, corruption from 'top down' , bare faced lies, duplicity, deceit, perjury, perverting the 'course of justice', subjugation of women, prostitution, multiple wives held simultaneously (bigamy).... are all part of YOUR 'normal' existence, and practiced by those in the highest of authority ; it therefore comes as no surprise to me that you would 'love' your brethren : Archer and his ilk !

[@ashyyyk8098]

@@somerandomguy9125 he's not wrong though isn't it?

[@mukeshkumarpaswan9028]

He is straight, very clear, humourous, n confident . India loves him n his books so much.

[@TheMiseryIndex]

He does a wicked Anne Widdecombe impersonation

[@OldAlastair]

One of the best yet. Thank you.

[@doraiswamy3470]

RK Narayan... Woah!

[@soledadthompson4093]

I like what I have read of his, but I thoroughly dislike him as a person. Hard to listen to him, so full of himself, rude and off putting. I guess he tries to create a persona.

[@bojackjackson6959]

top G

[@spdelta3]

Mumbai… Well I am from Mumbai India.. Have almost all of your books and read them again and again.. And none are pirated. But yeah… pirated copies are available on the traffic lights, making you popular here.

[@fusonyu]

This is the reason why you shouldn’t be late in oxfords

[@banjostyles1974]

WHAT BOOK IS THAT?!?!?!?!

[@KF-cx8bm]

Absolutely love his books

[@javeriajezzydrjavitalpur]

Clifton chronicles, best kept secret harry also got little time on radio show and he was also told to say the name of book as much,

[@adarshkumard.j8747]

And to be amonst the top 15 bestseller within 3 weeks of the author tour(harry clifton did achieve that😉)

[@jetsiomanuna3761]

I don't care about your criminal history we all have our weaknesses and make silly mistake's as we mature. But sir I have enjoyed all your book's and love the way you tell stories. Thank You

[@lizabethgussman3147]

Ronald Reagan was an actor.

[@kynchan3332]

The academic at the back just wanted to promote a book on jihadism. You have to be very careful when academics want to dominate the interview because they have an answer but put questions to lead to their answer. A strong moderator is needed to keep questions relevant, ideally about the author's experiences rather than theories.

[@SanjayPamegam]

Harry Clifton?

[@Dbdbe1]

Stole from charities, lied in court, treated women like crap. Great invitation. Not.

[@baohanchannel8515]

I come from Viet Nam. I very like writer Jeffrey Archer. So so love. 💗

[@anubhavs.sarkar4591]

A great great great writer.Reading clifton chronicles. Love from india

[@senatkumarroy3413]

Jeffery has lived a life . Warts and all . He takes life head on . He is the lost band member from the Rolling Stones - Sex , drugs , Rock & Roll. He has made mistakes and paid for it . Live and Let Live , and let his wisdom and experience enrich us.

[@thetributary8089]

30:30 you could start by asking American women, as they make up the majority of voters here.

[@PuganPoo]

didn't realise his age. Keep it up Jefferey! BIG FAN of YOURS!!!! P.S dont like your jacket though/ rofl That man shouldn't have bought politics into this discussion.

[@MrJezza31]

What a stupid jacket

[@leonharpley7057]

This is just the first chapter in a book from a lolz

[@cvb777]

What he says about the first five women prime ministers is absolute rubbish.

[@henrysmith883]

Hardly anyone there. How humiliating.

[@srinathj8361]

Such a wonderful Genius sir Jeffrey Archer a humble bow all the best please keep rocking

[@mateuszkunda9400]

Is Jeffrey Harry Clifton or Sir Giles Barrington?

[@HebrewsElevenTwentyFive]

Thoroughly enjoyed that ☺️

[@theSenseOfgroup]

John Bercow. Really? Oh yes, irony. Got me there.....

[@HebrewsElevenTwentyFive]

Nope, no irony.

[@robg71]

Lots of nasty comments on here. Archer has made many mistakes in his life, who hasn't ? He is by far one of the greatest story tellers. The Fourth estate is My favorite. Well worth a read.

[@travellerextraordinnaire7388]

All his books are class. Why the nasty comments tho? What mistakes did he do?

[@Dbdbe1]

Most of us haven't stolen from charities, or lied in court. The novels are airport lounge - fine as far as they go, but that's it.

[@vivekximb]

Wonderful Talk... My Question is that i want to know the name of the book and the author ie the person handing over it to Lord Jeffrey around the 40th minute in the video. He himself answered very correctly the question he asked to Lord Jeff. So i wanna read that book and know bout him..... pls, if any one can help!!!

[@Stokken96]

Educating Messiahs by Colin Hannaford

[@Smokedship]

The Asian dude in the back looks as if its all going over his head...

[@nickpmusic]

Great talk

[@milsub59]

Grow up

[@michaelpaulsmith4619]

Hearing Jeffrey Archer talk about literature is rather like hearing Andrew Lloyd Webber talking about opera. What a waste of time this was...

[@dray7916]

Amazing guy. Wonderful speech.

[@BazzerObama]

Archer is a great ‘Storyteller’ say his fans……….the rest of us just see him as an unfaithful, morally bankrupt, perjurer that the overwhelming evidence confirms that he is.

[@frankbooth3727]

I love how he lets his guard down at the end and reveals how humble he truly is. No easy thing when you're an Oxford man, run for England, been an MP, a peer of the realm, sold 352 million books and receive masses of fan mail every week.

[@Dbdbe1]

Didn't really go to Oxford, stole from charities, had to resign as an MP because of a financial scandal, paid prostitutes, lied repeatedly in court, and only remains a peer because getting rid of it is so legally tricky. The guy is a shit.

[@andrewaway]

What a tedious guy.

[@ponytails53]

aren't there rules re convicted criminals ?

[@apexxxx10]

*He must be the best dressed man in Britain! He got STYLE*

[@jazzhands7771]

What'a that behind you? Oh, it's only your "career".

[@robg71]

Lots of frustrated left leaning authors commenting on Archer. ;-)

[@D4n1t0o]

I know, right? It's delicious xD

[@smnhpkns]

Here here

[@revol148]

+robg71 oh there are plenty on the right who see straight through this fraud of a man - trust me I'm one of them !

[@uptake2]

Not an author... The Law is neither Left nor Right.

[@uptake2]

@@smnhpkns You mean Hear, hear.. cuh!

[@padcraic357]

A criminal given the oxygen of publicity

[@iancarr3923]

Some silly comments below! Whatever you think of him it's a great act.

[@chrish12345]

the whole thing for me comes to life at around 36.50 with the 'yihadi' guy, it seems to set Mr Archer on an unexpected course of pure delicious fantasy for the remainder of the talk - wonderful

[@Clydesider711]

Was it scripted comedy? I choked with laughter.

[@chrish12345]

no script needed - just random events

[@aminaz1778]

Did the man say etatism

[@tanvirkamal]

What a man!

[@electoplater]

jeff you are wrong because you have lost touch with people

[@javeriajezzydrjavitalpur]

Giles still didn't dies in last book and viginia still alive. why not... another book after this was a man

[@leonharpley7057]

Intellectual arrogance

[@firekind1980]

Beautiful elbow pads.

[@daveyork0]

they match each other but neither matches the jacket

[@samuelclemens1691]

Is he still alive. ? ?

[@adamtzsch]

Paul H This bastard will live forever! 😂😫

[@jep1912]

Reached for the 'off' switch after two minutes... next.

[@mj169]

This shit literally said the same shit during his visit to our school....WITH THE EXACT SAME PHRASES-GESTURES-CONTENT

[@MegaPaulm]

2nd rate politician 1st rate shithouse

[@apexxxx10]

*I strongly dislike: tricky Politicians and Cricket. Jeffrey Archer is politician and he loves Cricket.I say this anachronistic colonial, goofy game should be phased out! This is how it can be done: ADIDAS, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche will donate 999 million footballs to Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. In 5-10 years one of these countries will qualify for the FIFA World Cup. And that will be the end of Le Cricket. "Sticky wicket, The Ashes" who needs it? Think about your children and protect them from cricket. You can get rid of the FUCKING Pounds, Stones (LBS!) LOT OF BULL SHIT and Helmut von Fahrenheit. WORLD. Temperature is Centigrade! GO METRIC Think about your children. Johnnie de Bangkok CarSanook Media Thailand 🇹🇭The only “Cricket” we know here is the insect.*

[@apexxxx10]

N8

[@thelmamwima1546]

I think I would also like his stories

[@frederickbowdler8169]

boring books

[@norealusername]

if you find jeffrey archer boring then what do you even find interesting?

[@alexramsey4618]

I thought this MF is dead....

[@lizabethgussman3147]

"Lord"?Hereditary?

[@shamanahaboolist]

To me there's something seriously wrong with this guy. He strikes me as a narcissist. The way he spoke to those students who were late instantly raised my hackles. I doubt I would tolerate his company.

[@lawrencefinch-hatton6231]

Indeed. His thinly veiled aggression is perplexing.

[@justacrocodile9486]

@The505Guys I agree with you. It is bad manners to walk late into a room where a speaker is in full flow. Personally in the latecomers place I would have crept quietly into the back of the room and not walked right down to the front of the room. That is asking to be rebuked for lateness, as indeed the two latecomers were, but Jeffrey was indeed partly joking, as I would think the latecomers would have known.

[@lowenbraubl]

too arrogant

[@mark-shane]

A boring guy, met him one time, Arrogant

[@David-oo1ik]

Comes across really badly

[@RapunzelinOttawa]

00:50 after asking the crowd how many had written a book, several raise their hands. Jeffrey points to the black gentleman in the front row, and remarks: "ooohh, you've ALREADY written one . . . Good." Imagine, a black man writing a book! What a pretentious waste of space Jeffrey Archer is. Please, do not feed his ego and his fund bank account by buying his books! I am shocked by Oxford Union's willingness to support his idiotic and dangerous stance on literature and life.

[@Cookingwithsunz]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZDKlnZ7mal3epo Full Summary of the novel Sons of Fortune.

[@timholstpetersen79]

Hi from Denmark. With regards to Trump becoming President. I hope he wins the next election. The US is going down the drain.... woke military, woke everything? I love your books.... but stick to writing, not doing politics.... please ;-) I guess some writers could do in politics.... but not the Hollywoody of you. It's almost tragic how some of the most privileged movie stars and authors are also the most prone to promote an end to the West's way of life... the _extremely_ privileged life they've lived off most of their existence, LOL ;-)