Rewatch A.N. Wilson, acclaimed biographer, historian and novelist as he is joined by Telegraph writer, Peter Stanford, as they delve into the stories that form his memoir Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises.

Wilson was formerly one of the ‘Best of Young British’ novelists and literary editor of the Spectator. His memoir describes his father – former managing director of Wedgwood – as well as the vile teachers at his first boarding school. 

One of the dons at Oxford during Wilson’s undergraduate years was the Shakespearean scholar Katherine Duncan-Jones, whom Wilson married at the age of 20. The book begins in the present day with his heart-torn visits to Katherine – whom he has long since divorced – as she endures the torment of dementia.

At every turn of this reminiscence, Wilson is baffled by his earlier self – whether he is flirting with unsuitable lovers, or toying with the idea of the priesthood. His chapter on the High Camp seminary he attended in Oxford is among the funniest in the book.