 He contracted polio at the age of three and was paralysed from the neck down, although over the next ten years he did eventually get back full use of the whole of his body except his legs - he needed splints to walk for the rest of his life.He was educated at Great Ayton Friends' School and Gateshead Grammar School and Brasenose College, Oxford and from 1930 to 1936 lectured in history at University College, Southampton.In 1936 he became a journalist with "The Economist" and soon became extremely influential, serving as deputy editor from 1939 to 1944.