"I never liked New Year’s Day," begins Guinness, but he decided to start this diary with his 1 January 1995 entry; and he ends the diary on 6 June_ 1996, in acknowledgment of the momentous day in 1940 when his son Matthew was born, or "possibly" the Normandy invasion. The point is that Guinness is concerned so much with beginnings and endings that he calls the reader’s attention to them, reminding one and all that the sun is most certainly setting on the end of a sublime actor’s days. And there is deep sadness to his recordings of the passings of dear friends and the preparations for memorials. Yet, the diary is about so much more than reflections on death; it is about the full life being lived by a much-beloved actor whose name will long be remembered. Sir Alec’s friend John le Carrehas written a warm foreword that complements the diary nicely. Consider it a coda to Guinness’ best-selling 1986 autobiography, Blessings in Disguise.