Hello, I'm Kirstie Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The programme was originally broadcast in 1988, and the presenter was Michael Parkinson.

A castaway is most economically described as author, columnist and broadcaster.

His achievements within these categories are outstanding.

He was the financial editor of various papers, including the Guardian.

He's a former editor of Punch, and at present he's the publisher of highly successful magazines.

On television, he was a founder member of the Money programme, and on radio, he presented the world at one.

As an author, you get some idea of where his interest lie by the titles of his books, including

Money Talks, Have Expenses Will Travel, and it's no sin to be rich.

Here's William Davis.

Well, given this lifestyle of yours, obviously, sort of,

sympathetic, wealthy, life of luxury, could you adapt to the simple life on the Desert

Island? Oh, I think so. I've had a home on an island, in fact, two islands, for good many years.

For 20 years, I had a house on a small island in Sicily, called Leapary, which I enjoyed very

much, and certainly when I went there first, it was very much the simple life, no electricity,

and so on. And for the last few years, I've had an even smaller island, called Harbour Island,

in the Bahamas, where I spent two months of the year. Now, it's not too simple, because I can

bring in my cigars and bottle of champagne, and we do have electricity, so it's, though it always

happens on islands, it's a bit erratic, like the water supply. But yes, of course I could.

But on this island, then, you won't have your cigars, you won't have your champagne, it's

going to be a very, very severe regime, in a sense. Now, would you therefore still love islands,

...