Few people have the right or desire to call three continents home but BBC newsreader and former Africa correspondent George Alagiah does.

Talking with Brighton College headteacher Anthony Seldon to a packed house, he provided a fascinating insight into his life and what used to be called the Dark Continent.

Alagiah was born in Sri Lanka in the Fifties but aged five moved to Ghana because of oppression in his homeland. Then, after a coup, his family moved to Britain.

This country is his home but he feels at home in Africa and Sri Lanka, which he recently visited after 28 years away.

Africa, says Alagiah, is principally a communal, family-orientated society. The one-party political system in many countries is a testimony to that. Alagiah feels Western culture has not done Africa any favours by forcing it to adopt an alien way of thinking.

His new book, A Passage To Africa, explains the humanity of the man. Journalism is safe with people like him at the helm.