How We Saw It

When Captain Webb swam the Channel, the man from the Telegraph was beside him in a boat. The paper sent Stanley to Africa and George Smith to discover the Babylonian story of Noah on ancient tablets. The 22-year-old Churchill wrote from the North-West frontier at [pound]5 a column, and Kipling from the front in the First World War. As well as showcasing the talents of these many eminent correspondents How We Saw It gives a fascinating picture of the way people lived and what they wanted during the last century and a half. From the girl who became the Talking Clock and the night that Crystal Palace burnt, to salmonella infected eggs and Tracey Emin's controversial works on display at the Tate, this book gives the news as it was experienced at the time, without the luxury of hindsight. Lavishly illustrated throughout with photographs from the Daily Telegraph archives and featuring newsflashes, letters to the editor, contributions from writers such as Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, John Keegan and A.N. Wilson, and a foreword from Lord Deedes, the book adds up to a riveting slice of history before the freshness wore off.