Witness in a Time of Trial

The end of the nineties felt like a new era: the Cold War was over, Tony Blair had swept into power and a new millennium beckoned. At the Guardian, a modernising new editor stood determined to lead the digital revolution.

Yet revolutions are rarely bloodless — and at times the very soul of the paper seemed at stake. Two high-profile libel cases threatened the company’s reputation; wars in Kosovo and the Gulf revealed sharp divisions of editorial opinion; and cracks were starting to show in the ‘marriage made in heaven’ between the Guardian and the Observer.

From the death of Diana to 9/11, Guardian journalists were at the heart of every story.

Drawing on more than 100 interviews, Ian Mayes lifts the curtain on how news is made, in the words of those who were witness to it.