Government minister Patrick Macready has been found dead in his flat. The coroner rules it an accident, a sex game gone wrong.Jon Swift is from the old stock of journos - cynical, cantankerous and overweight - and something about his friend's death doesn't seem right. Then days after Macready's flat is apparently burgled, Swift discovers that his friend had been researching a string of Russian government figures who had met similarly 'accidental' fates.When the police refus...

In a Quick Read published for World Book Day, bestselling author and internationally renowned BBC journalist John Simpson shares some of his fascinating stories from a life spent reporting around the world, from Northern Ireland to Iraq, and from Kosovo to Kabul.Drawing on his multiple acclaimed volumes of autobiography and hitherto unpublished material, Twenty Tales from the War Zone brings together some of the highlights of Simpson's remarkable journali...

The first volume of autobiography from legendary foreign correspondent, John Simpson.Since the 1970s, John Simpson has travelled the world to report on the most significant events of our time. From being punched in the stomach by Harold Wilson on one of his first days as a reporter, to escaping summary execution in Beirut, flying into Tehran with the returning Ayatollah Khomeini, and narrowly avoiding entrapment by a beautiful Czech secret agent, Simpson has had an...

**'Informative, amusing, sometimes shocking' – Giles Foden, The GuardianA critical examination of the British press over the last century, from legendary foreign correspondent John Simpson.**Through many decades of groundbreaking journalism across the globe, John Simpson has become one of the most recognisable and trusted British reporters. In Unreliable Sources, he draws upon this extensive experience to trace the history of the press in the UK, and explo...

Jon Swift is in trouble.His journalism career is in freefall.He's too old to be part of the new world order and he's never learned to suck up to those in charge. But experience has taught him to trust his instincts.When, for the first time in years, Jon runs into Lin Lifeng in a café in Oxford he wonders if the meeting is a coincidence. When Lin asks him to pass on a coded message, he knows it's not.Travelling to Beijing, Jon starts to follow a tangled web i...

From distinguished foreign correspondent John Simpson, a fascinating history of what it is to risk life and limb to bring home news of the troubled world'Great stories, sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious' TelegraphIn corners of the globe where fault-lines seethe into bloodshed and civil war, foreign correspondents have, for hundreds of years, been engaged in uncovering the latest news and – despite obstacles bureaucratic, pol...

'Highly entertaining' – The TimesThe second volume of autobiography from legendary foreign correspondent, John Simpson.There are only a handful of places left on this earth where you can't buy a McDonald's hamburger or stay in a Holiday Inn – and John Simpson has been to them all.Honest, entertaining, and at times hilarious, A Mad World, My Masters is a celebration of some of the world's wilder places. Packed full ...

Language is always changing. No one knows where it is going but the best way to future-cast is to look at the past. John Simpson animates for us a tradition of researching and editing, showing us both the technical lexicography needed to understand a word, and the careful poetry needed to construct its definition. He challenges both the idea that dictionaries are definitive, and the notion that language is falling apart. With a sense of humour, an ability to laugh at bureaucracy and an inc...

The fourth volume of autobiography from legendary foreign correspondent, John Simpson.For decades, John Simpson has travelled the world to report on the most significant events of our time. In Not Quite World's End, he offers a lively and upbeat look at the challenges and changes the world has gone through in his life and long career.He looks at the world's troubles – war in the Middle East, global warming, population explosion – and takes the perh...

From acclaimed foreign correspondent John Simpson, a riveting account of more than twenty years spent covering Saddam Hussein's Iraq.A major work of serious reportage, The Wars Against Saddam explores the full story of Saddam Hussein's rise to power, and his relationship with the West throughout his dictatorship. Simpson blends history with personal anecdotes from decades spent reporting in the field, offering unparalleled insight and perspective.T...

This unique and authoritative dictionary contains over 1,100 of the most widely used proverbs in English and uses research from the Oxford English Corpus, the world's largest language databank. This edition has been revised and fully updated and includes numerous entirely new entries. It also features expanded coverage of foreign language proverbs currently in use in English. With an emphasis on examples of usage, including the earliest written evidence of its use, this A-Z guide provides ...

‘I have already touched on my childhood in Strange Places, Questionable People. But the further through life I get the more I want to revisit it. I want to look at the whole of my childhood, the England I grew up in and my family.’A candid and beautifully written memoir that takes readers on a journey through post-war England.In Days from a Different World, legendary foreign correspondent John Simpson transports us to the late 1940s to rev...