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Today: A History of our World through 60 years of Conversations & Controversies
Sixty world-changing stories from six decades of BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Edited by Edward Stourton and complete with forewords by Nick Robinson and Martha Kearney and in introduction from the Today programme editor Sarah Sands, this book examines the impact of major events including the fall of the Berlin Wall, 9/11 and space exploration.
A keepsake for any armchair historian or people interested in current affairs, this hardback book reflects our history and how one of the BBC's flagship radio programmes has tried to make sense of it all.
Edited by Edward Stourton and complete with forewords by Nick Robinson and Martha Kearney and in introduction from the Today programme editor Sarah Sands, this book examines the impact of major events including the fall of the Berlin Wall, 9/11 and space exploration.
A keepsake for any armchair historian or people interested in current affairs, this hardback book reflects our history and how one of the BBC's flagship radio programmes has tried to make sense of it all.
- GenresNonfiction
512 pages, Hardcover
Published September 5, 2019
About the author
Edward Stourton
18 books13 followersEdward Stourton is a newspaper columnist, writer and presenter of several high-profile current affairs programmes and regularly presents BBC Radio Four programmes such as The World at One, The World this Weekend, Sunday and Analysis. He is a frequent contributor to the Today programme, where for ten years he was one of the main presenters.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 29, 2019
I'll forever love BBC Radio 4, and I found this book to be so brilliant since it recanted first-person experiences around different subjects as said on air the day it occurred. From varying Prime Ministers and other interesting individuals.
At the same time, it enabled me to contextualise information I had previously vaguely heard about and not understood the ramifications of.
At the same time, it enabled me to contextualise information I had previously vaguely heard about and not understood the ramifications of.
February 25, 2026
This 60 year (1958-2018) anthology of news stories covered on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme is a fascinating read, particularly for Britons of pensionable age looking back on the events that formed the background to their lives. In the busiest years of those lives there was no opportunity to listen to the Today programme and the focus was elsewhere so there was only vague and partial awareness of what was going on. The book neatly fills in the gaps with details on 60 news stories spread across six thematic chapters - covering internal conflicts/protest, UK politics, wars, culture, social change and science/nature.
I lived through these events and so on the one hand they feel very familiar, but on the other hand, having read the book, it is amazing how little attention I was paying to them or really understood what was going on!
Each story has been expertly told and summarised from its beginning to its end (at least as far as it stood in 2018), with analysis of the key issues using Today programme interviews with experts and protagonists. So, for example, the history of the supersonic aircraft Concorde, a source of Anglo-French technological pride, began in the 1950s, saw the maiden flight in 1969 and first commercial flight in 1976, and ended in 2003. Lacking commercial take-up outside the host governments, only 20 were ever built, of which 14 flew commercially.
The range of topics is one of the things that makes the book so interesting, from Greenham Common to the Northern Irish hunger strikes, and from grammar schools and fox hunting to Britain’s involvement in space and the BSE/CJD crisis. There are many surprising facts, such as the hundreds who died from vCJD, and much to be learned in general from these episodes.
Striking too is how much has already changed since the publication of this book, from geopolitics to society to technology.
I lived through these events and so on the one hand they feel very familiar, but on the other hand, having read the book, it is amazing how little attention I was paying to them or really understood what was going on!
Each story has been expertly told and summarised from its beginning to its end (at least as far as it stood in 2018), with analysis of the key issues using Today programme interviews with experts and protagonists. So, for example, the history of the supersonic aircraft Concorde, a source of Anglo-French technological pride, began in the 1950s, saw the maiden flight in 1969 and first commercial flight in 1976, and ended in 2003. Lacking commercial take-up outside the host governments, only 20 were ever built, of which 14 flew commercially.
The range of topics is one of the things that makes the book so interesting, from Greenham Common to the Northern Irish hunger strikes, and from grammar schools and fox hunting to Britain’s involvement in space and the BSE/CJD crisis. There are many surprising facts, such as the hundreds who died from vCJD, and much to be learned in general from these episodes.
Striking too is how much has already changed since the publication of this book, from geopolitics to society to technology.
December 6, 2024
A remarkable account of the late 20th and early 21st century, told through the lens of one of the BBC’s flagship programmes.
I found the audiobook version to be incredibly beneficial, as they could insert the audio archive that they’re referring to within each section, giving deeper context to the tone of the remarks being quoted.
I liked the way they categorised and themed chapters, not simply choosing to go chronologically.
I found the audiobook version to be incredibly beneficial, as they could insert the audio archive that they’re referring to within each section, giving deeper context to the tone of the remarks being quoted.
I liked the way they categorised and themed chapters, not simply choosing to go chronologically.
April 19, 2022
A great book that I have been dipping into over the last few months. It looks at the last 60 years through the lens of the Today programme and gives bite sized history lessons. None of the chapters are more than a few pages, but they enlighten with the nuggets of knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews