Mao, Elvis and Muhammed Ali - Reuters was there

What was it really like to tread on Chairman Mao’s toes, meet Elvis, or report ringside from a Muhammed Ali fight? How does it feel when, in the turmoil of post-colonial Africa, you hear someone being executed outside your prison cell, or, when reporting on the war in Yugoslavia, your jeep is taken out by a landmine?

The answers are provided by Reuters’ correspondents who were there. The book, published in the company’s 150th year, was one of the first of many to appear under the Reuters imprimatur.

The editors were Nicholas Moore (Reuters 1964-2000), former correspondent and editor, and Sidney Weiland (Reuters 1949-1986), former diplomatic editor, who died in 1999 before its publication. Weiland was another Reuters legend, known to colleagues and competitors alike as “Sizzling Sid” for his seemingly ceaseless activity and the prodigious pace of his output.

The personal stories of a distinguished list of correspondents who found themselves in the most remarkable situations are related. The bylines are those of Allan Barker, Ronald Bedford, Vergil Berger, Annette von Broecker, Doon Campbell, John Chadwick, Basil Chapman, David Chipp, Ronald Clarke, Don Dallas, Bernd Debusmann, John Earle, Robert Elphick, Ronald Farquhar, Frederick Forsyth, Sandy Gall, Peter Gregson, Anthony Grey, John Heffernan, Tom Heneghan, Peter Jackson and Adrienne Farrell, Derek Jameson, Aleco Joannides, Peter B. Johnson, Adam Kellett-Long, Patrick Massey, Clare McDermott, Bernard Melunsky, Nicholas Moore, Peter Mosley, Rick Norsworthy, Hugh Pain, Gerry Ratzin, David Rogers, Christopher Roper, Bruce Russell, Jonathan Sharp, Stephen Somerville, John Suchet, Paul Taylor, Sidney Weiland, Brian Williams and Helen Womack. ■