Charles Wheeler

Witness to the Twentieth Century

By: Shirin Wheeler, Christiane Amanpour - foreword

Narrated by: Shirin Wheeler

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A look at the major events of the twentieth century through the eyes of the man who witnessed it all: celebrated BBC foreign correspondent Charles Wheeler. This audiobook is narrated by his daughter, Shirin Wheeler, and features original audio from Charles' broadcasting days.

Charles Wheeler, the BBC's longest-serving foreign correspondent, was one of Britain's greatest news reporters. For more than four decades, he reported for radio and television from most of the world's trouble spots. Present at many of the key episodes of the twentieth century, he had - as a BBC manager noted after the shooting of George Wallace, Presidential candidate and Governor of Alabama, on 15 May 1972, 'a knack of being in the right place at the right time'. It was typical of Charles that he ran towards the sound of the gunshot while the crowd was running in the opposite direction.

Wheeler's investigative skill and sense of judgement made him one of the most authoritative reporters of his generation. But what was it like to have been witness to the events that shaped our modern world? In this book - part memoir, part history, part reflection - his daughter, Shirin Wheeler, examines her father's journalistic legacy and brings her personal knowledge to bear on the project. She will tell the story of her father: a patient listener and forensic interrogator who was driven by curiosity and passion to report and expose injustice, and above all to give a voice to people ignored or unheard by many.

©2023 Shirin Wheeler and Christiane Amanpour (P)2023 Bonnier Books UK