For thirty years Mark Austin covered the biggest stories in the world for one of the great British TV news organisations, ITN. As a foreign correspondent and anchorman he witnessed first-hand the most epic events of our times. The stories themselves will be familiar to many people, but less well known are the often extraordinary behind the scenes tales of a newsman's life on the road; the problems encountered in some of the most dangerous places on earth; the days when things go badly wrong; the moments of high drama and raw emotion and, quite often, the hilarious happenings the viewer never imagines and only seldom sees.

Describing his time reporting on some of the most significant events of recent years, including the Iraq War, during which his friend and colleague Terry Lloyd was killed by American 'friendly fire', the historic transition in South Africa from the brutality of apartheid to real democracy, the horrors of the Rwandan genocide, and natural disasters such...