This is volume eight of The History of The Times, a project begun in 1935 telling the story of the paper from its beginnings (as the Daily Universal Register) in 1785.


The present volume brings the narrative almost up to date. Spanning twenty years from 2002, it covers the editorships of Robert Thomson (2002-07), James Harding (2007-12) and John Witherow (2013-2022). It records how The Times reported some momentous world events – wars, terrorism, a financial crash, the elections of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the Brexit referendum, the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of a queen – but its primary focus is closer to home, on the developments and personalities that made The Times what it is.