Fifty Years before the Masthead

Political journalist Anthony Howard takes an autobiographical journey through fifty years in the newspaper industry. At Oxford, Howard wrote what was probably the first profile of Michael Heseltine, who describes how they have remained friends despite their political differences. Then came national service. Michael Parkinson, then a captain in press relations, recalls an anonymous soldier sending despatches back home during the Suez crisis. It turned out to be Howard, who would later join Parkinson on The Guardian.