The Millions

Rob Gifford is NPR’s London Correspondent. He came to London in 2005, after six years as NPR’s correspondent in Beijing. Gifford has reported from around the world for NPR, especially in Asia and Europe. Two days after the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, Gifford flew to Pakistan for the first of many reporting trips to the Muslim world. His first book, China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power was published in 2007 by Random House.

My wife tells me I would be more mature emotionally if I read more fiction, but I just can’t seem to do it. What’s the point of reading about something that never happened? (Please don’t send me hate mail). So, since I now live in London, I have been immersing myself in Factual and Historical Books about Britain. Peter Ackroyd. Wow! His London: The Biography is a masterpiece. I am just about to start on his latest, Thames: Sacred River. I have also read Simon Jenkins’ excellent tome on the longterm legacy of the Iron Lady’s time in charge, Thatcher and Sons. Finally, a scathing indictment of the British, and the whole Western, news media in Flat Earth News by Nick Davies.

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