Shooting History: A Personal Journey

Warm, witty and engaging, Snow's story is also mildly self-deprecating: he seems comfortable discussing mistakes that he feels he has made and conflicts he feels guilty to have neglected in his long career. Regular viewers of Channel 4 News will recognise his easy tone, but don't expect reams of backroom gossip from his years as the presenter of the broadsheet news programme: over three quarters of the book is given over to his foreign adventures and it's clear that he sees himself as a currently static foreign correspondent. Given his clear affection for the people that he has met along the way, his anger about the injustices they have faced, and his manifesto for a better world (delivered in the final few pages), it's easy to see why he believes reporting from the field to be the way journalists can make a real difference. Shooting History is a riveting memoir, a damning indictment and an excellent read for anyone interested in current affairs.--Duncan Thomson

The tale of his early life, student activism, work with drug addicts in Soho and time with the VSO in Uganda was fascinating, but by about half way through the book soon descends into a series of short anecdotes about major events.

For example, although painting a picture of how he feels the September 11th attacks on the U.S. may have fermented over the years, the day itself was almost glossed over. Although no longer 'on the road' by this time, I personally would have been interested to know more about what it was like in the newsroom as that day progressed.

There was enough material in this book for a couple of more detailed volumes. Nonetheless, for fans of books of 'recent' events by those that witnessed them, still a good read.