Here are more than 60 eyewitness accounts from history. Many are notable events: the Battle of Thermopylae, the Black Death in 1348, the Great Fire of London, the execution of Louis XVI, the death of Nelson, the American Civil War and the bombing of Hiroshima. But there are also snapshots of more ordinary life - no less memorable for all that - including working conditions during the Industrial Revolution, views of slave owners and slaves, Paul Gaugin choosing a bride on Tahiti and the arrest of Dr Crippen. It is a fascinating and absorbing collection, bringing past alive as only direct memories like these can do.