We thundered out

In celebration of its 200th birthday, here is the first fully illustrated history of "The Thunderer, the first newspaper that dared to be free. Founded in 1785 by a formerly bankrupt coal merchant to publicise a dubious printing proces, The Times of London grew to become in a few decades the most respected, feared and powerful organ of opinion in the world ... The full story is told of the dedicated owners, writers and printers who created The Times. This is a story of triumphant scoops -- the climbing of Everest or the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb ; of the executio of Louis XVI ; of Waterloo ; of Jack the Ripper ; of infamous libels and of a Times proprietor thrown into prison ; of great Times traditions such as the letters page, the famous Obituaries and the Crossword ; but, above all, this is the story of the creation of press freedom ... this tribute to "The Thunderer" on its 200th anniversary reproduces the greatest stories originally published in The Times with a wide variety of contemporary illustrations and previously unpublished photographs." -- Inside front cover.