Letter to Daniel

'If Radio 4 produces a greatest hits LP, Letter to Daniel will merit a prominent place… Keane's delivery ranges from a lyricism straight out of Synge to a sparseness that owes something to Samuel Beckett' - Mark Jones in the Evening Standard.

Fergal Keane's Letter to Daniel, a heartfelt message addressed to his newborn son, attracted an unprecedented response when it was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. This superb collection of articles, broadcasts and new writing now unites both elements of his life: the intrepid foreign correspondent and the reflective private man.

Keane charts South Africa's extraordinary voyage from violence and despair to the optimism of Nelson Mandela's Rainbow Nation, and files vivid reports from the Far East. Alongside reflections on his native Ireland, his upbringing and early career there - and some provocative thoughts on national identity - he writes of his friendship with the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, pays homage to a beloved colleague who met his death gathering news, and describes being attacked by a Mongolian herdsman on the Trans-Siberian Express.

Readers of his earlier books on South Africa and Rwanda - Bondage of Fear and Season of Blood - will recognise the extraordinary intelligence and humanity of Fergal Keane's work; others will find in this collection the perfect introduction.