John Trow was employed as a Linotype operator on the News of the World for 32 years before being sacked by Rupert Murdoch for going on strike on 24th January 1986.
During the next thirteen and a half months he was actively involved in the dispute and wrote the book between May 1986 and March 1987 - detailing his own experiences and those of his former colleagues.
John Trow's diary account in Wapping - The Great Printing Dispute portrays one man's view of a momentous event that dislocated the lives of 5,500 workers and their families. He makes it clear that after 30 years of making Murdoch's millions his efforts counted for nothing. The strength of his commitment to the strike and to his colleagues is a continuous thread through this catalogue of the ups and downs of picketing in the face of great adversity. This is a rare account that delivers a view of Murdoch's uncaring disloyalty towards his workforce from a striker's perspective.
There are some poignant moments in his account of the struggle faced by his group of sacked workers. And some horrifying ones too as he observes that the brutality of the Metropolitan Police has led to many people being afraid to go on similar demonstrations.