R. W. Cooper joined The Times in 1924 and remained with the paper for forty-five years before his retirement in 1969. As a war correspondent he reported from France leaving Paris as the Germans marched in. For several years he reported 'the forgotten war' in Burma and India before returning to Europe. As foreign correspondent after the war, he was first in Germany then the United States to cover the formation of the United Nations, and later became chief correspondent in Washington. His last posting was in Paris. As The Daily Telegraph wrote in its obituary on Cooper's death in April 1992, 'Bob Cooper, who has died aged eighty-seven, covered the world with great distinction but scant recognition (because) The Times was the last of the British nationals to give its writers bylines. There is no doubt that Cooper's reporting would have won him fame if he had worked for a more modern newspaper.'

The Nuremberg Trial, reissued in Faber Finds, was the first book on the subject. Robert Cooper was the only British journalist to cover the trial for its duration, producing daily articles ranging from 350 to 6000 words, and it was these articles that formed the basis of the book.