In the 1000-line poem Killing Time, the manic countdown to a thousand years of history reaches its climax, with the last twelve months spooling past like newsreel. In the Age of Communication, we find a world picked clean by microphone and camera, a world where nothing is sacred, secret or even true.

Simon Armitage, renowned for his 'technique, versatility and passion', rises to the challenge of delineating this supposed milestone in civilization. In Killing Time he proves verse to be the perfect language for taking on the big issues of our time, and poetry a genuine alternative in a world ransacked for knowledge and news.