The Bedside Guardian 2016

Has there been such a tumultuous year as 2016 in living memory? The EU referendum in June divided the nation and sent shockwaves through the world. The corridors of Westminster began to resemble a made-for-TV drama: friendships were betrayed, promises broken, and the political landscape was changed for ever.

But even before this we were already on course for a remarkable year. A series of unexpected celebrity deaths; the onward march of Donald Trump; an MP murdered on the streets of West Yorkshire; Wales’s shock appearance in a European Cup semi-final – it was a year of surprises, of ‘have you heard…?’ moments.

As ever, the Guardian’s team of award-winning journalists were on hand to make sense of it all, responding with a clear eye and a cool head when everyone else was losing theirs. The paper continued its tradition of trailblazing investigation, from the groundbreaking ‘The Web We Want’ campaign to the extraordinary revelations contained within the Panama Papers. There was even space for humour – a necessity in a year that at times seemed short of laughs.

Here, in the annual round-up of the paper’s best writing of 2016 – from Julian Barnes on Leicester winning the Premier League, Philip Pullman on Brexit, and not forgetting Nancy Banks-Smith on the Archers’ Rob and Helen – we take a look back at twelve months that will live long in the memory.

Claire Armitstead is books editor for the Guardian and the Observer. This year's foreword is written by Sir David Hare, Academy Award-nominated playwright, screenwriter and director.