Where can you find first-hand accounts of the Arab Spring, Japans nuclear disaster or the Norwegian atrocities? Thousands flouting celebrity superinjunctions? X-rated snaps of politicians? A babysitter mistaken for a cricket match? Or Darth Vaders advice to angry US voters? The answer, of course: on Twitter.

The first of its kind, A Twitter Year distills a year of conversation, argument, revelation and revolution into a ‘review of the year as written by the Twitter community. With profiles of top users and fascinating stats, it captures the biggest events in current affairs, culture and sport - from the death of Osama bin Laden to the demise of the News of the World, the panic at the London Riots to the excitement of the Royal Wedding.

In the year the social network celebrates its 5th birthday, Twitter continues to grow at an incredible rate. There are now over 200 million accounts across the world, including Lady Gaga, the British monarchy, Lord Voldemort and a lot of pets. A Twitter Year gathers some of the funniest and sharpest tweets to bring you a unique celebration of the way we talk now.

@amiralx amira salah-ahmed
THIS is the most important moment we have ever experienced...we just ousted a dictator! #egypt 6.10 p.m. 11 Feb


@caitlinmoran Caitlin Moran
This wedding has mainly been about Pippa Middletons amazing arse, hasnt it? 12.27 p.m. 29 Apr


As millions of devotees have discovered, Twitter turns out to have unsuspected depth…In short, the most fascinating thing about Twitter is not what its doing to us. Its what were doing to it
Stephen Johnson, Time

I like to follow my [something] Martha Stewart, ‘cause Martha Stewart she keeps it scuttered and buttered, baked and flaked and she love to wake and bake with the big Snoop Dogg. You feel me?
Snoop Dogg