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A compelling account that mixes autobiography, reportage and a ‘state of the nation’ survey of wartime reporting from one of the outstanding TV journalists of our time

About the Author

Martin Bell is a former BBC war correspondent who has spent more than half a century in unquiet corners of the world, including four years as an MP in the House of Commons. His previous books include Through the Gates of Fire: A Journey into World Disorder and An Accidental MP. He is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and he lives in London.

Reviews

‘Thought-provoking and hard-hitting.’
*Mail on Sunday*

‘No one is better qualified than Martin Bell to write honestly about the decline of news reporting. Written with passion and clarity this book is an essential read for all who value truth and integrity in journalism.’
*Terry Waite CBE*

‘Throughout the book…[Bell] reflects on the television reporter’s trade, to which he brought so much distinction. He sees it as doomed, a result of “hotel rooftop” reporting from war zones by correspondents harried by hourly demands for new content, the “celebrification” of so much news and the shrinking of foreign coverage in both broadcasting and newspapers.’
*John Lloyd, Literary Review*

‘Wry, funny and trenchant, saluting the end of an era.’
*Kate Adie*

‘In prose as crisp and hard-hitting as the bullets he’s dodged for decades, Bell sounds the alarm for a TV journalism that’s under fire as never before. It’s typical Bell – unflinching truth-telling, brilliantly argued; a clarion call to everyone who cares about powerful journalism in a world that needs it more than ever.’
*Bill Neely, chief global correspondent, NBC News*

‘Martin Bell is the finest foreign correspondent of his generation… With wisdom, candour and integrity, he describes the irony and tragedy of the wars, revolutions and riots he covered in violent places all over the world. He is especially critical of editors at home who kept the public from seeing the ugly truth of what happened in places like Bosnia, Iraq and Israel. This is his masterwork.’
*John Laurence, author of The Cat from Hué: A Vietnam War Story*