War Reporting for Cowards

War Reporting for Cowards PDF Author: Chris Ayres
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 1555845940
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
“Imagine George Costanza from Seinfeld being sent off to cover the Iraq War . . . Hilarious.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Chris Ayres is a small-town boy, a hypochondriac, and a neat freak with an anxiety disorder. Not exactly the picture of a war correspondent. But when his boss asks him if he would like to go to Iraq, he doesn’t have the guts to say no. After signing a one million dollar life-insurance policy, studying a tutorial on repairing severed limbs, and spending twenty thousand dollars on camping gear (only to find out that his bright yellow tent makes him a sitting duck), Ayres is embedded with a battalion of gung ho Marines who either shun him or threaten him when he files an unfavorable story. As time goes on, though, he begins to understand them (and his inexplicably enthusiastic fellow war reporters) more and more: Each night of terrifying combat brings, in the morning, something more visceral than he has ever experienced—the thrill of having won a fight for survival. War Reporting for Cowards tells, with “self-deprecating wit”, the story of Iraq in a way that is extraordinarily honest and bitterly hilarious (The New Yorker). “Heartbreakingly funny.” —Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead “Chris Ayres has invented a new genre: a rip-roaring tale of adventure and derring-don’t.” —Toby Young, author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People “Darkly entertaining.” —Los Angeles Times “Ayres’s stories of life with Marines are gripping—in part because he’s the perfect neurotic foil.” —People

War Reporting for Cowards

War Reporting for Cowards PDF Author: Chris Ayres
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 1555845940
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 398

Get Book

Book Description
“Imagine George Costanza from Seinfeld being sent off to cover the Iraq War . . . Hilarious.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Chris Ayres is a small-town boy, a hypochondriac, and a neat freak with an anxiety disorder. Not exactly the picture of a war correspondent. But when his boss asks him if he would like to go to Iraq, he doesn’t have the guts to say no. After signing a one million dollar life-insurance policy, studying a tutorial on repairing severed limbs, and spending twenty thousand dollars on camping gear (only to find out that his bright yellow tent makes him a sitting duck), Ayres is embedded with a battalion of gung ho Marines who either shun him or threaten him when he files an unfavorable story. As time goes on, though, he begins to understand them (and his inexplicably enthusiastic fellow war reporters) more and more: Each night of terrifying combat brings, in the morning, something more visceral than he has ever experienced—the thrill of having won a fight for survival. War Reporting for Cowards tells, with “self-deprecating wit”, the story of Iraq in a way that is extraordinarily honest and bitterly hilarious (The New Yorker). “Heartbreakingly funny.” —Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead “Chris Ayres has invented a new genre: a rip-roaring tale of adventure and derring-don’t.” —Toby Young, author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People “Darkly entertaining.” —Los Angeles Times “Ayres’s stories of life with Marines are gripping—in part because he’s the perfect neurotic foil.” —People

On All Fronts

On All Fronts PDF Author: Clarissa Ward
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525561498
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
“On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist beautifully outlines . . . what it means to seek the truth. It gave me a new faith in the power of reporting.” —Oprah Winfrey The recipient of multiple Peabody and Murrow awards, Clarissa Ward is a world-renowned conflict reporter. In this strange age of crisis where there really is no front line, she has moved from one hot zone to the next. With multiple assignments in Syria, Gaza, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, Ward, who speaks seven languages, has been based in Baghdad, Beirut, Beijing, and Moscow. She has seen and documented the violent remaking of the world at close range. With her deep empathy, Ward finds a way to tell the hardest stories. On All Fronts is the riveting account of Ward’s singular career and of journalism in this age of extremism. Following a privileged but lonely childhood, Ward found her calling as an international war correspondent in the aftermath of 9/11. From her early days in the field, she was embedding with marines at the height of the Iraq War and reporting from the center of Israel’s war with Hezbollah. Soon she was soon on assignment all over the globe. From her multiple stints entrenched with Syrian rebels to her deep investigations into the Western extremists who are drawn to ISIS, Ward covered Bashar al-Assad’s reign of terror without fear and with courage and compassion. In 2018, Ward rose to new heights at CNN and became a mother. Suddenly, she was doing this hardest of jobs with a whole new perspective. On All Fronts is the unforgettable story of one extraordinary journalist—and of a changing world.

Still Counting the Dead

Still Counting the Dead PDF Author: Frances Harrison
Publisher: House of Anansi
ISBN: 1770893059
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
"An extraordinary book. This dignified, just and unbearable account of the dark heart of Sri Lanka needs to be read by everyone." — Roma Tearne, author of Mosquito The tropical island of Sri Lanka is a paradise for tourists, but in 2009 it became a hell for its Tamil minority, as decades of civil war between the Tamil Tiger guerrillas and the government reached its bloody climax. Caught in the crossfire were hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren, doctors, farmers, fishermen, nuns, and other civilians. And the government ensured through a strict media blackout that the world was unaware of their suffering. Now, a UN enquiry has called for war crimes investigation, and Frances Harrison, a BBC correspondent for Sri Lanka during the conflict, recounts those crimes for the first time in sobering, shattering detail.

War Torn

War Torn PDF Author: Tad Bartimus
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0375757821
Category : Reporters and reporting
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
For the first time, the women who are legends in the world of journalism talk about professional and personal experiences as young reporters who lived, worked, and loved surrounded by war. These stories not only introduce a remarkable group; they give an entirely new perspective on the most controversial war in our history.

The Deserter's Tale

The Deserter's Tale PDF Author: Joshua Key
Publisher: House of Anansi
ISBN: 1770890726
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
Joshua Key's critically acclaimed memoir, The Deserter's Tale, is the first account from a soldier who deserted from the war in Iraq, and a vivid and damning indictment of how the war is being waged. In spring 2003, young Oklahoman Joshua Key was sent to Ramadi as part of a combat engineer company with the U.S. military. The war he found himself participating in was not the campaign against terrorists and evildoers he had expected. Key saw Iraqi civilians beaten, shot, and killed for little or no provocation. After six months in Iraq, Key was home on leave and knew he could not return. So he took his family and went underground in the United States, finally seeking asylum in Canada. In clear-eyed, compelling prose crafted with the help of award-winning Canadian novelist and journalist Lawrence Hill, The Deserter's Tale tells the story of a man who went into the war believing unquestioningly in his government and who was transformed into a person who ethically, morally, and physically could no longer serve his country.

Dying for the Truth

Dying for the Truth PDF Author: Paul Moorcraft
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473879175
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 518

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Book Description
The role of war correspondents is crucial to democracy and the publics discovery of the truth. Without them, the temptation to manipulate events with propaganda would be irresistible to politicians of all hues.It starts by examining how journalists have plied their trade over the years most particularly from the Crimean War onwards. Their impact on the conduct of war has been profound and the author, an experienced journalist, explains in his frank and readable manner how this influence has shaped the actions of politicians and military commanders. By the same token the media is a potentially valuable tool to those in authority and this two-way relationship is examined.Technical developments and 24 hour news have inevitably changed the nature of war reporting and their political masters ignore this at their peril and the author examines the key milestones on this road.Using his own and others experiences in recent conflicts, be they Korea, Falklands, Balkans, Iraq or Afghanistan, the author opens the readers eyes to an aspect of warfare that is all too often overlooked but can be crucial to the outcome. The publics attitude to the day-to-day conduct of war is becoming ever more significant and this fascinating book examines why.

I Am Ozzy

I Am Ozzy PDF Author: Ozzy Osbourne
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 9780446573139
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
"They've said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like, 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn't perform until he'd killed fifteen puppies . . .' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I've got eighteen of the f**king things at home. I've killed a few cows in my time, mind you. And the chickens. I shot the chickens in my house that night. It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty f**king years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at f**king two miles per hour. People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f**king way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time. A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

Open Secrets

Open Secrets PDF Author: Alexander Star
Publisher: The New York Times Company
ISBN: 0615439578
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 2004

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Book Description
Complete and Updated Coverage by The New York Times, with an introduction by Bill Keller

The Fighters

The Fighters PDF Author: C. J. Chivers
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1451676662
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “A CLASSIC OF WAR REPORTING…THERE IS NO DOWNTIME IN THIS RELENTLESS BOOK.”—The New York Times * “REMARKABLE…A MEMORIAL IN PAGES.”—The Washington Post * “GRIPPING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING.”—USA Today * “EVOCATIVE.”—Publishers Weekly, (Starred Review) * “IT JOINS THE BEST WAR LITERATURE THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER PRODUCED.”—Sebastian Junger, bestselling author of Tribe and War Pulitzer Prize winner C.J. Chivers’s unvarnished New York Times bestseller is a chronicle of modern combat, told through the eyes of the fighters who have waged America’s longest wars: “A classic of war reporting…there is no downtime in this relentless book” (The New York Times). More than 2.7 million Americans have served in Afghanistan or Iraq since September 11, 2001, and C.J. Chivers reported on both wars from their beginnings. The Fighters vividly conveys the physical and emotional experience of war as lived by six combatants: a fighter pilot, a corpsman, a scout helicopter pilot, a grunt, an infantry officer, and a Special Forces sergeant. Chivers captures their courage, commitment, sense of purpose, and ultimately their suffering, frustration, and moral confusion as new enemies arise and invasions give way to counterinsurgency duties for which American forces were often not prepared. The Fighters is a “gripping, unforgettable” (The Boston Globe) portrait of modern warfare. Told with the empathy and understanding of an author who is himself an infantry veteran, The Fighters is “a masterful work of atmospheric reporting, and it’s a book that will have every reader asking—with varying degrees of urgency or anger or despair—the final question Chivers himself asks: ‘How many lives had these wars wrecked?’” (Christian Science Monitor).

A Hundred and One Days

A Hundred and One Days PDF Author: Åsne Seierstad
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786736828
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
From January until April 2003 -- for one hundred and one days -- Ã?ne Seierstad worked as a reporter in Bagdad for Scandinavian, German, and Dutch media. Through her articles and live television coverage she reported on the events in Iraq before, during, and after the attacks by the American and British forces. But Seierstad was after a story far less obvious than the military invasion. From the moment she arrived in Baghdad Seierstad was determined to understand the modern secrets of an ancient place and to find out how the Iraqi people really live. In A Hundred and One Days , she introduces us to daily life under the constant threat of attack -- first from the Iraqi government and later from American bombs. Moving from the deafening silence of life under Hussein to the explosions that destroyed the power supply, the water supply, and security, Seierstad sets out to discover: What happens to people when the dam bursts? What do they choose to say when they can suddenly say what they like? What do they miss most when their world changes overnight? Displaying the novelist's eye and lyrical storytelling that have won her awards around the world, Seierstad here brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters to tell the stories we never see on the evening news. The only woman in the world to cover both the fall of Kabul in 2001 and the bombings of Baghdad in 2003, Ã?ne Seierstad has redefined war reporting with her mesmerizing book.