WE CHOSE TO SPEAK OF WAR AND STRIFE

The world of the foreign correspondent

John Simpson Bloomsbury To witness and report on the world’s defining and often darkest moments – wars, insurrections, famine, political intrigue – takes a special commitment and resolve. John Simpson, a respected figure from the frontlines, has written a history of the perilous profession of foreign correspondent that introduces us to men and women driven in the pursuit of stories that need to be told. Their skill lies in their ability to seek out a story and distil and communicate what they have witnessed, often at great personal risk. Among the most difficult to forget are Anthony Loyd’s report on the fight for Fallujah in Iraq, in 2016, and Michael Buerk’s coverage of famine in Ethiopia in 1984. Simpson speaks of his own experiences and friendships made in desperate times. From the Crimean War to the fall of Saigon, the siege of Sarajevo to the genocide in Rwanda, the work of a foreign correspondent is a clarion call to never becoming inured to what is indefensible, wicked or cruel.

Photojournalist Don McCullin, who risked his life to capture the grim reality of war