From the front: The story of war featuring correspondents' chronicles

by Michael Sweeney

In this vivid, visually gripping account of modern warfare, award-wnning author Michael S. Sweeney takes us onto battlefields fromt he Crimea to Kuwait to chroincle 150 years of war, often in the words of those who have seen it firsthand. From the mid-19th century-when the rise of the telegraph, mass-market newspapers, and photography combined to create a new kind of journalist-to the real-time televised wars of today, he presents a concise history of world conflict and introduces us to legendary correspondents and photographers like Richard Harding Davis, Stephen Crane, Ernie Pyle, Margaret Bourke-white, Edward R. Murrow, Robert Capa, Neil Sheehan, Larry Burroughs Morley Safer, and many more. This engrossing book is far more than another military history; it is also a telling look at how wartime news has shaped public opinion and how generals and governments have used propaganda and censorship to wage war. At the heart of From the Front are the words and images of the correspondents themselves. In these pages you'll find dispatches from Stephen Crane, Jack London, and Ernest Hemingway, along with stunningly dramatic Robert Capa's unforgettable shot of a Spanish Republican soldier at the instant he died; Nick Ut's searing vision of a naked Vietnamese girl fleeing her burning village; Joe Rosenthal's classc of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima. Here, too, are Edward R. Murrow's broadcasts from Bltz-battered London, as well as the electrifying unscripted and pivotal moment when Walter Cronkite questioned America's involvement in Vietnam.

Genres: Journalism

Unknown Binding

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book attempts to chronicle the history of news reporters during war-time. I say “attempts” – a 300 page book cannot truly cover this history of the reporting of war by journalists. There are ample photographs throughout which makes it very worthwhile.

Its starts with the Mexican-American War of 1846-47 when Morse code was used and ends in the digital age era with the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Reporters have not always wrapped themselves with the truth – and examples are provided. And many reporters have been killed over the years to give us the truth. Some of the photos and reportage described in this book are positively frightening situations to be placed in.

It can be an anguishing job. The photographer, Kevin Carter, who took the indescribable picture of the starving girl in the Sudan, committed suicide after receiving the Pulitzer Prize.

I also learnt that Mathew Brady “The Civil War Photographer”, had a team of people helping him. One of them, Alexander Gardner, broke away from the Brady team and formed his group – that took many famous Civil War photos.

The Vietnam War was the cumulative era of “Freedom of the Press”. After, the military learned to circumscribe the media’s access to the battle zone; much like they did in the early era of press coverage of war in the 18050’s like the Crimean War. The first Gulf War (1990-91) being a prime example of this control.

The pictures in this book are literally stupendous – and some are famous – and likely you have seen some before (think of those Vietnam War pictures).

The text seemed more concerned with historical events, then with the history of the involvement of the press and media.

[Marquesate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely excellent photo book: From the Front: The Story of War by Michael S. Sweeney (Featuring Correspondents’ Chronicles)

It is an amazing photographic account of the wars since the age of photography. Truly harrowing images, very well-known ones (such as the naked girl, running and screaming, burnt by Napalm) and others I had never seen before. First hand accounts of correspondents and images of soldiers, civilians, death and destruction, with such an emotional impact, everyone should read this book and look at the many images. The chapters are titled:

War is News
“Splendid Little Wars”
Total War
World War II
Cold War to Vietnam
War in Time of Peace
You will find photos from as far back as the American Civil war (and some incredible images are amongst them) and up to 9/11.

I really cannot recommend this book enough. For anyone with an interest in photography, war correspondents, or just humans, this is an amazing find. It is also beautifully laid out, interspersed with quotes.

Let me close with a quote from the book that is in the introduction:

Let him who wishes to know what war is look at this series of illustrations. It is so nearly like visiting the battlefield to look over these views that all the emotions excited by the actual sight of the stained and sordid scene, stewed with rags and wrecks, come back to us, and we buried them in the recesses of our cabinet as we would have buried the mutilated remains of the dead they too vividly represented. The sight of these pictures is a commentary on civilization such as the savage might well triumph to show its missionaries.

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes
after viewing “The Dead of Antiem” at Mathew Brady’s New York studio in September 1862