On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin

by Marie Colvin

Veteran Sunday Times war correspondent, Marie Colvin was killed in February 2012 when covering the uprising in Syria. Winner of the Orwell Special Prize On the Front Line is a collection of her finest work, a portion of the proceeds from which will go to the Marie Colvin Memorial Fund.

Marie Colvin held a profound belief in the pursuit of truth, and the courage and humanity of her work was deeply admired. On the Front Line includes her various interviews with Yasser Arafat and Colonel Gadaffi; reports from East Timor in 1999 where she shamed the UN into protecting its refugees; accounts of her terrifying escape from the Russian army in Chechnya; and reports from the strongholds of the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers where she was hit by shrapnel, leaving her blind in one eye.

Typically, however, her new eye-patch only reinforced Colvin’s sense of humour and selfless conviction. She returned quickly to the front line, reporting on 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza and, lately, the Arab Spring.

Immediate and compelling, On the Front Line is a street-view of the historic events that have shaped the last 25 years, from an award-winning foreign correspondent and the outstanding journalist of her generation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism, War, History, Politics, Biography, Memoir

540 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2012

Reviews

[Kamila Kunda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit that I first heard of Marie Colvin when she died, together with photojournalist Rémi Ochlik, during the shelling of Homs, Syria, in 2012. I had never read The Sunday Times for which she worked. Nevertheless, I was curious enough this year to reach for “On the Front Line. The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin” to learn more about the world conflicts, her style of reporting and herself as well.

Colvin’s first journalistic articles were from 1987 about the Iran-Iraq War. She then went on to cover wars and conflicts in various parts of the world: West Asia (so-called Middle East), Libya, Kosovo, Chechnya, East Timor, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka (where she lost her left eye), Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. She interviewed bloodthirsty dictators and traumatised ordinary citizens. I can’t say her reporting was objective - how can one be objective describing atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gadaffi or Binyamin Netanyahu? - but she usually, whenever it was possible, tried to speak to people on both sides (or, in some cases, multiple sides) of the barricades. She was respected for her bravery, relentless desire to get to the core of every conflict and to staying truthful to facts. She understood that propaganda works both ways: it drives the oppressor as well as the oppressed.

I did learn more reading her articles, I cried - even though her pieces are not meant to be soppy they are moving and empathetic, and I pondered on the nature of hatred and psychosis exhibited by various tyrants. There is only one text I found quite problematic - the one on the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners - as I got the impression she was trying to gloss over war crimes the American government is guilty of. Whenever anyone challenged her - How dare you judge us when your country has so much blood on its hands? - she refrained from mentioning her response, which made me, reading, uneasy.

What I appreciate most is her constant awareness of her own privilege. After she lost her eye reporting on the civil war in Sri Lanka some people accused her of being stupid to risk her life. Her reply: “You can only describe what I do as ‘stupid’ if you agree wars shouldn’t be covered by journalists, or think they should be reported by way of government press conferences. If journalists are to report on what really happens in war, on the atrocities and pain and death, they are going to face risks. For my part, the next war I cover, I’ll be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure far more than I ever will. They must stay where they are; I can come home to London”.

[Emmanuel De la paz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unflinching, harsh, and moving.

[excerpt]
‘My strongest memory of East Timor is walking through the besieged United Nations compound and being stared at, with fear, by all the women and children who were camping on the ground under palm trees. They knew that, if I stayed, they had a chance to live. If I left, they would die. I was a kind of human shield.
The compound was besieged by militiamen wielding machetes and guns, and likely to be overrun at any moment. The UN decided to evacuate, leaving 1,500 women and children behind. Except for two Dutchwomen, my journalist colleagues made the decision to get out on the last flight. I decided to stay – and had the most irritating conversation with my foreign editor. ‘What do you mean everyone’s left and you’re staying?’ he asked.

‘Don’t know. I’m staying.’

‘Well, why have all the men left?’

In exasperation, I said: ‘I guess they don’t make men like they used to.’



A brutal account of the realities of war, On the Front Line recounts Colvin’s assignments from Kosovo, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, and the Middle East. A clear undercurrent in her writings runs through each section / country of conflict being reported, conveying that while the dynamics of war differ, the outcomes are the same, and suggests further that the relationship between human nature and conflict is an unfortunate constant. Colvin writes:

‘Despite all the videos you see on television from Pentagon or Nato briefings, what’s on the ground has remained remarkably the same for the past 100 years. Craters. Brunt houses. Women weeping for sons and daughters. Suffering. In my profession, there is no chance of unemployment.’

In most her reports, Colvin documents, not the executive political players, but the civilian collateral caught up in the conflicts. While the political movers and shakers instigate the wars for their own vested interests, it’s those on the ground level who are her main focus. Colvin documents how each of these commonplace individuals (shopkeepers, infantrymen, wives, local translators, doctors-turned-guerrilla-fighters, lovers, students, children) are brutalised by loss, adapt to survive their harsh environments, or become brutal in return. War can also bring out the worst in human nature, with opportunists taking advantage of the ensuing chaos. For example, the Serbian thug who was a loser all his life yet saw an opportunity, during the Balkan conflict at the height of Slobodan Milosevic’s power, to punish and slaughter his Albanian neighbours out of jealousy, and just like ‘other little men [like him] whose brief rise to unrestrained authority led to the destruction of a town and a society.’ Yet, admirable qualities rise to the surface in others as recounted, for example, in Colvin’s account of her time in Chechnya and being aided by a taciturn yet determined and loyal local guide and mountaineer by the name of Magomet, who lead their escape, practically dragging her from Chechnya across the mountain range bordering Georgia to safety.

And even after losing an eye, during Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers conflict, Colvin remained resolute, even finding humour in having partial vision and relates how having only one eye, and therefore a lack of depth in visual perception, makes it difficult to light a cigarette or pour wine, while also musing with the idea of having a jewel-encrusted eye-patch to match her evening wear.

Of course, the reader knows how the book ends. Colvin died in Syria after a rocket landed on their building as she and other journalists were fleeing from the shelling. But even before this happened, Colvin ponders throughout her journalism whether the risk of reporting war outweighs her journalistic fulfillment of foregrounding truth and realities, and each time she always reaches the same conclusion –

‘Simply: there’s no way to cover war properly without risk. Covering a war means going into places torn by chaos, destruction, death and pain, and trying to bear witness to that...I care about the experience of those most directly affected by war, those asked to fight and those who are just trying to survive.’

[Margaret Galbraith · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can you do justice to this amazing fearless lady she did so much to bring us the true news? This is a fascinating account from her diaries saved by her colleague and we would never have known her life without these.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Colvin's collected works, one understands quite quickly why Colvin's style was both compelling and well-respected. Her travels across numerous conflict zones over a long career helped to uncover the suffering of people and bring it to international attention, especially when Colvin spent a career going to places that other people refused to. Although many of the pieces in this book may now be dated (for the simple reason that, as journalistic pieces, they were reporting immediate events rather than analysing them), this book is still incredible for anyone wanting to understand Colvin's style. Also, the several short articles on why Colvin felt it important to work in conflict areas (especially her commentary on doing so as a woman in a male-dominated field) are especially interesting.

Perhaps one of the more telling pieces is co-written by John Cantlie and James Foley. Of the three co-authors, only Cantile is alive, and he is currently a prisoner of ISIS.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the extraordinary account of probably our finest war correspondent, who worked for the Sunday Times. Marie Colvin lost her life in February 2012, doing what she knew best - reporting on the effects of man's inhumanity to man across the war zones in the Middle East. She lost her life reporting from Homs in Syria, knowing that she was in considerable danger, but feeling passionately that the real cost of the war on civilians and soldiers alike needed to be told. As she had done countless time before across the Middle East.

How many of us are as deeply committed as Marie to continue to put ourselves in danger in order to report on the real human tragedies occuring in countries like Iran, Iraq, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Kosovo etc ?

Ske lost an eye in Sri Lanka (from a shrapnel wound) but continued her work, now wearing the distinctive eye patch that characterised her final years.

Her accounts will give you a greater understanding of the crises in the Middle East and you will recognise the same conflicts still happening today in those war torn countries .

A magnificent book, told by a remarkable woman. RIP Marie.

[Kendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable, brave woman whose life ended far too soon. A must read book to be truly informed about the world. We often teach our children (and we ourselves are taught history in order to) to never forget the past atrocities of man against man. Yet it happens every day, in the present, now, and where is everyone? If it weren't for her bravery in getting behind the lines and at the front line to report, we would never know the truth. She gives those whose voices are silenced and neglected (often women and children) in the atrocities of war torn countries, a voice, and hope for help. A compelling, unbelievable read. If there were a mandatory reading list for all humankind, this should top it, perhaps then people would be outraged enough to truly affect change. If not now, when?

[Chris Steeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a remarkable reporter Marie Colvin was. She lost her life in the bombings in Syria in 2012 and this book showcases her talent with her reportage from all over the troubled world. She was a war correspondent with a difference. She was not interested in the weapons but would report on the ordinary people that war affected and due to this the reporting is personal and heartfelt.

The reports in this book take us from the late 80's right up until her death. The Middle East, Africa, Chechnya, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, East Timor and Guantanamo all get the Colvin treatment and I gobbled up these report with interest. Modern history through war and conflict. She would go anywhere to get the story so the world would hear of the plight of the people affected.

[Sanna-Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vast collection of her best journalism: tough, truthful and insightful but oh so difficult to read in so many levels. So many things from the relatively short history that I have forgotten or didn't pay attention when it was happening.

A good reminder to all, especially to other journalists, that reporting from the civilian level means so much for spreading the information on how war breaks and tears apart normal life.

[Evelyn J · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A WOMAN

[Katie Fellows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indescribably brilliant.

[Ruth Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Masterful writing! Gut wrenching and terrifying in certain places! Marie Colvin is and was a champion for truth. She cared deeply for those who were oppressed and trapped in imaginable place of conflict and war! Her journalistic pieces especially of Palestine, Syria and East Timor are worth reading and reflection! Maria lost her eye and her life while attempting to tell readers of the evils of leaders and tyrants we have in this world!

[Iván · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gran libro de periodismo. En sus más de 500 páginas, se agrupan las crónicas de Marie Colvin. Un viaje a diversos países y a zonas de conflicto: Irak, Irán, Chechenia, Sri Lanka, Palestina, Israel, Afganistán, Libia, Timor, Kosovo, Etiopía, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leona, Egipto y Siria. Una reportera extraordinaria que con su obra y legado nos ayuda a entender hechos que ocurrieron en dichos lugares.

[Lisa Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remembered reading about the death of Journalist Marie Colvin and at the time knew little about her. From the striking cover photo to the stories she presented it's very easy to see why she was beloved by both men & women for her tenacity, passion and courage. Her sister gives a loving introduction which sets the tone for this 500 page journey. The stories here cover the international spectrum as you might imagine; Iraq, Middle East, Libya, Sri Lanka to name only a few. However, when Marie lost the use of her eye in 2001 we see a woman who is utterly human but determined to do what she was born to do and what she loved to do. Her reporting in these pages gives us a sense of what the most famous leaders and tyrants are really like and what ordinary people in these countries endure on a daily basis. We can't really comprehend the nightmares. This is what history is and thank goodness for journalists like her. This an important tribute to a remarkable woman and war correspondent complete with black and white photos. But perhaps Colvin said it best in her own words; "Bravery is not being afraid to be afraid."

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting articles from the trenches. Just a little difficult to read as a book. Fascinating situations but taken one after the other it becomes a true bombardment of the senses. Better to read in sections and really take in these horrendous circumstances. Reporting truly from the front lines!!

[Radina · Rating 5 out of 5]

War reporting is uniquely disturbing: like a car wreck, you don’t want to see, but you can’t look away. I have found myself powerfully drawn to Marie Colvin’s reporting from conflict zones across the globe, especially the war in Kosovo.

Colvin was killed in Homs, Syria, in 2012. I first learned of her story through a Vanity Fair feature that left me reeling; here was a woman who simultaneously wore an eye patch and red lace undergarments, who ventured into war zones again and again, each time at great personal risk, and whose writing is a captivating mix of intensely personal observations and dispassioned, professional reporting. Quite simply, I couldn’t put “On the Front Line” down.

The book is organized chronologically, so by the time we reach Kosovo, we have already blown through the Middle East – Iraq, Lybia, Israel, Palestine. One particular story stands out: “Shadow of Evil,” January 22, 1995, chronicling the unbelievable tale of Latif Yahia, the body double of Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday. Colvin also describes a frightening moment in her Bagdad hotel, when she sees, while casually gazing through a window, a cruise missile hurtling toward her. (“Under Fire,” January 27, 1991.) Thankfully, it swerved away to target a parliamentary building.

From Kosovo, Colvin recounts with harrowing intimacy the experience of walking single-file in the night with the Kosovo Liberation Army, taking fire from Serbian forces, and living in the KLA headquarters with fighters who are, as Colvin herself notes, characters straight out of the movies. But the small, personal details of her reports are what resonated most deeply with me.

This, for example: “The human body, when burnt, is reduced to an almost childlike size. It is a horrible piece of knowledge that comes with reporting from Kosovo.” (“The Neighbour Who Burned With Hate,” June 20, 1999.) Or, this: “The couple buries their sons and Popaj’s two brothers on the [river] bank, with their names on a slilp of paper in a soft drink bottle to mark the spot.” (“British Detectives On Trail Of Men Behind Massacres,” June 27, 1999.) A scrap of paper in a soft drink bottle. It’s these details, lost in most dry news accounts of the “who, what, where, and when,” that give a true sense of the conflict.

Colvin’s reporting is exceptional and “On the Front Line” is both a gripping read and a lesson in history. Accurately memorializing death and destruction is, in theory, essential for reconciliation, closure, healing, and prevention – though the instances in which journalism has actually prevented conflict are scant.

By her own admission, Colvin was drawn to danger zones and a fire burned in her to tell the un-tellable tales. That fire killed her in the end.

(This review is an excerpt from my blog, at http://theleastbadoption.com/2016/11/....)

[Joyce (Tuma) Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of articles by Marie Colvin. Marie Colvin's writing comes from a place of empathy, wanting to expose the world to the horrors of war. Though some articles are dated having been published in the late 1980s and 1990s, they are a window to history, immediate and compelling to the events she witnessed. The book has a moving Forward by her sister and some family photos.

She was an American Journalist who worked for The Sunday Times and she mainly covered war zones and the Middle East.

She was assassinated reporting in Homs, Syria as the result of an order from Bashir al-Assad. She was exposing the regimes atrocities and war crimes against the Syrian people that Bashir al-Assad was lying about to the international community. She was killed hours after an internationally televised interview in which she exposed what she witnessed in Homs.

I first became aware of her when she was in Beirut and wrote an article about Snipers killing Palestinian women in a refugee camp. Toward the end of the Lebanese Civil War, many parts of the country was controlled by Syria. The refugee camp she wrote about was surrounded by a militia group, Amal, who was a proxy for Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad, who is the father of the current dictator, Bashir al-Assad.

Her article was about Palestinian women, who risked their lives running across an open area to buy food for their families. The militia group had snipers who would kill these women. Marie paid off a commander in order to not get shot at while running into the Palestinian Camp, not knowing if the PLO would fire on her. She spent 24-hours there and her article was published on the front page of The Sunday Times along with a photo of a woman she witnessed get killed.

April 5, 1987
She lay where she had fallen, face down on the dirt path leading out of Bourj el Baranjneh. Haji Achmed Ali, 22, crumpled as the sniper's bullets hit her in the face and stomach. She had tried to cross the no man's land between the Palestinian camp and the Amal militiamen besieging it to buy food for her family and was only 20 yards from safety when the snipers opened fire......

Within a few days, the plight of the refugees got international coverage and Syria called off the militias around the camp. I have no doubt her article had a direct impact on this.

Reading the selected articles in this book is both a privilege and a heartfelt reminder of what we owe to journalists as talented and brave a Marie Colvin.

[David Margetts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraordinary book of reports from an exceptional journalist...giving a refresher of the events within many war zones over the past 30 years..
Hard work, discipline, drive, determination, persistence, a can-do attitude, study, continuous development, risk taking, and relationship management, healthy lifestyle and delaying gratification....can all bring success and achievement, where there is equal opportunity, rule of law, property civil and human rights, solid governance, good education, good health, sufficient food and democracy , peace and an independent judiciary and media. In these circumstances being a 'striver' can bring reward and wealth and happiness.....but what about when these things we take for granted do not exist, how is life then? No matter how smart you are or how hard you work, it makes no difference in many of the world's described by Marie Colvin. She writes profoundly of the lives of those in conflict, in fear of their lives, in desperation, in grief, in hunger....lives thankfully we can hardly imagine in our worst nightmares, where human nature of the oppressors shows itself to have changed little from thousands of years ago, in the absence of law and the empowerment of the ill educated to do as they wish with impunity. Marie with her courage to go to the front line and into areas of tremendous risk to life and limb, is able to report on the situations and lives of so many innocent victims, repressed, tortured, terrorised and massacred by a whole host of different regimes and dictators waging unnecessary and destructive wars and terrorism in the middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia...regimes filled with soldiers of different races, cultures and religions, but equally as hateful and indiscriminate. It's not racism or imperialism, but the worst of human nature which leads some to oppress others.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

In questa raccolta di suoi scritti ci dà la visione stretta di cosa è la guerra, dai più famosi tiranni alle milizie ai civili perennemente sotto assedio. I genocidi e gli affari tornano sempre a rotazione, non se ne esce e si continuerà se il guadagno e il controllo resteranno in potere di persone estreme. In molti casi sembrava di assistere al presente e qui si racconta dal 1987 al 2012 che sembrano quasi lontani se per 'la guerra' dei banchi di scuola si intende le mondiali. La voce più forte che riprende è il distaccamento dalla realtà dell'occidente 'al sicuro' e il resto del mondo che, l'opinione internazionale sempre costantemente influenzato da chi queste guerre le provoca e a cui ormai siamo abituati perché non ci tocca fuori o dentro la porta di casa nostra. Una cosa ha risaltato ai miei occhi, forse essendo lei donna molto forte e brava in un lavoro così difficile e pericoloso, Ne ha viste di tutti i colori sul campo di battaglia di diversi paesi e comunque il dettaglio di fondo viene preso in considerazione da un commento a metà del libro sull'esagerazione delle femministe dato che non ha mai avuto problemi del genere nel suo lavoro di cronista di guerra mentre verso la fine descrive esattamente il problema maschile, patriarcale che la porta su un campo di battaglia - quella volta in Egitto - dove ha subito molestie ed altre due colleghe abusi sessuali. Questo è il punto: un mondo maschile è incentrato sulla violenza fisica e psicologica, il potere autoritario di chi non vuole lasciare la poltrona e quando una persona così è donna (Italia attuale) non vuol dire matriarcato ma adeguarsi alla visione degli uomini e sessista per restare al comando. Iran-Iraq, Medio Oriente, Libia, Guerra del Golfo, Kosovo, Cecenia, Etiopia, Zimbabwe, Timor Est, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Siria.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Stories of Human Conflict

On the Front Line

This book is super interesting. The journalist reports the war from the human side. Whoever has the reason is not important. It is the suffering, the feeling and the hopes of future what move the sides. It is easy to listen the side that has the power and the government, but what about the other side?

It exposed her to a risky situation trying to cover the both side of the story. She exposed the human horror of the war describing the effects of the war in the civilian population of woman and children.

In this book I cried the suffering of the people and specially the children. I relived the history in the events that affected the world in several decades the reported the conflict. I also laughed with the weird situations during the news covered.

The reading is good, active and vibrant in every chapter. It is j that a person is telling you the story from the first source.

It is a five stars book.

She is not partial, but see both side of the story. The abuse from one side to the other is painful and in some instance sadistic. There is no way to laugh when someone is being tortured.

The book of On The Front Line by Marie Calvin excellent. Her journalism is excellent and very descriptive from the human side. She loved to found the other side of the story and several times risked her life to achieve the interviews.

[Sandrita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a heavy, yet interesting, read. It was eye-opening in the sense of giving readers another perspective of conflicts that had happened or are still happening around the world. Marie Colvin was a renowned war correspondent, admired by many. Her reports were honest, with no sugarcoating nor excessive hyperbolism. Whatever happened, what she saw, what she experienced, the firsthand accounts she listened, they conveyed a deep sense of what it really means to be part of a conflict.
The articles compiled in this book conveyed stories of how civilians are the most affected people in a conflict. Her reporting from ground zero, with the war going on around her, made the accounts more poignant, sometimes disturbing, and it would move any reader to sympathize with the victims and, at least, make a move and call the conflicts to stop.
With her honest writings, on-your-face facts, and her reporting from ground zero, this book is a must-read for those who are interested in conflicts (especially conflicts in the Middle East), geopolitics, or for mere observers keen to know about what's happening on the other side of the world. A true 5/5 rating. Moving.

[Shubham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart wrenching accounts of war and violence by Marie Colvin. There is so much difference in what is communicated to us by media and someone who is actually "on the front line". Salute to this lady who risked her life to show world ground reality of war and working of corrupt minds. So much we don't know about this world and here are these stories ready to change our perspective. An epitome of dedication, hard work and love she redefined story telling and journalism. A must to read book for our myopic minds and so that we could also understand the difference between "bravery and bravado".
May she rest in peace.

[Jeff Parry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Can I Say?

This is a collection of news reports from Marie Colvin's career. She always had a unique insight into the lives of ordinary people, in extraordinary situations. These were not victims but people, fellow humans who were caught up in situations not of their making.

Her compassion shines through, as do moments of humour. We have lost a great journalist but also the voice of the ordinary citizen. Her reports brought the suffering of people to life. She was the voice of the suffering.

Her death leaves us all worse off. Let's hope that others will take up the baton.

[Bob Hurley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent record of the articles Marie Colvin wrote from modern war zones. Libya, Syria, East Timor, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan to name a few. Her writing makes you feel you are there alongside the “innocents” of war, mothers & their children especially. The book should be made a must read for those that study modern history and those that study in Military Colleges. Hopefully in the longer term it will help reduce the numbers of innocent people supposedly killed in the name of the “righteous. “Not in my name” should be the watchwords of us all

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 4 out of 5]

We watched A Private War, about the life and death of Marie Colvin and really liked it. I had learned about her while reading books written by other journalists. One tends to remember reading about a female journalist who wears an eye patch. This is a collection of her articles. At 540 pages it is quite a tome, but it is manageable as each article is 4 to 10 pages long. She was an amazing person and I'm sure she could drink forever on the stories she could tell.

[Alice Ferrari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orribilmente crudo e vero.
Questa raccolta di articoli e reportage mi ha fatto molta chiarezza sulle situazioni storico-politiche (soprattutto del Medio Oriente) qui rappresentate che purtroppo non ho trattato a scuola. Colvin ha pagato con la vita per portare chiarezza ed educazione sulla violenza e le ingiustizie che vengono perpetrate nel mondo e questo libro rappresenta simbolicamente la sua missione.

[Heath McKenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll need to take some days to process the horrors described in this collection of Colvin’s reports before writing a complete review, but let me just say that this is an absolute must-read for anyone wanting even a rudimentary understanding of the happenings in the most war torn places in the world over the last 25 years.

[Bruce Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have more admiration for Ms. Colvin and journalists after reading this book. Journalists are important. The Trump administration’s disdain for journalism,is in my opinion, one of their most dangerous stances. The book also illustrates the complexity of foreign policy and how we have not always obtained the most desirable results in some circumstances.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing how it ends did not deter the thrill of reading this journalists' accounts. Amazing to travel back to the recent events that have shaped the present. A Private War, movie, with Rosamund Pike released in 2018 should be on your list of "must see". This collection of Marie Colvin articles is a enjoyable and easy read. GREAT! Later. Keep Reading.

[Chris P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not sure I can write any words that would do this book or Marie justice. In a world where the assigned title of “hero” is thrown around far too easily, I believe that Marie should be the benchmark for this title.

[Mr Alister Cryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fearless

Reading Marie Colvin's journalism brings out both the horror and mundanity of war. It seems nearly everyone she has interviewed in this book is now dead. Few would have dared to tread the path she trod. Tragic how bringing out the truth is so costly