What do you think?
Rate this book
Where War Lives
A Pulitzer Prize — winning journalist takes us on a personal and historic journey from Mogadishu through Rwanda to Afghanistan and Iraq.
With the click of a shutter the world came to know Staff Sgt. William David Cleveland Jr. as a desecrated corpse. In the split-second that Paul Watson had to choose between pressing the shutter release or turning away, the world went quiet and Watson heard Cleveland “If you do this, I will own you forever.” And he has.
Paul Watson was born a rebel with one hand, who grew up thinking it took two to fire an assault rifle, or play jazz piano. So he became a journalist. At first, he loved war. He fed his lust for the bang-bang, by spending vacations with guerilla fighters in Angola, Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia, and writing about conflicts on the frontlines of the Cold War. Soon he graduated to assignments covering some of the world’s most important conflicts, including South Africa, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Watson reported on Osama bin Laden’s first battlefield victory in Somalia. Unwittingly, Watson’s Pulitzer Prize—winning photo of Staff Sgt. David Cleveland — whose Black Hawk was shot down over the streets of Mogadishu — helped hand bin Laden one of his earliest propaganda coups, one that proved barbarity is a powerful weapon in a modern media war. Public outrage over the pictures of Cleveland’s corpse forced President Clinton to order the world’s most powerful military into retreat. With each new beheading announced on the news, Watson wonders whether he helped teach the terrorists one of their most valuable lessons.
Much more than a journalist’s memoir, Where War Lives connects the dots of the historic continuum from Mogadishu through Rwanda to Afghanistan and Iraq.
With the click of a shutter the world came to know Staff Sgt. William David Cleveland Jr. as a desecrated corpse. In the split-second that Paul Watson had to choose between pressing the shutter release or turning away, the world went quiet and Watson heard Cleveland “If you do this, I will own you forever.” And he has.
Paul Watson was born a rebel with one hand, who grew up thinking it took two to fire an assault rifle, or play jazz piano. So he became a journalist. At first, he loved war. He fed his lust for the bang-bang, by spending vacations with guerilla fighters in Angola, Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia, and writing about conflicts on the frontlines of the Cold War. Soon he graduated to assignments covering some of the world’s most important conflicts, including South Africa, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Watson reported on Osama bin Laden’s first battlefield victory in Somalia. Unwittingly, Watson’s Pulitzer Prize—winning photo of Staff Sgt. David Cleveland — whose Black Hawk was shot down over the streets of Mogadishu — helped hand bin Laden one of his earliest propaganda coups, one that proved barbarity is a powerful weapon in a modern media war. Public outrage over the pictures of Cleveland’s corpse forced President Clinton to order the world’s most powerful military into retreat. With each new beheading announced on the news, Watson wonders whether he helped teach the terrorists one of their most valuable lessons.
Much more than a journalist’s memoir, Where War Lives connects the dots of the historic continuum from Mogadishu through Rwanda to Afghanistan and Iraq.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published August 14, 2007
4 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Paul Watson
3 books39 followersPaul Watson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best selling author, whose accolades include a Canadian National Magazine Award, the George Polk Award and Hal Boyle Award, both for foreign reporting, the Robert Capa Gold Medal and the Freedom of the Press Award. He is also featured in Dan O'Brien's award winning and critically acclaimed play, "The Body of an American," and Martyn Burke's Academy Award shortlisted documentary "Under Fire: Journalists in Combat," which won broadcasting's prestigious Peabody Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 2, 2009
Graphic and not for the faint of heart, Watson's account of his journalistic career in the trenches of the world's nasty conflicts will have little effect on those persons who should read it most - those desensitized by the constant parade of horrors on the nightly news. Watson's chilling stories about Somalia, in particular, demonstrate just what is wrong with the prior administrations' military policy. However, the overall tone is depressed - not surprising, given his PTSD and self-medication with drugs and alcohol - and most of the passages describing his personal life seem irrelevant and/or self-serving.
Recommended with reservations for those wishing to read a first-hand account of events in Somalia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. But do skim over the more personal sections - prior reviewers have complained of a lack of feeling, and that failing is most obvious in those parts. It would be easy and cruel to make the observation that Watson won his Pulitzer for a photograph and not a story but for the fact that the overwhelming tone is that of a man deeply depressed by his work cataloging the more depraved acts of man.
Recommended with reservations for those wishing to read a first-hand account of events in Somalia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. But do skim over the more personal sections - prior reviewers have complained of a lack of feeling, and that failing is most obvious in those parts. It would be easy and cruel to make the observation that Watson won his Pulitzer for a photograph and not a story but for the fact that the overwhelming tone is that of a man deeply depressed by his work cataloging the more depraved acts of man.
August 4, 2014
Truly sobering. Watson's personal and professional life relay the last twenty years of war from an authentic in-the-trenches vantage point free of political games, mass media stupidity, and simple human ignorance. I suspect so many people read fiction because reality is just too hard to handle. If more folks tried to understand how the world actually works, many would probably soil themselves out of helplessness and hopelessness. As a combat veteran of Iraq, I can empathize powerfully with Watson on so many terrible levels. We all wrestle with peace in our own ways, despite the blaring irrationality and senselessness of it all:
"Long after war's traumas recede, the fear and anger still burn, like red-hot embers that cool to grey only to flare into a raging fire without warning. Even now, when time has smoothed the edges of old war memories, I often wake with my hand balled in a tight fist, fingernails digging into my thumb muscle, leaving deep, crescent-moon dents. The nightmare flickers and is forgotten before I can remember what made me so scared. I have maddening gaps in long-term memory, yet shocking images remain as vivid as the day they burned themselves into my brain, like flashes of bright light on film."
"Long after war's traumas recede, the fear and anger still burn, like red-hot embers that cool to grey only to flare into a raging fire without warning. Even now, when time has smoothed the edges of old war memories, I often wake with my hand balled in a tight fist, fingernails digging into my thumb muscle, leaving deep, crescent-moon dents. The nightmare flickers and is forgotten before I can remember what made me so scared. I have maddening gaps in long-term memory, yet shocking images remain as vivid as the day they burned themselves into my brain, like flashes of bright light on film."
July 27, 2008
This book, understandably, was a bit hard to handle. It outlined everything in a very journalistic style (also understandably), but it was missing a feeling element. The author said early on that he had spent all his time in these wars drinking to quell any reflection on what he had seen. I fear that that also has quelled his memories of what he had seen and only had notes, articles, pictures and tape recordings to go back to. I felt no connection with the author himself when reading this book.
January 7, 2020
Paul Watson is the journalist famous for taking the photo of the body of a dead American serviceman being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993. But his story is much deeper than that, and Where War Lives tells it with depth and context.
Watson shares his reasons behind his decision to become a foreign correspondent, and brings us along as he takes his first brave/risky forays out into the world of conflict reporting. Early on we are given examples of the drive and the balls it takes to break into this field, and the embrace of insecurity it takes to make the gambles necessary to get to the heart of some of these stories. I found the book to be a very interesting window into how someone develops a career in war reporting, and shines a light on what kind of personality one must have to be able to pull it off. It's certainly not for everyone.
The story of Watson's background is important because through that we are able to put into context his decision to take the photos of the serviceman as it is defiled by the Somali mob. Appearing reckless at times, but always calculated, the theme of exposing the truth of any situation or conflict is the underlying theme of Watson't work, and the impetus that drives him to put himself in danger. However, he makes no mistake to characterize his drive as something purely noble; he is often frank discussing that a naked desire for the rush of conflict draws him back to awful places, like gravity. There is some, but refreshingly little, romanticization of the life of a conflict photographer. Another, and more important, underlying theme of the book is the haunting of Watson's mind and soul by the ethereal voice of the ghost of the soldier who's dead body he made famous the world over.
I give five stars to this book because Watson's depictions are very genuine, and his writing is bright, descriptive and visceral, as you would expect from a career journalist. It is also a fascinating and extremely interesting subject to me. Watson has the reader come along on each scamper over a supposedly closed border, each journey into militia infest badlands, each smoke-screened press conference. Be warned that some of the scenes are quite graphic; for those not familiar with reading about war, conflict or genocide, this could be a little rough. But if you can handle it, it is an extremely enlightening window into the human condition in some of the world's most conflict-ridden places, the true, often hidden nature of the forces behind why these places are a mess, and the toll it takes on the people who go there to try and make sense of it all for us.
Watson shares his reasons behind his decision to become a foreign correspondent, and brings us along as he takes his first brave/risky forays out into the world of conflict reporting. Early on we are given examples of the drive and the balls it takes to break into this field, and the embrace of insecurity it takes to make the gambles necessary to get to the heart of some of these stories. I found the book to be a very interesting window into how someone develops a career in war reporting, and shines a light on what kind of personality one must have to be able to pull it off. It's certainly not for everyone.
The story of Watson's background is important because through that we are able to put into context his decision to take the photos of the serviceman as it is defiled by the Somali mob. Appearing reckless at times, but always calculated, the theme of exposing the truth of any situation or conflict is the underlying theme of Watson't work, and the impetus that drives him to put himself in danger. However, he makes no mistake to characterize his drive as something purely noble; he is often frank discussing that a naked desire for the rush of conflict draws him back to awful places, like gravity. There is some, but refreshingly little, romanticization of the life of a conflict photographer. Another, and more important, underlying theme of the book is the haunting of Watson's mind and soul by the ethereal voice of the ghost of the soldier who's dead body he made famous the world over.
I give five stars to this book because Watson's depictions are very genuine, and his writing is bright, descriptive and visceral, as you would expect from a career journalist. It is also a fascinating and extremely interesting subject to me. Watson has the reader come along on each scamper over a supposedly closed border, each journey into militia infest badlands, each smoke-screened press conference. Be warned that some of the scenes are quite graphic; for those not familiar with reading about war, conflict or genocide, this could be a little rough. But if you can handle it, it is an extremely enlightening window into the human condition in some of the world's most conflict-ridden places, the true, often hidden nature of the forces behind why these places are a mess, and the toll it takes on the people who go there to try and make sense of it all for us.
March 23, 2009
A terrific book. On par with Ryszard Kapuscinski's work. What I really liked about this book is that Watson has a personal stake in the story. Like Kapuscinski, he gets obsessed with the telling of impossible stories to his own detriment over and over again. That he crosses paths with Kevin Carter was amazing to me, because there are some parallels with Carter's own story, except that where Carter allowed the depravity and inhumanity to completely overwhelm him, Watson clings to a few beacons of hope in his life. His wife, his son, his need for an assuaging of guilt all allow him to continue with his terrible quest for truth in the face of war without capitulation to the absurdity and indecency he bears witness to every day.
In a lot of ways, I admire people like Paul Watson in the same way that I admire Dexter Filkins and Kevin Carter. They are driven to go to places and tell truths that no one else would dare try to find and in many cases, they are the lone voices of the innocent.
I found it fascinating that Paul Watson found great truth in the place where he least expected it, in the words of a servant of God, and seemingly was able to take the load off his chest with the attempts to speak to the family members of the GI whose picture made Watson famous. Because, I fear, that if it weren't for people like him, many more injustices would go unreported and many more tales of war and woe would just be forgotten, swept under the rug by the powerful and the unmerciful.
In a lot of ways, I admire people like Paul Watson in the same way that I admire Dexter Filkins and Kevin Carter. They are driven to go to places and tell truths that no one else would dare try to find and in many cases, they are the lone voices of the innocent.
I found it fascinating that Paul Watson found great truth in the place where he least expected it, in the words of a servant of God, and seemingly was able to take the load off his chest with the attempts to speak to the family members of the GI whose picture made Watson famous. Because, I fear, that if it weren't for people like him, many more injustices would go unreported and many more tales of war and woe would just be forgotten, swept under the rug by the powerful and the unmerciful.
January 11, 2009
Where War Lives by Paul Watson (The war correspondent who took the Somalia picture)
As a Somalia veteran and well aware of how dangerous a mob could be, I had always wondered what Watson was thinking when he was the lone American in the middle of a seething mob of Africans who were tearing an American corpse apart. His description of the event is so powerful, I felt like I was back on Mogadishu's streets with him, seeing what he saw and feeling his fear, not of just being killed, but of being torn apart. Four other journalists had been dealt with that way by a Somali mob three months before the Black Hawk Down firefight and he presumed the same thing would happen to him. Not only does he take the pictures and manage to get away, but actually went back a second time to take more pictures in case his editor didn't accept the first batch because they showed the corpse's genitals.
Watson then goes on to describe other war zones he reported on: the Persian Gulf War, Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. He describes his trade of being a war correspondent without apology as he travels from one slaughter to another, taking pictures and writing the stories of the soldiers and their victims. In the end, he finds that the only thing that gives meaning in a world of war, bloodshed, violence, death and destruction is love. It sounds like a simple answer, but Watson's journey into where war lives is profound.
As a Somalia veteran and well aware of how dangerous a mob could be, I had always wondered what Watson was thinking when he was the lone American in the middle of a seething mob of Africans who were tearing an American corpse apart. His description of the event is so powerful, I felt like I was back on Mogadishu's streets with him, seeing what he saw and feeling his fear, not of just being killed, but of being torn apart. Four other journalists had been dealt with that way by a Somali mob three months before the Black Hawk Down firefight and he presumed the same thing would happen to him. Not only does he take the pictures and manage to get away, but actually went back a second time to take more pictures in case his editor didn't accept the first batch because they showed the corpse's genitals.
Watson then goes on to describe other war zones he reported on: the Persian Gulf War, Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. He describes his trade of being a war correspondent without apology as he travels from one slaughter to another, taking pictures and writing the stories of the soldiers and their victims. In the end, he finds that the only thing that gives meaning in a world of war, bloodshed, violence, death and destruction is love. It sounds like a simple answer, but Watson's journey into where war lives is profound.
July 25, 2011
Rating: 6.5/10. Do you sometimes wonder why there's anybody willing to do certain jobs? Like executioner...who'd want to do that?....or shark researcher.....or war journalist? With the latter you have a pretty good idea of what's facing you somewhere down the road; probably addiction to booze or drugs in an attempt to forget the atrocities you've witnessed in the field. And a normal, well-adjusted family life?....you can forget that. The images must burn and sear into your brain. It seems like Watson has written 'Where War Lives' in an attempt to help him cope with what he's seen and documented in places like Somalia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. If that is so, then I hope it's helped him to find some inner peace because it's a pretty depressing read. It's not just the barbarity and butchery (which is graphic beyond description) but also the cynicism of the participants, the lies and deceit of our governments and military, the repeated patterns which occur over and over and over again. No-one seems to learn anything. Apparently it's easier to massacre hundreds of thousands of people who think differently than you instead of talking to, negotiating with, and understanding them. There is no lack of blame to be shared, and Watson details it all minutely. Somebody has to do the job; I'm glad it's Watson and not me. A book you don't really want to read but should if you want to understand what's going on in the world.
December 2, 2009
I am two thirds of the way through this book. It is a non fiction book written by a war correspondant who has reported from some of the worst war torn areas of the world during the last 20 years. A sobering read that reminds me how broken the world is and how many Americans are unaware of what goes on. We need to be aware.
Update: I stalled out somewhere past two thirds of this book. One war torn hell hole after another. It was a bit depressing. While I believe it is important to be aware of war and it's consequences, I felt like moving on to a different book.
Update: I stalled out somewhere past two thirds of this book. One war torn hell hole after another. It was a bit depressing. While I believe it is important to be aware of war and it's consequences, I felt like moving on to a different book.
March 2, 2011
I loved this book. It was one of the most honest accounts of international reporting I have ever read. Paul Watson is a great reporter, a fantastic writer, and just brutally honest in this book. And he also happened to take one of the most famous photos ever taken. I have come back to this book again and again.
February 29, 2012
After a stunning first couple paragraphs, this memoir devolved into disconnected attempts to tell entire histories of wars and battles, unsubstantiated assertions, and snide comments about his ex-girlfriend.
Ugh.
Ugh.
April 18, 2020
I reviewed this book in the International Journal:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/...
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/...
September 26, 2012
After staying up late and reading all day, I finished Where War Lives: A Journey into the Heart of War, by Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Watson. It was one of those books that I wanted to savor, but in the end my thirst to learn more about his life made me go through it fast, possibly too fast.
Watson, a journalist, gives an honest account of how someone becomes a journalist and then the kind of journalist who stays up until the last moment in a hostile environment. He has seen horrors that most of us can’t even begin to imagine and suffers from depression and PTSD as a result of it.
The book revolves somewhat around the photo of the American soldier’s body being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, but not as much as the description would have you believe. If you pick this book up, be prepared to learn in far more detail than perhaps you wanted, about many of the violent events in our history. Perhaps like me you will walk away with a sense of doom and hopelessness, but also a feeling that we are all responsible and we must rise above violence because if we don’t, who will?
Watson, a journalist, gives an honest account of how someone becomes a journalist and then the kind of journalist who stays up until the last moment in a hostile environment. He has seen horrors that most of us can’t even begin to imagine and suffers from depression and PTSD as a result of it.
The book revolves somewhat around the photo of the American soldier’s body being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, but not as much as the description would have you believe. If you pick this book up, be prepared to learn in far more detail than perhaps you wanted, about many of the violent events in our history. Perhaps like me you will walk away with a sense of doom and hopelessness, but also a feeling that we are all responsible and we must rise above violence because if we don’t, who will?
June 20, 2017
This book was so eye-opening. It could be confusing at times, especially since I didn't know the history of all of the conflicts, but it was truly amazing. It tells the story of the journalist behind the Pulitzer-Prize-winning photograph of a U.S. soldier in Somalia. I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks an insight into the trials of the world and the darker side of humanity.
I would also recommend In the Hot Zone by Kevin Sites, as well as Dispatches From the Edge by Anderson Cooper.
I would also recommend In the Hot Zone by Kevin Sites, as well as Dispatches From the Edge by Anderson Cooper.
May 23, 2016
While I thought Mr Watson was very honest, and is wrestling with some significant issues, I found myself underwhelmed by his insights drawn from his experiences.
I went in with the expectation that "this guy has been in the shit for years" and he must bring some real enlightenment concerning war and our place in it. No joy.
Not belittling his experiences, and the depression and PTSD that may have resulted from them, but the final narrative associated with the experiences left me disappointed.
I went in with the expectation that "this guy has been in the shit for years" and he must bring some real enlightenment concerning war and our place in it. No joy.
Not belittling his experiences, and the depression and PTSD that may have resulted from them, but the final narrative associated with the experiences left me disappointed.
Read
May 8, 2008Paul Watson will always have his Pulitzer, whether he likes it or not. He has mixed feelings about it because while his photos of Sgt. William Cleveland's corpse desecrated by enraged Mogadishu mobs in 1993 may have won him the award, the same images won a PR victory for Bin Ladin and led to U.S. retreat from Somalia and Rwanda.
read more ...
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/09/13/Pa...
read more ...
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/09/13/Pa...
March 25, 2010
I was hoping for a bit more introspection regarding his career and the things that he has seen. It was definitely a book work reading but I think i came at it expecting something a little more in depth regarding the psyche of those constantly in the face of war.
October 16, 2018
I found this very interesting but this is defiantly not for everyone. This is really less of an insight into a war photographer-correspondents trials and tribulations and more of a biography of Paul Watson the man. Still did provide insight into the life of one.
June 2, 2012
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I really enjoyed his personal story to over come the traumatic events he had witnessed. I recommend this to others.
May 26, 2010
Excellent book
January 21, 2014
Great book! Made me think and made me cry. Pretty real.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews