From the Front: The Story of War

by Michael S. Sweeney

In this vivid, visually gripping account of modern warfare, awarding-winning author Michael Sweeney takes us onto battlefields from the Crimea to Kuwait to chronicle 150 years of war, often in the words of those who have seen it firsthand.

Genres: War, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Human conflict seems to be in our DNA. We have been warring since before Homer was reporting on the doings in Troy. The 20th Century was a particularly "rich" time for wars and war correspondents. We got our news, not just from radio, but successively from motion pictures, television, the internet and smart phones.

Some of those who reported became celebrities including: Ernie Pyle, Ed Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa and W. Eugene Smith. Images, whether by photograph or other means were an important part of this dating back to beyond Matthew Brady in the American Civil War. Michael Sweeney collects iconic photographs and highlights key reporters in his ambitious book. He is at his best when he drills down into subject matter such as government censorship or propaganda.

Others will likely go further and deeper into this subject and its disconcerting content. However, this is not a bad place to begin.

[Maurice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked it up as a free gift and it turned out to be a detailed account of what happened when and which reporter was there to cover the story. A good reference book when you want to closer study a war in specific place and time in history. Because it gives you the names of the reporters who where there.(They usually write books afterwards.) And that brings light in places where the official stories, written by the victors of war, traditionally, stay silent.

[Don LaFountaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book puts you in a war from the viewpoint of the correspondents. It was wonderfully written, and a must read for anyone who wants to learn about the gruesome horrors of war from a non-soldier point of view.