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Bombs, Bullets and Bylines
Most men go to work in an office but Christopher "Kit" Dobson went to the world's battlefields. When his children were asked where he was they said he was "playing soldiers again". It became more serious when the anti-terrorist police turned their house into a mini-fortress when they found his name on an IRA "hit-list".
654 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 3, 2018
An extraordinary life in journalism - but needs editing
Christopher Dobson certainly led a rich and complex life as a journalist for the various English newspapers from the 1940’s until 2000. Some sections are excellent, as when Dobson covers the Vietnam war in the 60’s or becomes embedded with troops during the 1973 Yom Kippur war in Israel. He has no fears about entering dangerous territory, and one can’t help but be impressed as he wrangles his way on to helicopters, boats, planes, clapped out cars or tanks to get his story. Dobson develops a special interest in terrorism, and he and his journalist colleagues cover the atrocities of groups like the Baader-Meinhof gang, Black Panthers, and IRA terrorists in Ireland. We tend to forget how bad things were back then. However there is a great deal of unnecessary detail. Long sections describe changing jobs in London, with lists of his colleagues’ names which mean nothing to the reader. And it jumps around too much. In a typical section he visits a war in Africa, jumps to Beirut to cover an assassination, writes about a hijacking in the Middle East, then jets back to England where he helps rescue isolated farmers from a serious winter. No doubt that is what his life was like, but it often doesn’t translate well to the page. This book covers a lot of ground, maybe too much. At 620 pages it is too long, and would have been much better if it lost about 200 unnecessary pages under the hand of a good editor.
Christopher Dobson certainly led a rich and complex life as a journalist for the various English newspapers from the 1940’s until 2000. Some sections are excellent, as when Dobson covers the Vietnam war in the 60’s or becomes embedded with troops during the 1973 Yom Kippur war in Israel. He has no fears about entering dangerous territory, and one can’t help but be impressed as he wrangles his way on to helicopters, boats, planes, clapped out cars or tanks to get his story. Dobson develops a special interest in terrorism, and he and his journalist colleagues cover the atrocities of groups like the Baader-Meinhof gang, Black Panthers, and IRA terrorists in Ireland. We tend to forget how bad things were back then. However there is a great deal of unnecessary detail. Long sections describe changing jobs in London, with lists of his colleagues’ names which mean nothing to the reader. And it jumps around too much. In a typical section he visits a war in Africa, jumps to Beirut to cover an assassination, writes about a hijacking in the Middle East, then jets back to England where he helps rescue isolated farmers from a serious winter. No doubt that is what his life was like, but it often doesn’t translate well to the page. This book covers a lot of ground, maybe too much. At 620 pages it is too long, and would have been much better if it lost about 200 unnecessary pages under the hand of a good editor.
July 29, 2024
Most memoirs are mediocre: the authors have little idea how to write, and their experiences really aren't all that interesting. Dobson's memoir is the exception that proves the rule. A old-school journalist with decades of experience, he knows how to write. And as a foreign correspondent, he's at the forefront of global events: the 1967 Six Day War in the Middle East, Vietnam just after Tet, the 1974 October War, Cyprus in the 50s, Moscow under Khrushchev. Even rich heiresses eloping in the Caribbean.
December 1, 2019
Quite an amazing life and career as foreign correspondent, from Krushchev to the Six Day War, and many missions in between, to war torn outposts of the world. Humongous amount of chutzpah and courage. This is the job that any young journo would aspire to.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews