A State of Fear: Memories of Argentina's Nightmare

by Andrew Graham-Yooll

For ten hair-raising years, Andrew Graham-Yooll was the news editor of the Buenos Aires Herald. All around him friends and acquaintances were 'disappearing'. Although the slightest mistake might have caused his own disappearance, he didn't shrink from getting first-hand experience of this war of terror. He attended clandestine guerrilla conferences, helped relatives trace the missing, and took tea with a torturer who wasn't ashamed to make the most chilling of confessions. ""I have never read any book that so conveys what it is like to live in a state of permanent fear.""--Graham Greene

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel, Politics

168 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1986

Reviews

[Bob Marshall]

I had heard of the 1974-83 Dirty War, part of the US / CIA led Operation Condor, and of Argentina's Disappeared, but knew very little about the subject. Growing up in the 1970s, and now to my shame, my knowledge of Argentina prior to reading A State of Fear this was limited to Evita, the Falklands War and the 1978 World Cup. I wasn't prepared for the effect this book had on me. By far the best book I have read this year.
Over 12 chapters, Graham-Yooll describes various events he experienced as a reporter in Argentina at the time. Whether he is recounting a kidnapping, a murder, a disappearance, or the hazards of reporting, I found it absolutely compulsive, absorbing, disturbing, heart-breaking. The writing is straightforward but so good, the feeling experienced so often very chilling. But the overwhelming impression is that of widespread fear, a society existing in a state of violence, so often with no idea when or where the violence will appear. The descriptions of brutality, loss, and despair are frightening and numbing, and will stay with me. And the repercussions of the Dirty War continue to this day. A brilliant, salutory book.

[David]

Lots of harrowing memories from a journalist during the 1970s Argentine Dirty War. I was inclined to rate this lower since I didn’t exactly enjoy reading this - every chapter was yet another grim tale without a clear purpose.

But I suppose this is how Buenos Aires felt during these years of terror. The lack of an overall narrative made his firsthand accounts feel more authentic, and the writing itself was clear and empathetic.

[Lucy]

Would highly recommend this for anyone who likes political/journalistic narrative written almost as if it were fiction (and some of the stories Graham-Yooll writes about makes you forget it's not fiction).

“Only if somebody writes this as fiction will it last, will it be believed. Journalism expires within twenty-four hours…”

This is a book shaped like literature, morally insistent, and memorable enough to resist the national instinct to forget.

[Anita Hall]

This is sometimes a difficult read. It's like witnessing a horrifying event but not being able to take your eyes off it. The writing is so good, so thoughtful that you want to know more. As a historical and political account it is accurate and informative. But this memoire is so much more - it brings to life a very normal, everyday feeling to the lives and stories he recites.

[Brad Howard]

An incredible book. And incredibly disturbing. Not at all a clinical history of Argentina’s dirty war but much more powerful through its anecdotes and the author’s own thoughts, conclusions and feelings.

[Facundo]

Tremendo libro, muy movilizante y muy bien escrito. Algunas de las historias que cuenta y los escenarios que describe son impactantes. No entiendo como no hay un guión de película sobre la historia de Andrew Graham Yool y Robert Cox en el Herald en estos años.
Muy recomendable.

[Bénédicte Rousseau]

An introduction to Argentina's darkest times through the story of Argentine journalist Andrew Graham-Yooll (1944-2019). Brilliant, chilling, painful and educating. A first-class memoir and account of the devastating toll of Argentina's military dictatorship and civil war on his own life.

[Chiefdonkey Bradey]

Reading this, I knew if dark times came, even in my gentle town, that I would be killed for bring a rojito, a little red

[Cheryl Brown]

I read this book several years ago but reading Call him mine made me think back to this book.

Like Call him mine it's alarming, terrifying and salutory.

Brilliant and awful at the same time.

[Richard McColl]

Brutally honest chronicles of a terrible time in Argentina.

[Kit]

the chapter with the torturers at the end was vile i would’ve thrown up

[Neil Moulding]

A hard read in many respects - disjointed and rambling in parts, but as equally terrifying at the events and barbarism that it describes

[Howard]

Graham-Yool's anecdotes of being a journalist trying to be neutral in a period of civil war, which came out in 1986. within these pages are hints of the most horrific torture and suffering but it's an exciting rather than a purely grim read as the focus is on Graham-Yool himself and his attempts to avoid death but still report the facts. the reports of torture are indelible from your soul tho so be careful with this shit

[Jacqueline Ferguson]

I wouldn't say this is an enjoyable book but it is very harrowing and enciteful understanding of the 70s in Argentina. Life living in fear is felt through every page and the guilt of living through this.