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Collateral Damage
"Modern warfare isn’t like the movies. You can’t film death any more. Only its aftermath . . ."
Saudi Arabia, 1991. Swept up in the speed of the land battle, top TV journalist David Challis films the Gulf War as a triumph of good over evil. But how much of his story is real? And how much of it is what others want him to say?
Back in London, still reeling from the tragic death of a colleague in the desert, Challis begins to re-examine the evidence and stumbles on a conspiracy more frightening than any war documentary would ever dare reveal. With billions at stake in weapons’ sales, someone has been using the background of the Gulf War to play a terrifying new game. With the British and American governments. With Arab dictators. And with innocent people’s lives . . .
James Long was born In Sussex In 1949. After university he went Into journalism on a London newspaper before joining the BBC In 1974. He played a major part In uncovering the details of the Guinness scandal and in the Investigations into Ferdinand Marcos’s missing millions. During his broadcasting career he has been interrogated by the Indonesian secret police, deliberately run down by a Cadillac in America and held by the Venezuelan army.
Saudi Arabia, 1991. Swept up in the speed of the land battle, top TV journalist David Challis films the Gulf War as a triumph of good over evil. But how much of his story is real? And how much of it is what others want him to say?
Back in London, still reeling from the tragic death of a colleague in the desert, Challis begins to re-examine the evidence and stumbles on a conspiracy more frightening than any war documentary would ever dare reveal. With billions at stake in weapons’ sales, someone has been using the background of the Gulf War to play a terrifying new game. With the British and American governments. With Arab dictators. And with innocent people’s lives . . .
James Long was born In Sussex In 1949. After university he went Into journalism on a London newspaper before joining the BBC In 1974. He played a major part In uncovering the details of the Guinness scandal and in the Investigations into Ferdinand Marcos’s missing millions. During his broadcasting career he has been interrogated by the Indonesian secret police, deliberately run down by a Cadillac in America and held by the Venezuelan army.
396 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 18, 2018
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About the author
James Long
51 books54 followersAka Will Davenport
James Long was a BBC TV news correspondent until the end of the 1980s. After two years starting and running an international TV station out of Zurich, he returned to England to concentrate on writing, which had always been his first love. He wrote four thrillers, then went back to a story he had begun many years earlier and which grew into Ferney. The book was originally born from his disappointment at being unable to buy a derelict cottage he had found near the village of Penselwood and that house became the centre of the story. Many more novels followed, including two written under the pseudonym 'Will Davenport.' He moved into historical non-fiction in 2007 with The Plot against Pepys, co-written with his oldest son, Ben. Since then, he has co-written a play with his middle son, Harry. He lives with his wife, Annie and daughter Matilda in Totnes, Devon. His interests range from archaeology to motor racing. He is actively involved in the creative writing charity, the Arvon Foundation and tutors from time to time on Arvon courses. He is also a patron and adviser to the Dartington Literary Festival, 'Ways with Words.'
James Long was a BBC TV news correspondent until the end of the 1980s. After two years starting and running an international TV station out of Zurich, he returned to England to concentrate on writing, which had always been his first love. He wrote four thrillers, then went back to a story he had begun many years earlier and which grew into Ferney. The book was originally born from his disappointment at being unable to buy a derelict cottage he had found near the village of Penselwood and that house became the centre of the story. Many more novels followed, including two written under the pseudonym 'Will Davenport.' He moved into historical non-fiction in 2007 with The Plot against Pepys, co-written with his oldest son, Ben. Since then, he has co-written a play with his middle son, Harry. He lives with his wife, Annie and daughter Matilda in Totnes, Devon. His interests range from archaeology to motor racing. He is actively involved in the creative writing charity, the Arvon Foundation and tutors from time to time on Arvon courses. He is also a patron and adviser to the Dartington Literary Festival, 'Ways with Words.'
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 11, 2018
It’s a long time since I stayed up to read a novel. I’d almost forgotten how gripping a good thriller can be – and this is indeed a good thriller, but also much more than that.
The story is set against the background of the first Gulf War and it is, inevitably, political. It wears its heart on its impeccably liberal sleeve. The war, Long thinks, was fought as much to demonstrate the efficacy of the weaponry, and hence to build arms sales, as it was to liberate Kuwait. It’s not a view I’d necessarily agree with, but neither is it a foolish idea.
David Challis is a reporter who goes to war convinced of the justice of the fight and the necessity to use the most powerful weaponry to defeat Hussein’s Republican Guard. He is accompanied by a more cynical American reporter and a French photographer who is determined to show the terrible reality of the effects of war.
Meanwhile, in what seems a separate plot, a British arms manufacturer is developing a new missile and is not above some underhand practices to make it seem better than it is.
Everything comes together in the carnage of the Kuwaiti desert and then we’re off into straightforward thriller territory with the evil villains trying to cover their tracks with a string of bodies while the intrepid reporter tries to bring them to justice.
There’s a sub-plot about flying in the Second World War, suggesting that war has always been hell and that governments and Staff officers are prone to forgetting the impact of their policies on the ground.
The whole thing could be a terrible mess – especially if you are not entirely convinced about the liberal arguments against the level of force used against Iraqi conscript soldiers. It works though. The accounts of the weaponry and the ways it was used in the Gulf are convincing. The insights into the arms industry are convincing too. The Second World War material is impeccably researched and gives an authentic understanding of life as a navy flier back then. The nuts and bolts of the story work well and Long is simply an excellent story teller, and (although he changes point-of-view in an unfashionable way) I like his writing style, which is crisp and clear.
I’m not saying much about the plot details because there are a few twists and surprises. You’ll just have to take my word for it. It’s a very good story and a very good book.
The story is set against the background of the first Gulf War and it is, inevitably, political. It wears its heart on its impeccably liberal sleeve. The war, Long thinks, was fought as much to demonstrate the efficacy of the weaponry, and hence to build arms sales, as it was to liberate Kuwait. It’s not a view I’d necessarily agree with, but neither is it a foolish idea.
David Challis is a reporter who goes to war convinced of the justice of the fight and the necessity to use the most powerful weaponry to defeat Hussein’s Republican Guard. He is accompanied by a more cynical American reporter and a French photographer who is determined to show the terrible reality of the effects of war.
Meanwhile, in what seems a separate plot, a British arms manufacturer is developing a new missile and is not above some underhand practices to make it seem better than it is.
Everything comes together in the carnage of the Kuwaiti desert and then we’re off into straightforward thriller territory with the evil villains trying to cover their tracks with a string of bodies while the intrepid reporter tries to bring them to justice.
There’s a sub-plot about flying in the Second World War, suggesting that war has always been hell and that governments and Staff officers are prone to forgetting the impact of their policies on the ground.
The whole thing could be a terrible mess – especially if you are not entirely convinced about the liberal arguments against the level of force used against Iraqi conscript soldiers. It works though. The accounts of the weaponry and the ways it was used in the Gulf are convincing. The insights into the arms industry are convincing too. The Second World War material is impeccably researched and gives an authentic understanding of life as a navy flier back then. The nuts and bolts of the story work well and Long is simply an excellent story teller, and (although he changes point-of-view in an unfashionable way) I like his writing style, which is crisp and clear.
I’m not saying much about the plot details because there are a few twists and surprises. You’ll just have to take my word for it. It’s a very good story and a very good book.
May 21, 2018
I have always enjoyed a good thriller set in the modern era and this was one of the best I've read. Set in 1991 during the first Gulf War, a top TV journalist, David Challis, is filming Operation Desert Storm as the Allies advance into Iraqi occupied Kuwait. When tragedy strikes, David begins to question his long held beliefs and seeks answers to what really happened. He soon begins to find that with £billions at stake, unscrupulous arms manufacturers will stop at nothing, even murder, to achieve sales of their products. A novel I couldn't put down and one that I can highly recommend.
September 26, 2021
Collateral Damage is a thriller about David Challis, a TV journalist making a documentary about the first Gulf War. Throw in a shady arms manufacturer and a side plot about the Fleet Air Arm during WWII and you've got another cracking yarn by James Long to lose yourself in.
Everything you need for a good story is here: the historical detail is spot on, there are good guys and bad guys, plenty of action within a believable plot and even a bit of philosophical musing on the futility of war.
James Long is a fabulous storyteller, and thoroughly underappreciated.
December 28, 2021
I really hate to give this book such a low rating. There really is nothing wrong with the book. It's just that I can't get myself to enjoy war stories.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews