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Into Danger
'Reported with skill and personal insight' The Times
Bestselling author and the most famous woman in a flak jacket Kate Adie sets out on a fascinating journey to discover just who is attracted to living dangerously - and why.
Ever since her days as a reporter on the front line in Iraq and the Iranian Embassy siege in London, Kate Adie has earned her reputation as one of the most intrepid women of her day. Throughout her career she has regularly reported from the world's most dangerous war zones - often placing her own life at serious risk.
It has given her a curiosity about the people who are attracted to danger. Why when so many are fearful of anything beyond their daily routine, are others drawn towards situations, or professions which put them in regular peril of their lives?
It has proved a fascinating quest that has taken her to the four corners of the globe in pursuit of an answer. She has met those who choose a career in danger, like stuntpeople, landmine exploders, and even a 'snake man' who - aged 96 - has been bitten countless times by poisonous snakes to find venom for vaccines. She has questioned those whose actions put them in danger, like Sir Richard Leakey whose determination to speak out in Kenya nearly cost him his life, as well as criminals and prostitutes who risk all for money. And of course there are those who - through no choice of their own - have been put in danger, such as Saddam Hussein's food taster - not his career of choice.
With Kate's insight, wit, and gift for illumination, this is a compelling read.
Bestselling author and the most famous woman in a flak jacket Kate Adie sets out on a fascinating journey to discover just who is attracted to living dangerously - and why.
Ever since her days as a reporter on the front line in Iraq and the Iranian Embassy siege in London, Kate Adie has earned her reputation as one of the most intrepid women of her day. Throughout her career she has regularly reported from the world's most dangerous war zones - often placing her own life at serious risk.
It has given her a curiosity about the people who are attracted to danger. Why when so many are fearful of anything beyond their daily routine, are others drawn towards situations, or professions which put them in regular peril of their lives?
It has proved a fascinating quest that has taken her to the four corners of the globe in pursuit of an answer. She has met those who choose a career in danger, like stuntpeople, landmine exploders, and even a 'snake man' who - aged 96 - has been bitten countless times by poisonous snakes to find venom for vaccines. She has questioned those whose actions put them in danger, like Sir Richard Leakey whose determination to speak out in Kenya nearly cost him his life, as well as criminals and prostitutes who risk all for money. And of course there are those who - through no choice of their own - have been put in danger, such as Saddam Hussein's food taster - not his career of choice.
With Kate's insight, wit, and gift for illumination, this is a compelling read.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2008
21 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 27, 2022
The stories of representatives of a wide variety of dangerous jobs, not always the obvious ones, illustrate this look at what it means to do a job which puts you at danger by its very nature. The author tells their stories, and to some extent hers, extremely well, taking the reader into what, for most of us, are strange and alarming worlds.
February 4, 2022
Not what I expected but then I got more than I expected. Excellent read covering individuals who do what most of us would definitely think twice about doing.
August 21, 2025
Pretty interesting in some parts, but in others it was kind of scraping the barrel. There's just not really enough content in each of the chapters, or at the very least the focus isn't there. There's a lot that could be said for all of the jobs featured, but I couldn't tell you much about them. I don't really recall what this book filled most of its pages with, to be honest. I welcome context, especially when it comes to fields I know nothing about, but it was all vaguely tangible context and then no elaboration. There was no solid focus on the job itself -- and the experience of working it -- and it felt very imbalanced.
Related, but the book seemed more focused on telling the reader that a job was dangerous rather than showing it. Sometimes the danger was self-evident, yes, but it would have still been nice to see it broken down and explored through the words of somebody living it. Other times, I could guess vaguely why a job would be dangerous, but I was left with no further knowledge and came out of the chapter with precisely the same information I went in with. I'm not saying the book has to be filled with gory details (though I certainly wouldn't have been disappointed) but it would be nice to have something solid to get my teeth into.
This book also featured something I detest, which is where the majority of the information is presented as one long run-on quote from the source, with no breaks and very little analysis or input from the author. Books that do this fail at both being informative non-fiction and oral histories; they straddle the line and become neither. It's almost lazy, like Adie transcribed the interviews, slapped a few quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph, and said it was done. It's especially strange for a journalist, who you'd think would be good at taking out illustrative quotes and building a story around them. Perhaps Adie has just become too reliant on the interview format, who knows. It's just very dull -- there's little additional research, no deep dives into the historical contexts or psychological impacts or profiles, and only one or two case studies per profession who are almost exclusively ex-military. (There's not even any close look as to why this might be.) It's not a very varied look and as I said earlier, I struggle to recall what most of the content even was.
Finally, I disliked Adie's writing style in this. It was oftentimes clunky and unclear, like the chapters were written in a different order and then rearranged, or her own writing was awkwardly fit between chunks of interview transcriptions. Sometimes I hadn't a clue what she was talking about. There are a lot of typos, both grammatical and occasional factual -- she gets names completely wrong, so obviously she hasn't factchecked and nobody in the publishing process has either. Again, very odd for a respected journalist. There's also a tone or an attitude I don't like in some parts, an almost smarmy or condescending vibe I can't quite place but didn't endear me to her. What little information in here is decent, and there were a few chapters that I enjoyed or at least taught me something, but overall this was a bit of a disappointment and there were a lot of much more interesting and varied careers she could have focused on but left out for some reason, in favour of others that were a bit of a stretch. Perhaps they wouldn't have seemed such if more care and time and research had been put into the telling of these stories, but as presented "missionary" and "campaigner" seem to me less interesting than "storm chaser" or "mountain rescue" or literally any of the other obvious ones. I get the feeling Adie was chasing established connections rather than trying to find something new.
Related, but the book seemed more focused on telling the reader that a job was dangerous rather than showing it. Sometimes the danger was self-evident, yes, but it would have still been nice to see it broken down and explored through the words of somebody living it. Other times, I could guess vaguely why a job would be dangerous, but I was left with no further knowledge and came out of the chapter with precisely the same information I went in with. I'm not saying the book has to be filled with gory details (though I certainly wouldn't have been disappointed) but it would be nice to have something solid to get my teeth into.
This book also featured something I detest, which is where the majority of the information is presented as one long run-on quote from the source, with no breaks and very little analysis or input from the author. Books that do this fail at both being informative non-fiction and oral histories; they straddle the line and become neither. It's almost lazy, like Adie transcribed the interviews, slapped a few quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph, and said it was done. It's especially strange for a journalist, who you'd think would be good at taking out illustrative quotes and building a story around them. Perhaps Adie has just become too reliant on the interview format, who knows. It's just very dull -- there's little additional research, no deep dives into the historical contexts or psychological impacts or profiles, and only one or two case studies per profession who are almost exclusively ex-military. (There's not even any close look as to why this might be.) It's not a very varied look and as I said earlier, I struggle to recall what most of the content even was.
Finally, I disliked Adie's writing style in this. It was oftentimes clunky and unclear, like the chapters were written in a different order and then rearranged, or her own writing was awkwardly fit between chunks of interview transcriptions. Sometimes I hadn't a clue what she was talking about. There are a lot of typos, both grammatical and occasional factual -- she gets names completely wrong, so obviously she hasn't factchecked and nobody in the publishing process has either. Again, very odd for a respected journalist. There's also a tone or an attitude I don't like in some parts, an almost smarmy or condescending vibe I can't quite place but didn't endear me to her. What little information in here is decent, and there were a few chapters that I enjoyed or at least taught me something, but overall this was a bit of a disappointment and there were a lot of much more interesting and varied careers she could have focused on but left out for some reason, in favour of others that were a bit of a stretch. Perhaps they wouldn't have seemed such if more care and time and research had been put into the telling of these stories, but as presented "missionary" and "campaigner" seem to me less interesting than "storm chaser" or "mountain rescue" or literally any of the other obvious ones. I get the feeling Adie was chasing established connections rather than trying to find something new.
August 21, 2022
I found the book frustrating, at the start of each chapter a story that caught my imagination but then lots of description that I didn't want. I wanted more of the beginning story. In the chapter on the 'Diver' we eventually got the story. In the end ieas reading the beginning of the chapters and skipping the rest.
May 28, 2024
The subject matter was a good idea and there were some compelling first hand accounts. I think most anyone would enjoy reading about the various major dangers "out there"
July 25, 2024
What an amazing woman. Loved this book Kate is a wonderful teller of her amazing life stories.
September 3, 2016
In an eminently readable (she is a journalist after all) book Kate Adie (war correspondent) traces the stories of several "dangerous" professions - trying to answer why people would voluntarily put their lives at danger everyday.
From the war hero's "I was just doing my bit" to the soldier for whom it's part play/part duty, to the deep sea diver who really is just enjoying life.
There are some interesting jobs considered - food taster, snake venom collector, prostitute, terrorist. There seems to be a distinct trend through out that most people just "fell into" the jobs - either they loved a hobby and pursued it no matter what the possible cost, or they were forced into it by reasons beyond their control.
The book gets more philosophical towards the end with the Ulster Policeman at the height of the troubles, the campaigner and the idealist who stood up against the Chinese government.
A good read.
From the war hero's "I was just doing my bit" to the soldier for whom it's part play/part duty, to the deep sea diver who really is just enjoying life.
There are some interesting jobs considered - food taster, snake venom collector, prostitute, terrorist. There seems to be a distinct trend through out that most people just "fell into" the jobs - either they loved a hobby and pursued it no matter what the possible cost, or they were forced into it by reasons beyond their control.
The book gets more philosophical towards the end with the Ulster Policeman at the height of the troubles, the campaigner and the idealist who stood up against the Chinese government.
A good read.
July 11, 2014
Interesting portraits of a range of people whose jobs put them at risk. Kate Adie, herself no stranger to danger in the course of work, seeks to answer why anyone seeks out a profession that poses a threat to life. Each chapter ends with the question "And he/she did it in the name of what?" to which the answers are understandably vague and unsatisfying. It is the same as asking someone why they climb mountains. "Because they are there", "because I love the feeling of looking down at the world from a position of isolation" - whatever the answer it only contains one fragment of the real reasons that drive people to behave as they do, to value what they do.
It is readable and covers a fair range of professions and work, but ultimately does no more than lift the corner of the curtain into each way of life.
It is readable and covers a fair range of professions and work, but ultimately does no more than lift the corner of the curtain into each way of life.
May 20, 2012
This a collection of interviews with people with dangerous jobs or lifestyles, with commentary by Kate Adie. Themes covered include politics, war, terrorism and working with dangerous animals. An interesting read, but lacking cohesion. Tries to cover too much on each topic at the expense of finishing off what are interesting stories or anecdotes that are often left tantalisingly dangling. The insistence of ending each chapter with an "...in the name of what?" question to each interviewee becomes a bit cringeworthy.
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January 24, 2009A fascinating study of hazardous professions. With one exception, notably American missionaries in South America, the subjects seek to minimize their risk while doing their job.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews