Foreign Correspondence: The Great Reporters and Their Times

Some of the most important episodes in history are contained in these pages - from the roles of Winston Churchill and Georges Clemenceau, and those of some of the greatest war correspondents in history from Ernle Pyle to Peter Arnett. John Hohenberg, himself a reporter, distills the wars and historical moments that have shaped world politics in a comprehensive perspective. The author begins his account with England in the 18th century, at a time when the public demanded more news from the Continent after the events of the French Revolution. No reporter actually witnessed the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 or the Battle of Waterloo in 1815; details were picked up second hand by the London Press. Hohenberg notes that this absence of coverage would soon be remedied with a vengeance, and war would become the great promoter of foreign news coverage. Hohenberg’s narrative is filled with the eniment names and deeds of foreign correspondents such as George Wilkins, Henry Morton Stanley, and Richard Harding Davis. The book emphasises the American experience, particularly the recent role of television and daily newspaper correspondents in Vietnam, the Gulf War and the post-Cold War crises involving the United States.