Strange Places, Questionable People

Author: John Simpson
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 0330508180
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 596

Book Description
For over thirty years, John Simpson has travelled the world to report on the most significant events of our time. From being punched in the stomach by Harold Wilson on one of his first days as a reporter, to escaping summary execution in Beirut, flying into Teheran with the returning Ayatollah Khomeini, and narrowly avoiding entrapment by a beautiful Czech secret agent, Simpson has had an astonishingly eventful career. In 1989 he witnessed the Tiananmen Square massacre, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communism throughout Eastern Europe and, only weeks later, in South Africa, the release of Nelson Mandela. With Simpson's uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time, this autobiography is a ring-side seat at every major event in recent global history. 'So vivid I could feel my heart beating' Jonathan Mirsky, Spectator 'great stories, sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious' Daily Telegraph

A New History of War Reporting

Author: Kevin Williams
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136479627
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
This book takes a fresh look at the history of war reporting to understand how new technology, new ways of waging war and new media conditions are changing the role and work of today’s war correspondent. Focussing on the mechanics of war reporting and the logistical and institutional pressures on correspondents, the book further examines the role of war propaganda, accreditation and news management in shaping the evolution of the specialism. Previously neglected conflicts and correspondents are reclaimed and wars considered as key moments in the history of war reporting such as the Crimean War (1854-56) and the Great War (1914-18) are re-evaluated. The use of objectivity as the yardstick by which to assess the performance of war correspondents is questioned. The emphasis is instead placed on war as a messy business which confronts reporters and photographers with conditions that challenge the norms of professional practice. References to the ‘demise of the war correspondent’ have accompanied the growth of the specialism since the days of William Howard Russell, the so-called father of war reporting. This highlights the fragile nature of this sub-genre of journalism and emphasises that continuity as much as change characterises the work of the war correspondent. A thematically organised, historically rich introduction, this book is ideal for students of journalism, media and communication.

Why People Believe Weird Things

Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1429996765
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Book Description
"This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science." --Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel Revised and Expanded Edition. In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science. Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.

Manchester Memoirs

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description

A Mad World, My Masters

Author: John Simpson
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9780330355674
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 484

Book Description
There are only a handful of places left on this earth where you can't buy a McDonald's hamburger or stay in a Holiday Inn - and John Simpson has been to them all. This hugely successful volume of writing is a celebration of some of the world's wilder places. His extraordinary experiences include stories about a television camera that killed people, about how Colonel Gadhaffi farted his way through an interview and how he - Simpson - mooned the Queen. 'Highly entertaining' The Times 'What amazing tales he has to tell, and with what enthralling vividness . . . Riveting' Daily Mail 'The range of his travels is staggering . . . Never less than entertaining, sometimes moving and often funny' Sunday Telegraph

The Balkans and the West

Author: Andrew Hammond
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
This timely collection investigates how the Balkans and the West have constructed each other since 1945. Scholars from both sections of the continent explore a wide variety of fiction, film, journalism, travel writing and diplomatic records both to analyse Western European balkanism and to study Balkan representations of the West over the last fifty years. This dual emphasis exposes the representational practices that help to maintain a deeply divided Europe, and challenges the economic and political injustices that result. Despite the rise of postcolonialist analyses of global inequality, the current crises in many parts of South-East Europe have received scant attention in literary and cultural studies. The Balkans and the West addresses this deficiency. Ranging in focus from Serbian cinema to Romanian travel literature, from Western economic writings to Yugoslav fiction, and from public discourse in Albania to NATO's vast propaganda machine, the essays offer wide insight into representation and power in the contemporary European context.

If I Ran the Zoo

Author: Dr. Seuss
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0394800818
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 63

Book Description
Gerald tells of the very unusual animals he would add to the zoo, if he were in charge.

Book Review Index

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Books
Languages : en
Pages : 1260

Book Description
Every 3rd issue is a quarterly cumulation.

Property of Communists

Author: Mark B. Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
This groundbreaking book's analysis of the dual impact of World War II and the death of Stalin on the USSR, its reappraisal of the status of property and ownership in the first `communist' society, and its anchoring in comparative history will appeal to a broad audience of scholars and students of European and Soviet history a like. --Book Jacket.

The Debated Lands

Author: Andrew Hammond
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
A volume focusing on the popular genre of travel writing, the book examines over 400 British and American literary texts in order to outline and account for the multiple ways in which the Balkans have been represented from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day.