The First Casualty

Description

*The First Casualty* when war comes, is truth," said American Senator Hiram Johnson in 1917. In his gripping, now-classic history of war journalism, Phillip Knightley shows just how right Johnson was. From William Howard Russell, who described the appalling conditions of the Crimean War in the Times of London, to the ranks of reporters, photographers, and cameramen who captured the realities of war in Vietnam, *The First Casualty* tells a fascinating story of heroism and collusion, censorship and suppression. Since Vietnam, Knightley reveals, governments have become much more adept at managing the media, as highlighted in chapters on the Falklands War, the Gulf War, and the conflict between NATO and Serbia over Kosovo. And in a new chapter on the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Knightley details even greater degrees of government manipulation and media complicity, as evidenced by the "embedding" of reporters in military units and the uncritical, openly patriotic coverage of these conflicts. "The age of the war correspondent as hero," he concludes, "appears to be over." Fully updated, *The First Casualty* remains required reading for anyone concerned about freedom of the press, journalistic responsibility, and the nature of modern warfare.

First Sentence

"At ten minutes past eleven our Light Cavalry Brigade advanced...They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and splendour of war... At the distance of 1,200 yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth, from thirty iron mouth"

Excerpt

"At ten minutes past eleven our Light Cavalry Brigade advanced...They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and splendour of war... At the distance of 1,200 yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth, from thirty iron mouth"

Subjects

Other Editions

• The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker from the Crimea to VietnamDeutsch1975-01-01
• The first casualtyHarcourt Brace Jovanovich1975-01-01
• The first casualtyHarcourt Brace Jovanovich1976-01-01
• The first casualtyHarcourt Brace Jovanovich1976-01-01
• The first casualtyQuartet Books1978-01-01
• The First CasualtyAudio CassetteBooks on Tape, Inc.1978-07-01