First Casualty [Paperback]

Phillip Knightley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2000

This is the story of war reporting, of war correspondents, and the legion of influences that can distort and obstruct efforts to report the truth. It tells of the war correspondent and his search for truth or his role as a propagandist for his, or another government. From William Howard Russell who blew the whistle on the appalling conditions of the British forces in the Crimea to the correspondents who lifted the lid on the reality of the Vietnam War, theirs is a story of a web of heroism and manipulation, censorship and espionage. The lengths to which governments lie, to fool the citizens of the enemy and, even more so, to fool their own, has not diminished with the years it is argued - it has grown.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Few books have deserved an updated edition more than Phillip Knightley's history of war reporting since the 1850s... Invaluable for anyone with an interest in the media, it is equally recommended as a modern history of government lies." -- Times Literary Supplement

"A durable and unblinking chronicle of the role of correspondents in covering, analyzing, and sometimes promoting war... Knightley has added post-Vietnam chapters dealing with Britain's Falkland Islands conflict, the American invasions of Grenada and Panama, the Persian Gulf War, and NATO's Kosovo bombing campaign. There is no chapter on the 2001-2002 fighting in Afghanistan, but its character is unerringly foreshadowed in the ever more stringent policies enforced by Britain and the United States to exclude, control, and coerce correspondents." -- James Boylan, Columbia Journalism Review

"This is fascinating history, with all the personalities and complexity of real life... The main modern story, aside from a few cases of decent reporting in Vietnam, is increasing government efforts, most successful, to manage war coverage. Keep that in mind as the Iraq story unfolds." -- Alan W. Bock, Orange County Register

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"In war, truth may be the first casualty, but in Phillip Knightley's compelling examination of the war correspondent as journalist-mouthpiece-propagandist, the truth survives unscathed. Myths are exploded, scoundrels unmasked, the best and worst of the history of a century plainly revealed." -- Morley Safer

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Prion Books Ltd; 2nd edition (February 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853753769
• ISBN-13: 978-1853753763
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,077,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book on the History of Military-Media Relations, October 7, 2002

By 

Col. Barry Johnson "Bear" (Potlatch, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Kosovo (Paperback)

As a military officer who works routinely with the media, this book is my number-one choice for anybody who wants to understand how the relationship between media and the military became what it is today. This book simply tells a great story. Whether your interest is in media, the military or history, I think you'll have a hard time putting it down. And while I don't subscribe to Mr. Knighley's conclusion that the military scored a final victory in managing the media during Kosovo in 1999, the relationship is much more complex than most people realize and will continue to develop during the conflicts that are being played out today and in the future. The bottom line is that if you're interested enough in this subject to have gotten to the end of this review, you ought to buy the book. You won't regret it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of the First Casualty, by Nathan Reid, June 15, 2003

By 

Nathan Reid (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Kosovo (Paperback)

The First Casualty by Phillip Knightly looks at the history of War Correspondents, and analyzes their attempts to accurately report what actually happens on the front line. It covers a broad period of time, from the mid 1800's to the 1970's, in which the author analyzes just about every major war in the time span.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is that it shows the inability of the majority of the correspondents to report accurately on the wars that have taken place throughout history. For various reasons, which are all explained in the book, most of what the average person read about a particular war during the time that it was going on, turned out to be some sort of propaganda or just completely false.

Phillip Knightly examines the role that technology has played in changing the role of the war correspondent. He looks at some of the most famous correspondents and explains what they did to get to the top. He also shows what the real priorities were for some of the correspondents and their editors.

This book also gives a very interesting perspective on many of the most famous wars, and has a lot of inside information that isn't available in your average textbook. This book will make anybody think twice about what they read in the paper, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in finding out the real uncensored truth about history.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book, June 14, 2003

By 

J. Falls (Portsmouth, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Kosovo (Paperback)

If you are into the world of journalism in even the smallest capacity, this book is for you. If you are interested in how journalists cover major world events like wars, this book should already be on your bookshelf.

Knightley keeps a thorough record of how the wartime correspondent got its first start and doesn't let up through all of the major English and American wars including the Gulf War. Knightley himself is an accomplished journalist in his own right, but that doesn't stop him from taking a critical look at the industry - how it has succeeded but more interestingly where it has failed and continues to fail.

As a high school journalism teacher, this book will become required reading to understand how this type of reporting came about. It will help the students and you take a more critical look at how journalists are covering the war.