From distinguished foreign correspondent John Simpson, a fascinating history of what it is to risk life and limb to bring home news of the troubled world

From distinguished foreign correspondent John Simpson, a fascinating history of what it is to risk life and limb to bring home news of the troubled world 'Great stories, sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious' Telegraph In corners of the globe where fault-lines seethe into bloodshed and civil war, foreign correspondents have, for hundreds of years, been engaged in uncovering the latest news and – despite obstacles bureaucratic, political, violent – reporting it by whatever means available. It’s a working life that is difficult, exciting and undeniably glamorous. We Chose to Speak of War and Strife brings us pivotal moments in our history – from the Crimean War to Vietnam; the siege of Sarajevo to the fall of Baghdad – through the eyes of those who risked life and limb to witness them first hand, and the astonishing tales of what it took to report them. These stories celebrate an endangered tradition. Where once despatches were trusted to the hands of a willing sea-captain, telegraph operator or stranger in an airport queue prepared to spirit a can of undeveloped film back to London, today the digital realm has transformed the relaying of the news – even if the work of gathering it in the field has changed little. Weaving the tales of the greats of yesterday and today, such as Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway, Don McCullin and Marie Colvin, with extraordinary accounts from his own lifetime on the frontlines, this is a deeply personal book from a master of the profession, the most distinguished foreign correspondent of our time.

"Great stories, sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious" - Daily Telegraph, on 'Strange Places, Questionable People'

"So vivid I could feel my heart beating" - Spectator on 'Strange Places, Questionable People'

"The range of his travels is staggering ... Never less than entertaining, sometimes moving and often funny" - Sunday Telegraph on 'Mad World, My Masters'

"Great stories sold with great gusto" - Daily Mail on 'News from No Man's Land'

"By far the most comprehensive and readable account to date" - Sunday Times on 'The Wars Against Saddam'

"Superlative ... Tangy, sensuous prose ... The rationed, soot-black world of the late 1940s is beautifully evoked" - Sunday Times on 'Days from a Different World

"The grand maverick ... at his rumbustious, grumpy, humorous best" - Daily Telegraph on 'Not Quite World's End'

"Beautifully crafted, way above the normal ruck of telly memoirs" - Observer

"Deeply personal" - The Week

"His accounts of, among others, William Howard Russell, Clare Hollingworth, Martha Gellhorn and more recently, Brian Barron, Kate Adie, Anthony Loyd and Robert Fisk are by turns amusing, harrowing and poignant" - Times Literary Supplement