In Harm's Way

Martin Bell has spent 32 years with the BBC and the Bosnian conflict was his 11th war. He found it quite unlike the others because of its brutality and ferocity, its merciless targeting of civilian populations, because of an unexpected level of risk and danger and because of its closeness to home. It was a shocking and defining experience and has changed his way of doing and seeing things. This book is not simply an account of that war. It covers Bell's brief and inglorious time in the army, and some of his earliest assignments for the BBC. He describes what it is to be a foreign correspondent, his experience of earlier wars and the essentials of good reporting. Most of this was useful, none of it was quite enough to prepare even the most experienced reporter for Bosnia. The book gives a picture of the life of a war reporter: the day to day conditions at the Holiday Inn in Sarajevo; the relationships and occasional rivalries with other journalists; the bravery and dignity of the people reported on; and the teamwork of the news-gathering crew. It also describes the stratagems of jokes and superstitions to keep out of harm's way for one more day.