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 war. 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.

About the Author

Phillip Knightley was an award-winning investigative journalist with London's Sunday Times for twenty years. He has written numerous books, including The Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby, and a memoir, A Hack's Progress. He lives in London and travels widely to write and lecture.

Reviews

"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." - Columbia Journalism 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"