Going to the Wars

A superb account of journalists, soldiers and the experience of modern battle, written by one of the greatest war reporters of our time – Robert Harris, author of An Officer and a Spy

‘Gripping and compulsively readable’ – Saul David, Sunday Telegraph

Max Hastings grew up with romantic dreams of a life amongst warriors. But after a painful false start with the Parachute Regiment, he became a journalist instead. Going to the Wars is his vivid, insightful account of his years as a foreign correspondent.

His first taste of danger came at the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, followed by the Biafra and Vietnam Wars. He left Saigon by helicopter from the American Embassy as the city fell to the Khmer Rouge, masqueraded as a game hunter to seek out the secrets of the Rhodesian civil war and was almost shot by marauding Turkish soldiers during the invasion of Cyprus. His greatest moment came at the end of the Falklands War, when he walked alone into Port Stanley, ahead of the British landing force, in determined pursuit of a scoop.

A first-class piece of reportage. It is filled with tales of derring-do, modestly told Jon Swain, The Sunday Times

His memoirs have . . . honesty, pace and readability – Jeremy Paxman