Martin Bell's was BBC TV's principal correspondent during the war in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995. The original version of this passionate and personal account of the conflict was written while the war was still going on, some of it late at night in the Holiday Inn in Sarajevo. In Harm's Way is not only about the progress of the war; it is about its origins, how it began and how it could have been avoided; it is about the human costs of war in which all the peoples of Bosnia became the victims; it is about a massive failure by the United Nations, beginning with an inadequate peace-keeping mandate and ending with the Srebrenica massacre; and it is about the practices of war reporting itself. And it is about the journalists in the thick of it, the oddballs and the idealists, the wild adventurers and hardened professionals who were caught up in this war and tried to make some sense of it. In the introduction to this new edition, marking the twentieth anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities, Martin Bell reflects on the impact of what he calls the most consequential war of our time.
In Harm's Way: Bosnia: A War Reporter's Story
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'One of the great memoirs of war reporting'. Ed Vulliamy, Guardian 'Written with clarity and often understated anger ... a prophetic warning from the brutal European battlefield.' Anthony Loyd, The Times
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Mister G
TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This book was first published in 1995, a few months before the war ended; a second edition followed in 1996. This 2012 edition is a revised and updated version. Martin Bell states 'I wrote this book of instant history because I felt it would not wait and would better be written by someone who was there. Historians are seldom eyewitnesses. I know two things now that I did not know then. One is the body count... we now know that some 98,000 people were killed in the course of that war...'
He writes about UN soldiers being horrified by both what they saw and by being unable to do anything about it - for example, standing by as Sarajevo was destroyed by Serb artillery.
This was the first satellite TV war - pictures beamed straight from the war zone critically without censorship. As a result it put tremendous pressure on the British government to intervene. Initially it resisted - Douglas Hurd is quoted as saying 'There is nothing new in such misery. There is nothing new in mass rape, in the shooting of civilians, in war crimes, in ethnic cleansing, in the burning of town and villages. What is new is that a selection of these tragedies is now visible within hours to people around the world'. The author quotes G K Chesterton, who was obviously not talking about satellite TV at the time but might as well have been: 'It's not the world that has got so much worse but the news coverage that has got so much better'.
Mr Bell reports on the horrors of the war - the atrocities by both sides; the targeting of civilians by snipers; the relentless artillery bombardments; and the relief brought by fog because snipers could not operate. Read more ›
He writes about UN soldiers being horrified by both what they saw and by being unable to do anything about it - for example, standing by as Sarajevo was destroyed by Serb artillery.
This was the first satellite TV war - pictures beamed straight from the war zone critically without censorship. As a result it put tremendous pressure on the British government to intervene. Initially it resisted - Douglas Hurd is quoted as saying 'There is nothing new in such misery. There is nothing new in mass rape, in the shooting of civilians, in war crimes, in ethnic cleansing, in the burning of town and villages. What is new is that a selection of these tragedies is now visible within hours to people around the world'. The author quotes G K Chesterton, who was obviously not talking about satellite TV at the time but might as well have been: 'It's not the world that has got so much worse but the news coverage that has got so much better'.
Mr Bell reports on the horrors of the war - the atrocities by both sides; the targeting of civilians by snipers; the relentless artillery bombardments; and the relief brought by fog because snipers could not operate. Read more ›
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By David Rowland
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Verified Purchase
Martin Bell was the BBC's principal television correspondence during the Bosnian war between 1991 and 1995 and he was an eye witness to the greatest period of bloodletting in Europe since the second world war and most sadly it was a war that need not have happened. His superb book not only tells the fascinating story of his own experiences on the front line but reveals the causes of the war and describes some of the personalities involved. He became a familiar figure to TV audiences with his white suit and his calm delivery of shocking events including the massacres at Srebenica and Ahmici and the long siege of Sarajevo. One of his most famous television reports from Bosnia included him being wounded by a sniper.
His book shows his admiration for the soldiers posted there who had an impossible job in the conflict who because of their rules of engagement were prevented from intervening in the fighting to help people and who had no choice but to be passive bystanders to many horrendous events including ethnic cleansing and massacres. It was a war of incredible intensity and cruelty especially for civilians where hatred between Serbs, Croats and Muslims, many of whom had previously lived beside each other in peace and harmony lead to events that shocked Europe whose inhabitants had come to believe that the kind of things that took place between 1939 and 1945 could not possibly happen again in their continent.
Bell produces many valuable insights about the war and how it was covered by correspondents and he does so with self effacing humour and great humanity. It is a great read and anyone interested in the war in the former Yugoslavia and how the story was told to the world must read it to get a balanced view of the conflict whose consequences are still very much apparent in this unhappy and unsettled area of Europe.
His book shows his admiration for the soldiers posted there who had an impossible job in the conflict who because of their rules of engagement were prevented from intervening in the fighting to help people and who had no choice but to be passive bystanders to many horrendous events including ethnic cleansing and massacres. It was a war of incredible intensity and cruelty especially for civilians where hatred between Serbs, Croats and Muslims, many of whom had previously lived beside each other in peace and harmony lead to events that shocked Europe whose inhabitants had come to believe that the kind of things that took place between 1939 and 1945 could not possibly happen again in their continent.
Bell produces many valuable insights about the war and how it was covered by correspondents and he does so with self effacing humour and great humanity. It is a great read and anyone interested in the war in the former Yugoslavia and how the story was told to the world must read it to get a balanced view of the conflict whose consequences are still very much apparent in this unhappy and unsettled area of Europe.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Master Fang
Format:Kindle Edition
This is not actually a new book but a revised and updated edition of the same which was originally released in 1995 (and revised in 1996). It has been released to mark the 20th anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities.
The original book was written during the period covered by the book during the Bosnian conflict of 92-95 and covers Martin's experiences there with a far amount of divergence along the way.
Martin Bell was a BBC TV war reporter for many years and covered wars all across the world, famously wearing a white suit whilst doing so and collecting a fragment of mortar shell in the process of filming in Bosnia. He did his National Service in the late 50's in the Suffolk Regiment and is still proud of his affiliation to them. His affection feelings towards British soldiers comes through consistently in the book.
In Harm's Way is not a history book of the conflict, in fact there is little background given to the start of the war, and within each chapter there can be a bit of jumping back and forth chronologically. This is probably explained that when written the events would have been very fresh in the minds of readers. Now however, trying to recall the sequences of the various Balkan conflicts around that time is not so clear (even to a Cold War Warrior who was on 48 hours notice to deploy there at one point).
I think one aspect of the book that immediately hits you is the number of the media who were wounded and killed during this conflict. This is explained as a relatively new thing as the past they were mainly protected from harm. However the indiscriminatory nature of this war did away with that coupled with the desire for more and more reports direct from the front line. Read more ›
The original book was written during the period covered by the book during the Bosnian conflict of 92-95 and covers Martin's experiences there with a far amount of divergence along the way.
Martin Bell was a BBC TV war reporter for many years and covered wars all across the world, famously wearing a white suit whilst doing so and collecting a fragment of mortar shell in the process of filming in Bosnia. He did his National Service in the late 50's in the Suffolk Regiment and is still proud of his affiliation to them. His affection feelings towards British soldiers comes through consistently in the book.
In Harm's Way is not a history book of the conflict, in fact there is little background given to the start of the war, and within each chapter there can be a bit of jumping back and forth chronologically. This is probably explained that when written the events would have been very fresh in the minds of readers. Now however, trying to recall the sequences of the various Balkan conflicts around that time is not so clear (even to a Cold War Warrior who was on 48 hours notice to deploy there at one point).
I think one aspect of the book that immediately hits you is the number of the media who were wounded and killed during this conflict. This is explained as a relatively new thing as the past they were mainly protected from harm. However the indiscriminatory nature of this war did away with that coupled with the desire for more and more reports direct from the front line. Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
One Star
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Published 1 month ago by Arthur Nichols
5.0 out of 5 stars
An illuminating study by a great war reporter of our age
A fine piece of reporting that illuminates and educates. It somehow passed me by at the time. I watched the news but didn't grasp the causes and the aims and grievances of the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by tony
2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring
I has hoping to learn something about the conflict which always seems so complicated but I learnt nothing. Read more
Published 6 months ago by JPW
4.0 out of 5 stars
should be a great read when I get around to it!
I saw his tv segments often enough can't wait to read more abouut behind the scenes having worked in the media myself his tales should be great
Published 16 months ago by gary david merrin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting
Went to Croatia for a holiday and wanted to know more about the Homeland War. Martin Bell was a very interesting read.
Published 17 months ago by P. Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable, evocative war journalism
I had gone looking for a tourist guide to Sarajevo when I found this book. I read an Accidental MP many years ago and was captivated by that so thought this was almost certainly... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Miss Dawn
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well put together
Not sure I am any wiser as to the why's and wherefore's of this horrific war, but a fascinating insight into the life of a war correspondent.
Published 21 months ago by Mrs K E Rowbottom
4.0 out of 5 stars
Incorrect facts.
I found the book very interesting, except in one or two of the areas of which I have some knowledge, he got his facts wrong.
Dion Beard.
Dion Beard.
Published 22 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
In harm's way: Bosnia: A war reporter's Story. Martin Bell.
What an amazing book. Martin gives so much of the background of the Bosnian War at first hand experience. Read more
Published on 16 Aug 2012 by maryw
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant read!
I wanted to read this book as I have a sister living in Sarajevo who experienced this war first hand. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2012 by Sandra
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