Like many inter­na­tion­al news reporters, Mar­tin Fletch­er spends his time bear­ing wit­ness to world events, be they vio­lent, touch­ing, tear­ful, dev­as­tat­ing, or all of the above. But unlike most news reporters, he writes about them with such imme­di­a­cy and pun­gency that he brings them not only into our liv­ing rooms, but direct­ly onto our laps. 

Now Fletch­er tells the sto­ry behind the sto­ries, reveal­ing the sear­ing side of a life of adven­ture that con­tin­u­al­ly plunges him head­long into dan­ger and life-threat­en­ing per­il. For the last thir­ty years, he has reached across con­ti­nents to cov­er events of inter­na­tion­al con­se­quence as a TV war cor­re­spon­dent for NBC News, and now we are invit­ed to go along with him to Africa, Koso­vo, Afghanistan, and the war-torn Mid­dle East to expe­ri­ence the tur­moil and intrigue with him, learn­ing first-hand what goes on behind the cam­eras while they record mon­u­men­tal glob­al events. 

Although this is called a mem­oir, it is as far from a col­lec­tion of mem­o­ries as can be; it is as alive as if it were hap­pen­ing in the moment. Fletcher’s on-the-scene accounts of the events he has wit­nessed are informed by his family’s Holo­caust his­to­ry and although they are some­times hard, some­times soul­ful, they always have the unmis­tak­able ring of truth. Pho­to insert.