The Face of War

Rating:
Summary: A 20th Century chronicler
Review: Martha Gellhorn has two books of journalism out, one called The View From the Ground,and this book, The Face of War. She has covered everything from the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s through to the American invasion of Panama in the eighties. She refused to believe in "that objectivity crap" and wrote what she saw. She was that curious product that only America produces: the unaligned radical liberal. She thought that nations should be judged on the same ethical grounds as people, and this was how she approached her journalism. An example of this view is shown in her piece covering the Israeli trial of Adolf Eichmann: "Adolf Eichmann is the most dire warning to us all. He is a warning to guard our souls; to refuse utterly and forever to allegiance without question, to obey orders silently, to scream slogans. He is a warning that the private conscience is the last and only protection of the civilized world."

Gellhorn cut through the crap and got to the core of the issue. She had a cold eye, a tough spirit, and a compasionate heart. She was unflinching in what she said. She reported back what she saw.She thought that the American invasion of Vietnam was wrong, and said so. She was banned by America from entering Vietnam as a result. Gellhorn was a compelling writer, who wrote in a beautiful clear prose. We dont see her type any more, which is a great shame. She was, above all, a great chronicler of the 20th century.