Freetown Ambush: A Reporter's Year in Africa

Rating:
Summary: A rare mixture
Review: Freetown Ambush offers a rare mixture of the excitement and adventure of "on the edge" journalism (and a sprinkle of travel writing), with cultural and personal sensitivity. The story Stewart tells of his year as a war correspondent and bureau chief for the Associated Press in West Africa takes us through horrors of war that most of us (thankfully) will never experience, but with an awareness that we (the public) need to know more than the events - we need to know the local people, and hear their voices. Stewart adds to this compelling mixture his own personal journey from surviving a rebel ambush that lodged a bullet in his brain, through recovery from brain injury and ultimately to reclaiming his life. Although the book educates us about "small African countries and distant wars" that most of the public doesn't know exist, in the end, the book inspires us to reclaim life, as Stewart, and the citizens of those far off countries do.

Rating:
Summary: A timely read
Review: This book gave me new insight into what makes journalists tick and a new understanding of African politics. I must admit to paying little attention before.
A thoroughly good read filled with moments of horror, excitement and humor.
The author offers us a glimpse of what it is like to suffer a brain injury and the road to recovery.
If you like adventure and human interest written in a crisp style this book is for you.
Looking forward to the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Freetown Ambush
Review: Through a year as a journalist on the front lines of various African wars, Ian Stewart allows us into the person behind the byline -- the struggle to remain a detached observer while still remaining human, and then through the struggle for life and recovery itself after he is shot in the head while on assignment in Sierra Leone. While Stewart is the continuity from chapter to chapter, the stories that brought him to Africa in the first place are always front and centre. The background to each war zone is woven in, to ensure that while we are reading about his observations and struggles, we also are reading the stories that were (often) ignored by our daily papers in the first place. Stewart's writing style manages to turn what are sometimes very heavy, heart-wrenching and tragic events, into a fascinating read, one that is hard to put down. I definitely recommend this book.