Robert Fisk (1946–2020)

Robert Fisk has amassed a massive and devoted global readership with his eloquent and far-ranging articles on international politics. Now, for the first time, his brave and incisive essays have been collected in a single volume that ranges in scope from the recent war in Lebanon to the rise of Hamas; from the invasion of Kuwait to the looting of Baghdad; from America’s imperial ambitions to the inescapable influence of the Treaty of Versailles. Taken together, these articles form an unparalleled account of our war-torn recent history.… (more)

Fisk's memoir is a sensitive and empathic account of the civil wars and invasions afflict Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s. He is firmly on the side of civilians, and is withering towards the sectarian militarists (Maronite, Shia, Sunni, and Druze) and invaders (PLO, Syrians, Israeli, and US), although he is sympathetic towards the Irish and Italian UN peacekeeping forces. The book is probably too long, and while reading the first couple of chapters I was not sure if Fisk was deliberately making his prose mawkish because he was trying to join the pantheon of other great chroniclers of war (eg Hermingway or Orwell), or if he was trying to process his own trauma, having witnessed so much violence and human suffering. Having read the whole book, I think it may be the latter.… (more)