An exceptional collection of sharp and compassionate reporting of the tragedy and suffering of war, this 1986 edition covers Gellhorn's experiences in the frontline of war -- from Spain, Finland, China, Western Europe, Java, Vietnam, the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, and Central America. It also includes an article on the Nuremberg Trials and the Peace conference in Luxembourg.

Gellhorn portrays very vividly and with such candor the unflinching belief of the citizens of Barcelona in the Republic during the siege, amidst the rubble and the daily horror of death and destruction; the tenacity of young Polish soldiers as they pushed into Italy at the head of the Allied front; the painful images of injured children; the wretchedness of the Vietnamese hamlets being wiped out by the US bombings, and so on. She writes of a harrowing experience of going up in a bomber, and knowing first-hand what the "boys" were in for every time they fly in a mission. As women were not allowed to report from the front, she boarded a hospital boat to witness the D-Day landing and reported from there.

Fearless, utterly bold and independent, as much a trailblazer in war reporting as in women's rights, her writing is compelling and powerful. Her writing is thoughtful, never dry, always directed at the human element. Regarded as one of the greatest war correspondents of all time, she also became one of the most vocal anti-war advocate. ( )