War in the Middle East: A Reporter's Story: Black September and the Yom Kippur War Book

"Immediate and accessible. . . .The best volume yet for readers wanting to learn about this region that affects the whole world." — KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review)

In 1970, when the Jordanian civil war known as Black September began, U.P.I. correspondent Wilborn Hampton was sent to report on unfolding events. Holed up in the InterContinental Hotel and caught in the crossfire, he managed to get the story out. Three years later, dispatched to Israel to cover the Yom Kippur War, the reporter took it on himself to drive to the front lines. Now the acclaimed author of KENNEDY ASSASSINATED!, MELTDOWN, and SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, relays his on-the-spot experiences covering two pivotal wars, while offering readers a clear, balanced overview of the issues that have plagued the Middle East for decades and continue to this day.

VOYA

The twenty-first century inherited the tragedy of the Middle East conflict from the twentieth. War in this region dominates much of modern history and politics. Journalist Hampton offers a vivid, balanced account of the origins of the religious and territorial strife in the Middle East. As a reporter for United Press International (UPI), Hampton spent five years covering the Middle Eastern conflicts. In September 1970, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), hijacked three airplanes, prompting a Jordanian civil war known as Black September. Hampton was there, filing news stories from a besieged hotel. Three years later, he returned to the region's front lines to cover the Yom Kippur War, Israel's retaliation against Egyptian and Syrian attacks along the Suez Canal and the Golan Heights. His firsthand account of the struggles to communicate news stories from a war zone, the hazards of traveling to the front to obtain interviews with troops in the field, and the privations of daily life under siege provides readers with an example of the best kind of journalism. Although Hampton uses his own years of frontline experience to lend immediacy to his narrative, he never allows his own story to overshadow the complicated and conflicting historical issues. His book's crystalline prose and evenhanded treatment of the convoluted history of the Middle East make it an essential addition to libraries and media centers. Reviewer: Jamie S. Hansen