A Fist in the Hornet's Nest

January 19, 2004
Journalist Engel's gripping account of the recent war in Iraq begins with himself rushing around in flak jacket and helmet to videotape an attack on Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, a woman journalist nearby shouting, "We're all going to die"; he conveys his shock on learning the hotel, which housed Western journalists, had been fired on by an American tank. This scene is just the first of many vivid depictions of Engel's life in the war zone. Unlike most U.S. correspondents, who covered the war "embedded" with U.S. troops, Engel worked apart from the troops as ABC-TV's main Baghdad correspondent. The world he describes is filled with fascinating, terrible dynamics: he depicts local residents waiting with a strange calm for the fighting to begin; journalists attempting to outwit the Iraqi "minders" assigned by Saddam Hussein's regime to watch over them; Iraqis overjoyed at Saddam's fall but ambivalent about a Western occupation. He also describes the experience of reporting while ducking both American and Iraqi shooting; in one incident, he relates, reporters became "human shields," providing cover for Iraqis firing anti-aircraft missiles at American planes. Engel navigates a tightrope: he conveys the excitement of being a war correspondent without neglecting the horrifying aspects of war. Most important, he manages to convey an accurate, balanced portrayal of Iraq both during the war and after. As a result, this book might restore some of the public's lost faith in journalism.

February 15, 2004
When the U.S. went to war in Iraq, the American television networks pulled their correspondents out of the country. But Engel wasn't working for any of the networks; he was freelance, and he stayed right where he was, becoming one of the few journalists of any nationality to report from Baghdad as war engulfed the city. His memoir begins several years earlier and describes how he came to be in Iraq (on a falsified visa, as it happens), and it concludes in the present day, with Engel now a correspondent for the NBC evening news. But it's the middle period that readers will be most interested in, and Engel doesn't let us down. His description of the war in Iraq is vivid, politically astute, and strikes the perfect balance between drama and reportage. The book is essential reading for those interested in an insider's account of the war, and its timely subject should ensure that it gets plenty of publicity. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)