The Faber Book of Reportage

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I absolutely loved this book. The variety of events covered in these accounts, and the "real" feeling that they had to them kept me engaged throughout the entire book. The majority of events did cover major battles, military engagements, and lives of soldiers, but even among those, the vast differences in wars across generations and countries was fascinating to read.

The Faber Book of Reportage: Professor John Carey The Faber Book of Reportage: Professor John Carey

The Faber Book of Reportage is John Carey's remarkable collection of eyewitness accounts that draws on the voices and emotions of the people who experienced some of history's most memorable events. A suffragette (the Lady Constance Lytton, disguised as a lower-class woman) is force-fed during a hunger strike in Walton Gaol in 1910: Laying in her own vomit afterwards, exhausted and “quite helpless”, Lytton writes, “Before long I heard the sounds of the forced feeding in the next cell to mine. It was almost more than I could bear, it was Elaine Howey, I was sure. When the ghastly process was all over and all quiet, I tapped on the wall and called out at the top of my voice, which wasn't much just then, 'No surrender,' and there came the answer past any doubt in Elaine's voice, 'No surrender.'" I had been about ten days at the front when it happened. The whole experience of being hit by a bullet is very interesting and I think it is worth describing in detail. Las Casas, who became a Dominican missionary, was the first European to expose the oppression of the native races of Latin America He had himself taken apart in the conquest of Cuba, 1513There's a harrowing first-person account of a mastectomy performed without anesthetic, written by Fanny Burney in 1811: “When the dreadful steel was plunged into the breast – cutting through veins – arteries – flesh – nerves – I needed no injunctions not to restrain my cries. I began a scream that lasted unintermittently during the whole time of the incision – & I almost marvel that it rings not in my Ears still!” In the introduction, Professor Carey informs us that the book is one of reportage, of written accounts by eyewitnesses. According to him this makes for authenticity by relying on information from people who can say, “I was there,” such as the bystanders, travellers, warriors, murderers, victims, and professional reporters he has included in his collection.

The Faber Book of Reportage: A Book by - Find Book The Faber Book of Reportage: A Book by - Find Book

Lighter events included a description of the “frost fairs” held on the frozen River Thames during the 17th century, and an account of near-farcical events during the funeral of King George II in 1760, an interesting contrast to the precision of the military manoeuvres during the recent funeral of Elizabeth II. Made up of nearly three hundred contemporaneous accounts, Eyewitness to History gives a truly fascinating insight into what people were thinking in the moment while experiencing those events from the past 2500 years that we still talk about today. Edited by Oxford professor and renowned literary critic John Carey, and initially released in 1987, my only complaint would be that these accounts are overwhelmingly written by white men – too often recounting battle scenes that failed to engage me – but I understand that this reflects the interests of the book's editor and the ethos of its time; I wouldn't want this book itself to be changed but I would be interested in reading other books of this type with more varied points-of-view. Thoroughly valuable romp through history, as recorded by the folks who were there to witness it.Excellent book to dip in and out (although i read it through) and get a feel for witness accounts of fascinating events throughout recorded history.

The Faber Book of Reportage: (Main) by John Carey | WHSmith The Faber Book of Reportage: (Main) by John Carey | WHSmith

The abandonment of the Gallipoli Campaign brought about the resignation of Churchill, the chief supporter of the venture. The format of the book, entirely first-hand accounts with sometimes a bit of contextual information, is something I haven't read before, and it was very refreshing. There is something much more tangible and alive about a first-hand account of an event, rather than the somewhat dry accounts found in most history books. The span of the events, from something like 400 BC to 1986 AD, allows one to reflect on human history as a whole, rather than focusing on a specific period of time.The author, Samuel Gridley Howe, was a leading America educator, and a pioneer in the education of blind and handicapped children.