Brian Best is an expert on the Victoria Cross and in Fighting for the News he traces the extraordinary adventures of the first war correspondents from Napoleon to the Boer War.

Evergreen, Spring 2017

It is now two centuries since a newspaper conceived the idea of sending a reporter overseas to observe, gather information and write about war. With no experience to draw upon, both newspaper and correspondent gradually worked out a procedure that has evolved into today s incredibly sophisticated and unrecognisable form.

Pennant, Forces Pension Society

When Kathy and I lived in Hong Kong in the 80s she was a member of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club where we met war correspondents from around the world. This book focuses on the adventures of the first War Correspondents, from Bonaparte to the Boers. It is some 200 years since a newspaper conceived the idea of sending a reporter overseas to observe, gather information and write about war – in 1807 The Times dispatched Henry Crabbe Robinson to Germany to follow and report on the movements of Napoleon’s Grande Armee. ‘Old Crabby’ was a gregarious bachelor with a gift for languages who could fit into any company. In many ways he was the archetypal foreign correspondent. Robinson was followed by William Russell in the Crimean War and perhaps most famously of all, Winston Churchill, who reported from many fronts.

Action-Adventure Historical Fiction, Julian Stockwin

Reporters have an important job to do - this book reveals some of the hazards of reporting from the front line and the risks taken by members of a profession that doesn't have a terribly good reputation...

Books Monthly, November 2016 – reviewed by Paul Norman