An award-winning journalist offers a reporter s-eye view of the Middle East conflict, from Black September to the Yom Kippur War to events of the present day. 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. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Gr 6 Up-Hampton chronicles his experiences as a UPI correspondent covering the 1970 Black September conflict in Jordan and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Organized chronologically, the book opens with a short prologue on the history of the region, followed by an account of the 1970 hijackings of jetliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the subsequent battles between the Palestinian guerrillas and the Jordanian army. Hampton reported on these events from a hotel in Amman, where he and other journalists were trapped during the fighting. After a short chapter, "Between the Wars," he then describes his experiences covering the Yom Kippur War, during which he gathered information by driving out to the war zones in the Golan Heights and the Sinai Desert. The final chapter, "War and Peace," relates what happened subsequent to the war, including the assassinations of Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin. Black-and-white news photos accompany the text. This is not a detailed historical analysis, although Hampton provides brief background information on the origins of conflicts in the Middle East. Rather, like Hampton's Kennedy Assassinated!: The World Mourns (1997) and Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Island (2001, both Candlewick), he presents a firsthand, "you are there" account focusing as much on how journalists cover stories and get them out to the rest of the world as on the events themselves. The writing is lively and engaging, and includes many dramatic anecdotes and eyewitness views. This is a good read, and one that students interested in journalism will find especially interesting.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Recalling experiences as a reporter assigned to cover the 1970 Jordanian civil conflict dubbed Black September, and the Yom Kippur War that began in October 1973, Hampton not only presents a clear summary of the issues that provoked each outbreak of violence but also provides both personal slant and a sense of immediacy to his account of events. Although not as broadly focused history, it serves as supplementary reading to the likes of Richard Worth's Arab-Israeli Conflict (2006). Hampton's memories of being trapped in the heavily shelled city of Amman, and later of venturing into the Sinai and Golan Heights, will give students an idea of the sights, sounds, smells, and general climate of danger, as well as his struggles as a journalist with censors and other officials to get the story out. Photos are scattered throughout, and a brief bibliography of adult books rounds out the work.--Peters, John Copyright 2007 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.