- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Random House Canada; First Edition edition (April 28 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0679314709
- ISBN-13: 978-0679314707
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 16.2 x 4.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 599 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #239,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Quill & Quire
When one hears of a journalist dying in pursuit of a story, one immediately imagines some strafed and cratered combat zone. But as investigative writer Terry Gould is quick to point out in his new book, war is not the chief cause of death in the profession: murder is. Nearly three-quarters of journalists killed since 1992 have been victims of targeted assassinations – and virtually all of the individuals who orchestrated the killings have escaped punishment. In Murder Without Borders, Gould travels to five brutal kleptocracies – Colombia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Russia, and Iraq – where the most expedient form of press censorship is a bullet or a bomb. In what ultimately proves to be a four-year saga, he researches the lives of seven slain journalists and tries to answer the question of why his subjects insisted on reporting stories they knew would probably get them killed. The answers vary widely. Guillermo Bravo Vega martyred himself to atone for his own criminal past. Marlene Garcia-Esperat was driven by her religious conviction. Anna Politkovskaya wrote to assuage her shame over her country’s moral collapse. All of them knew that demanding accountability from the regimes they lived under would lay the foundation of social justice. Gould supplies us with copious, scrupulously researched details gleaned from the victims’ friends, colleagues, family members, and even tormentors, and proves himself as adept at recounting a charming childhood anecdote as unflinchingly analyzing a murder scene. He writes skilfully and sensitively, with laudable modesty and candour, and is careful not to compose cloying hagiographies of the glorious dead. His subjects are fully human, sometimes exhibiting prickly demeanours, or inurement to their loved ones’ suffering, or momentary failures of nerve. Murder Without Borders begins with a quote from Vaclav Havel, himself no stranger to tyranny and crushing reprisal: “I am not interested in why man commits evil; I want to know why he does good.” Gould’s admirable book confronts us with examples of rare, beleaguered, fragile goodness – goodness so dangerous to those in power that it had to be stamped out.
Review
"[Murder Without Borders] by Terry Gould is a book of love and passion. The portraits of slain journalists who reported from the world’s most dangerous places are unquestionably tragic, but this book is uplifting and even inspiring. Through his meticulous reporting and his compassionate storytelling, Gould performs a small miracle, a literary resurrection, allowing journalists so cruelly killed to tell their own stories completely and honestly. In an age when journalism is threatened by economic collapse and deep public cynicism, Gould’s book reminds us that journalism can be beautiful and meaningful and that its power to combat injustice so great that some journalists around the world are willing to give their lives to tell the truth."
— Joel Simon, Executive Director, Committee to Protect Journalists
"In an investigative tour de force, Gould brings a level of detail and realism to his descriptions of people and places that makes the book's 400 pages melt away."
— The Concordian
"Terry Gould has done an enormous service to journalists everywhere with this macabre collection of murders most foul."
— The Vancouver Sun
"Gould's admirable book confronts us with examples of rare, beleaguered, fragile goodness — goodness so dangerous to those in power that it had to be stamped out."
— Quill & Quire
— Joel Simon, Executive Director, Committee to Protect Journalists
"In an investigative tour de force, Gould brings a level of detail and realism to his descriptions of people and places that makes the book's 400 pages melt away."
— The Concordian
"Terry Gould has done an enormous service to journalists everywhere with this macabre collection of murders most foul."
— The Vancouver Sun
"Gould's admirable book confronts us with examples of rare, beleaguered, fragile goodness — goodness so dangerous to those in power that it had to be stamped out."
— Quill & Quire
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Cost of Sharing the Truth,
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Ce commentaire est de: Murder Without Borders: Dying for the Story in the World's Most Dangerous Places (Hardcover)
As one who wasn't too excited about Gould's earlier efforts to recreate the criminal world through investigative journalism, I have reason to change my opinion with his latest offering. "Murder Without Borders" comes a pleasant surprise, full of interesting and colorful exploits that contribute to a better understanding of the modern world of freelance reporting under fire. In this book Gould focuses on capturing the real world, rife with danger and intrigue, where getting the story right can result in being 'rubbed out'. The men and women that he follows up on are independent journalists and muckrakers who puts their necks on the line get at the truth, regardless how complex and compromised it might be. What impressed me most about Gould's revelations is his efforts to show that danger and outright violence often stalk anyone committed to exposing political and economic corruption. The individual writers covered here come from all over the developing world, and their mission is one that Gould does a very competent job in seeking out and honoring with this book. With each dead reporter's personal tragedy comes a reminder that the legitimate world needs to wake up to the fact that these people need to be protected in efforts to expose the widespread effects of evil and have it eventually rooted out. Each profile that Gould carefully builds about these journalistic martyrs consists of a wide range of often conflicting perspectives that he has meticulously assembled in the interests of achieving objective characterization. While none of his subjects are paragons of virtue by any stretch of the imagination, the possess the the earnest need to tell the world what they believe is the real scoop on things, even it means certain death or suffering. I recommend this book to anyone seeking a greater picture of how truly rotten this old world can be when the rule of law is flouted and the rights of the individuals are trampled on in the name of greed and power.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Journalists murdered with impunity,
By Un client - Published on Amazon.com
Investigative reporter Terry Gould spent 4 years in the most dangerous countries for journalists: Iraq, the Philippines, Russia, Columbia and Bangladesh. His reserch focused on the motivations of journalists who risked their lives to expose government corruption, to defend the defenseless.Excerpt: There is little doubt that in many countries murder works. It is the ultimate form of press censorship... I have tried to honour their memories by bringing their lives and the stories they worked on to light, telling the truth to those who would murder truth tellers. ...What stands against the loss of our freedoms is the accountability of our officials. If they break the law, it is up to journalists to alert the public. Here is a book to answer the question: What makes a poor, small town reporter stay on a story even though he has been threatened with certain death and offered handsome rewards if he looks the other way? by El from Canada |
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