Strange Places, Questionable People: Updated With a New Chapter on Kosovo

by John Cody Fidler-Simpson

Book Overview

For over thirty years, John Simpson has travelled the world to report on the most significant events of our time. From being punched in the stomach by Harold Wilson on one of his first days as a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 033035566X
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Macmillan Pub Ltd
• Length: 566 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 1.5" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

From the heart of it

Twenty recent historic events are brought to life by John Simpson in this book as he tells each story from its very core. These tales make easy reading and they cannot fail to stir deep emotions in every reader. The pace is fast and the stories are short and punchy.

Eyewitness to history in the making

A very interesting ride through two decades or so of turbulent history as seen by a perpetually curious reporter. John Simpson worked hard to discover the competing versions (and visions) of truth and to tell a compact and concise story, both in written and visual media. One suspects that the duality of his media methods reinforced each other. In chasing the emerging stories, Mr. Simpson tells how he got from apartheid to Northern Ireland, Libya to Tehran, and all over eastern Europe in 1989. In the wake of that amazing year, Mr. Simpson then traveled throughout Eastern Europe see civilizations adjust, come apart, go through wars, and try to rebuild. From hilarious anecdotes about how to properly pronounce the names of places like Phouc Me, Vietnam, to stories of barely surviving violent crowds, this book is a great read of modern journalism. Mr. Simpson, of course, wants to portray the profession at its most noble, but is more than willing to admit to the blemishes and warts that accompany any human enterprise. His insightful perceptions of the war in northern Ireland, Provos versus IRA versus British Army are very keen (see page 108 "Our idiotic army think this is a war and they can win it by shooting down the enemy. Bloody fools, they're as bad as the Yanks in Vietnam. It's not a war, it's a police action and they're in to for a long haul. We are all.") In this day where we are all deeply concerned about the future of Iran, Mr. Simpson's chapter on Revolutionaries is to be commended, and is worth deeply reading and re-reading. His understanding of the people, from Ayatollah Khomeni to the Shah, are a mix of history, social anthropology, and simple good writing. Moving to Asia, Mr. Simpson's tragic chapter on China is a beautiful read on a people, indeed peoples, trying to survive Maoist Communism and move forward in the inevitable march of Chinese history. His account is history in the making, and if you want a clear and concise understanding of how China got from the Cultural Revolution to the modern bustle of Shanghai, this is as good a primer as I have seen. The lately added chapter on Kosovo is also worth reading for the fin-de-siecle of Balkan hatred and violence that erupted after 1989. No one comes off terribly well in this chapter, but it is good eyewitness reporting with a keen eye to both past history and future implications in this troubled region. Most memoirs tend to be very self serving, self centered and of only passing interest. This one is a must read in the modern "Industrial Age."

Interesting Read

John Simpson seems always to be "where it's at" He has covered a remarkable number of world events in far flung countries. With this book he brings to the reader a greater understanding of both what was going on during those times and what life is like as a BBC correspondent. I highly recommend this book, though I would also recommend having a good dictionary on hand while you are reading it. Some of the accounts Simpson gives also assume a greater amount of background knowledge than the average American is likely to have, especially in the recounting of the Irish issue. However, no matter the depth of your understanding of world affairs, the many interactions Simpson has with vastly different peoples brings forward, sometimes poignantly and other times brutally, that despite a sometimes bewildering chaotic and deadly atmosphere, most people are generous and just trying to go about their lives the best they can.