Foreign Correspondent: A Memoir Hardcover – August 19, 2014

As a foreign correspondent for several newspapers, Greenway was an eyewitness to some of the most significant international events of the past five decades, from the fall of Saigon to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to the horrors of both Gulf Wars. With an astute sense of the broader history behind conflicts, Greenway explores the harrowing process of shaking off colonial European powers and fighting for freedom and independence. He recalls covering demonstrations in Cairo, the March on Washington in 1963, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, drawing parallels between the ways the desire for freedom and justice play out around the globe. He recounts his own steep learning curve and the allure of war reporting to romantics and cynics alike. Greenway chronicles not only the wars but also the enormous changes in journalism in the last 50 years, noting the gentility of the early press versus later informality, changes in writing style and even how copy was delivered as technology advanced, and changes in geopolitical perspectives. This is a fascinating look at one man’s career and 50 years of war, violence, and adventure. --Vanessa Bush

“An excellent primer to America's history . . . it's also guaranteed to whet any budding, young journalist's desire to cover war in far-flung places.” (Associated Press)

“Passages such as that one—and there are indeed others—are what elevate ‘Foreign Correspondent’ well above the run of the journalistic mill. It’s easy for journalism to turn one into a cynic, but Greenway seems not to have succumbed.” (Jonathan Yardley the Washington Post)

“Greenway’s firsthand experiences add gravitas to his common-sense take on foreign policy. The real strengths of the book, however, are the vivid descriptions of life during wartime.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Greenway tells his story with freshness and color, and becoming touches of humility.” (Columbia Journalism Review)

“With an astute sense of the broader history behind conflicts, Greenway explores the harrowing process of shaking off colonial European powers and fighting for freedom and independence. … [A] fascinating look at one man’s career and 50 years of war, violence, and adventure.” (Booklist)

“Greenway provides fascinating detail on the day-to-day travails of the foreign correspondent… Frank, seasoned, expert observations on the folly of U.S. military intervention.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“[Greenway] doesn’t just tell war stories (of which he has a million), but he observes the world and analyzes the way it has changed, and continues to change. All of this is delivered in the steady, clear prose of a veteran writer for the Boston Globe and Washington Post. It’s a book to make you fall in love with newspapers all over again.” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“…should be read by journalism students everywhere….Greenway gives a sense of reporting in an era when journalists were truly ‘correspondents,’ sending dispatches to bridge a gap in distance and time. He attentively distinguishes the various cultures of Southeast Asia—Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and, of course, Vietnam. He stayed there until the final day.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“Now we have a memoir that takes the title of Hitchcock’s film and provides a thought-provoking counterpoint to it...Greenway’s memoir is liberally peppered with happy recollections of comradery with fellow correspondents, to whom he throws many bouquets. If these enliven the story, the book’s chief virtue lies in being a succinct primer on post-World War II American foreign policy.” (Boston Globe)

“Greenway has taken a second crack at a ‘first draft of history’ and given us a riveting, smart memoir filled with anecdotes and observations that come from years of reflection. He lets us in on the great secret of a war correspondent. A story is always more devious and complicated than the one written on deadline. Greenway now gives us the real scoop with humor and intelligence; a perspective that comes from mining his dog-eared reporter’s notebooks, some still flecked with dried blood and sweat. He has found remarkable stories. In the White House on the day of the Kennedy assassination, on the last flight out of Vietnam from the roof of the US embassy, Greenway was an eye-witness to momentous events. Fast-forward to Kabul and Baghdad where he observed the chaos of capitals collapsing into civil war. Greenway expands on the skills of a gifted war correspondent to write his personal account of remarkable history.” (Deborah Amos, author of Eclipse of the Sunnis)

“This is more than a memoir . . . it is a sophisticated modern history, with all of our foreign policy ignorance and misunderstanding etched in printer's ink. Greenway, whose reportage and later columns were always essential for people in my business, reminds us of what we are missing in these days of dwindling American interest in foreign affairs and dwindling coverage. How many Americans even know where foreign is? The guy always had information, guts . . . and style . . . and now he has produced an essential running commentary of our time.” (Seymour Hersh, author of The Dark Side of Camelot)

“Greenway stands out among veteran correspondents for the range of his experience and his gifts as a raconteur. He is a splendid companion. Foreign Correspondent is packed with adventures and close calls. It is also an inquiry into why American power so often goes awry.” (Joseph Lelyveld, author of Great Soul)

“The central story of our time, David Greenway writes, is of ‘America stepping into other people's empires.’ Greenway spent a half-century covering that story with insight, panache, and no small amount of courage. In this vividly written memoir, ranging from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, he recounts his adventures and misadventures, while deftly portraying the cast of colorful characters—above all his fellow foreign correspondents—encountered along the way. The result is a riveting book.” (Andrew J. Bacevich, professor of history and international relations, Boston University)

“Greenway is one of America’s greatest reporters. Covering the wars in Vietnam, the Middle East, and the Balkans with courage and honesty, he set the standard which many others seek to meet. It is a gift that he has now written his long overdue memoir. Gripping, lucid, thoughtful, it will be a classic. It should encourage another generation to follow his lead—to go out and discover and tell the truth about difficult decisions in distant, dangerous places and honor the profession of journalism.” (William Shawcross, author of Sideshow and Justice and the Enemy)