In Extremis, Lindsey Hilsum
In Extremis, Lindsey Hilsum
1 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

In Extremis
The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin

Author: Lindsey Hilsum

Narrator: Lindsey Hilsum

Unabridged: 13 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/06/2018


Synopsis

The inspiring and devastating biography of Marie Colvin, the foremost war reporter of her generation, who was killed in Syria in 2012, and whose life story also forms the basis of the feature film A Private War, starring Rosamund Pike as Colvin.

When Marie Colvin was killed in an artillery attack in Homs, Syria, in 2012, at age fifty-six, the world lost a fearless and iconoclastic war correspondent who covered the most significant global calamities of her lifetime. In Extremis, written by her fellow reporter Lindsey Hilsum, is a thrilling investigation into Colvin’s epic life and tragic death based on exclusive access to her intimate diaries from age thirteen to her death, interviews with people from every corner of her life, and impeccable research.

After growing up in a middle-class Catholic family on Long Island, Colvin studied with the legendary journalist John Hersey at Yale, and eventually started working for The Sunday Times of London, where she gained a reputation for bravery and compassion as she told the stories of victims of the major conflicts of our time. She lost sight in one eye while in Sri Lanka covering the civil war, interviewed Gaddafi and Arafat many times, and repeatedly risked her life covering conflicts in Chechnya, East Timor, Kosovo, and the Middle East. Colvin lived her personal life in extremis, too: bold, driven, and complex, she was married twice, took many lovers, drank and smoked, and rejected society’s expectations for women. Despite PTSD, she refused to give up reporting. Like her hero Martha Gellhorn, Colvin was committed to bearing witness to the horrifying truths of war, and to shining a light on the profound suffering of ordinary people caught in the midst of conflict.

Lindsey Hilsum’s In Extremis is a devastating and revelatory biography of one of the greatest war correspondents of her generation.

About Lindsey Hilsum

Lindsey Hilsum is the International Editor for Channel 4 News in England. She has covered many of the major conflicts and international events of the last twenty-five years, including the wars in Syria, Ukraine, Iraq and Kosovo; the Arab Spring; and the genocide in Rwanda. Her writing has appeared in The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, and Granta. Her first book, Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution was short-listed for the 2012 Guardian First Book Award.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Suz on December 12, 2023

I left this review; I kept putting it off. It's taken me six months to put pen to paper. I think I couldn’t find the words, as this woman was simply remarkable. She was flawed, but she was so amazingly clever and committed to her belief in her work. I chose to listen to the audio version, and I hone......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on August 23, 2018

As the adult book buyer for an indie bookstore, I begged our publisher rep for an advance copy as soon as she told me about In Extremis. Ever since reading Lynsey Addario’s memoir a few years ago, I’ve been a bit obsessed with the stories of war correspondents, particularly those of the women who ha......more

Goodreads review by Ines on June 10, 2019

What a shock this book was!! it has taken me a lot of time in comparison to other books because what is brought it stuns you in the depth. The Hilsum has done a maddish and phenomenal job in putting together the whole career and all the Marie's war reports ... a precise and meticulous job, listing a......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on January 19, 2019

Marie Colvin, a foreign affairs correspondent, lived her life on the edge. From a young age danger and life risking pursuits exhilarated her. Giving a voice to those unfortunate victims of war was the elixir she needed. Her passion was helping, through interviews, the vulnerable civilians whose safe......more

Goodreads review by Laurie on January 13, 2019

One of the best books I have read this year, if not the best.......more


Awards

  • Plutarch Awards Nominee