Author:Lindsey Hilsum
The gripping life story of the great war correspondent Marie Colvin told by one of her closest friends
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD
WINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK AWARD
Marie Colvin was glamorous, hard-drinking, braver than the boys, with a troubled and rackety personal life. She reported from the most dangerous places in the world and her anecdotes about encounters with figures like Colonel Gaddafi and Yasser Arafat were incomparable. She was much admired, and as famous for her wild parties as for the extraordinary lengths to which she went to tell the story.
Fellow foreign correspondent Lindsey Hilsum draws on unpublished diaries and interviews with friends, family and colleagues to produce a story of one of the most daring and inspirational women of our times.
A Sunday Times Book of the Year
'A stunningly good biography' WILLIAM BOYD
An extraordinary account of one reporter's fearless and ultimately fatal dedication... Hilsum draws an empathetic portrait of a woman whose courage often crossed into recklessness, both in combat zones and outside them... Now, thanks to Hilsum's deeply reported and passionately written book, Colvin has the full accounting that she deserves
—— Joshua Hammer , New York TimesA wonderful book – a fitting tribute, certainly, but also a well-told tale of a remarkable life
—— Jane Bonham Carter , Sunday TimesA stunningly good biography – compelling, revelatory and very moving. Lindsey Hilsum is the perfect writer to tell the story of Marie Colvin's rackety, brave and charismatic life
—— William BoydWriting a biography of Marie Colvin is like capturing lightning in a bottle, but Lindsey Hilsum has the knowledge and personal experience to help us understand what drew Colvin to rush towards the eye of the storm at such great risk. It is a superbly fitting tribute
—— Annie LennoxRarely has a friend and colleague written such a brave and uncompromising testament to such a rare, brave and uncompromising woman. Would that a few more of us should be so blessed in our courage and our friends
—— Shami ChakrabartiHilsum marshals not just empathy for her subject, who was also a friend, but investigative and critical skills and damn fine storytelling... Hilsum's understanding of the background to each conflict, and the reality of life as a correspondent in the field, is one of the great strengths of the book... In Extremis rescues Marie Colvin from the rubble of Baba Amr, and brings her tragically, and tenderly, to life
—— Irish TimesSuperb. A fitting account of the life of one of the finest war correspondents of our time, written by another. I admired Marie greatly, and In Extremis showed me I was right to do so
—— John SimpsonThe clearest and most rounded picture...emerges from Hilsum's book. Colvin herself, courageous and often tortured, rises again from its pages
—— Emma Graham-Harrison , ObserverOne of the modern world’s most experienced and admired foreign correspondents, Lindsey Hilsum, has now written a riveting, intimate and deeply moving account of the epic life of her late friend and colleague, Marie Colvin, who will be long remembered – not least because of Hilsum’s fine work in this book – as amongst the great war reporters of her generation
—— Jon Lee AndersonAn inspiring and intimate biography of one of the bravest journalists of our time by one of her finest colleagues. Lindsey Hilsum takes us inside the world of a woman who changed the world around her
—— Lyse DoucetMarie Colvin was a one-off, eccentric, brilliant and sometimes maddening. Lindsey Hilsum does her justice
—— Robert Fox , Evening StandardColvin’s energy and passion were irresistible… Hilsum…[combines] storytelling with asking important questions about what kind of service war correspondents perform and what ethical codes they should adhere to
—— Lara Feigel , GuardianOne of the best biographies I have read about any journalist... This is a great story, well told... What makes the biography and the life on which it is based so impressive is the truly heroic proportions of Colvin's dedication to getting the story of human beings trapped in war
—— Charles Glass , The InterceptIn Extremis seeks to unravel the mystery behind the war correspondent... Hilsum avoids hagiography...and pulls no punches
—— Anthony Loyd , The TimesHilsum crafts a full and rich portrait of Colvin that never becomes hagiography. In Extremis is an intensely human account that does justice to its subject
—— Irish independentIn writing this richly researched and well-crafted account, Hilsum avoids canonising Saint Marie of Fleet Street... That it fell to someone else to do the reporting on her remarkable life story may seem tragic. It is also, perhaps, a measure of just who she was
—— Colin Freeman , SpectatorIn Lindsey Hilsum, Marie Colvin has found, posthumously, the right biographer. She penetrates the war-zone of Colvin’s life, and fetches her back in all her beautiful, brave complexity. This is a heartbreaking portrait that does not detract from the legend, but understands the compulsions which returned Colvin time and again to seek out the most dangerous places
—— Nicholas ShakespeareTrue to the spirit of Marie, the biography is dramatic, a swirl of parties and people and a burning desire to be truthful about the pain of the world
—— Helen Davies , Sunday Times, **Books of the Year**As this intimate biography by Lindsey Hilsum, a fellow (female) reporter, shows, Colvin's gift was writing, passionately, about ordinary lives during war... With the help of Colvin’s diaries, Hilsum deftly explores her complex motives... She was often the first, or only, reporter to go in, and the last out, even if that meant trekking over a mountain range
—— The EconomistIn Extremis reveals the human vulnerability behind the bravery
—— StylistIn clear, calm prose, and making good use of private diaries and notebooks, Hilsum has written of her friend which, while giving her full credit for her courage and achievements, does not put her on a pedestal... Hilsum's excellent book is too thoughtful to support the legend altogether, but it does justice to her subject
—— Anne Chisholm , TabletIn Extremis succeeds brilliantly in honouring a brave and hugely influential journalist, while allowing the real woman, with all her strength, intelligence and human frailty, to shine through... a gripping and very moving book.
—— The NationalHilsum writes with both deep affection and a friend’s candidness to present us with a human being
—— David Wilcock , UK Press Syndication[Marie Colvin’s] incredible career and turbulent personal life are skilfully and sensitively recorded by fellow war correspondent Lindsey Hilsum
—— BN1 MagazineHilsum is a former colleague, well placed to chart her friend’s life, with an especially brilliant account of her final week, where Colvin’s exposure to peril again went beyond the call of duty
—— Strong WordsSuperb and moving
—— Emma Lee-Potter , Independent, **Books of the Year**[Hilsum’s] tone is admiring but never adulatory, and her book is richly informed by her close knowledge of the events described… [an] excellent book
—— Caroline Moorehead , Times Literary SupplementLindsey Hilsum… in this account… [shows] just how brim full of life and heart Colvin was: from the start to the finish of her brilliant career, and of her sassy, rambunctious life
—— Barney Bardsley , On: Yorkshire[An] excellent biography… I found it inspirational
—— Ann Treneman , The TimesThis is a remarkable book, deeply moving, disturbing in its sometime intensity… such is the power of Lindsey Hilsum’s book
—— Tony Jasper , Methodist RecorderColvin’s tumultuous life has inspired a number of recent accounts… it is Hilsum’s biography, written by a woman who both knew Colvin and had access to her unpublished reporting notes and private diaries, that seems to most closely capture her spirit.
—— The New YorkerHilsum writes with admiration and compassionate understanding of her colleague, and of their collegial friendship that gets close to what we can, without sentiment, call love.
—— The New York Review of BooksA refreshing take on the ecology of modern economics . . . This book serves as a fascinating reminder to business leaders and economists alike to stand back at a distance to examine our modern economics.
—— Best Business Books of 2017 , ForbesI am loving Kate Raworth’s book Doughnut Economics. It puts inequality in a far broader context, connecting a great many 21st century problems with a single vision. Every business leader and every policy maker should read it.
—— Tim O’ReillyWhat if it were possible to live well without trashing the planet? Doughnut Economics succinctly captures this tantalising possibility and takes up its challenge. Brimming with creativity, Raworth reclaims economics from the dust of academia and puts it to the service of a better world.
—— Tim Jackson, author of PROSPERITY WITHOUT GROWTHKate Raworth makes a powerful argument to look beyond economic growth alone for a true measure of prosperity and progress . . . The doughnut offers a vision for an equitable and sustainable future.
—— Intelligent HQThis book gave me faith that there is an alternative story to tell to the neoliberal narrative.
—— Marcus de SautoyFinding a healthy alternative to the prevailing growth model that has strained the planet to bursting is the holy grail of environmental economics. And it looks like maybe we’ve found it . . . It’s hard to understate how exciting this revelation is
—— InhabitatThis is truly the book we've all been waiting for. Kate Raworth provides the antidote to neoliberal economics with her radical and ambitious vision of an economy in service to life. Given the current state of the world, we need Doughnut Economics now more than ever.
—— L. Hunter Lovins, president and founder of Natural Capitalism SolutionsI read this book with the excitement that the people of his day must have read John Maynard Keynes’s General Theory. It is brilliant, thrilling and revolutionary. Drawing on a deep well of learning, wisdom and deep thinking, Kate Raworth has comprehensively reframed and redrawn economics. It is entirely accessible, even for people with no knowledge of the subject. I believe that Doughnut Economics will change the world.
—— George Monbiot, author and Guardian columnistRaworth’s groundbreaking book hand-picks the best emergent ideas – ranging from ecological, behavioural and institutional economics to complexity thinking, and Earth-systems science – to reveal the insights of eclectic economic re-thinkers . . . Revolutionary.
—— Judges' Statement, The Transmission Prize 2018In Doughnut Economics Raworth takes on the enormous task of sketching out a new approach to the economy in 290 pages . . . A dizzying whirl through the 300 years of economic theory, and challenges to their fundamental principles
—— City A.M.One of last year's most important books on (fixing) economics
—— Best Books on Innovation , NestaA good starting point for a much needed debate about economic policy priorities.
—— Reuters BreakingViewsHighly informed and intelligent.
—— Socialist Review[Raworth’s] business-friendly 2017 book Doughnut Economics advocated meeting the needs of all within the means of the planet.
—— 1000 Most Influential Londoners , Evening StandardPowerful and radical
—— Building.co.ukIt's an absolute must-read about the circular economy and an economic model beyond capitalism.
—— Sam Galsworthy, co-founder of Sipsmith , The GrocerExcellent
—— Ben Cooke , The TimesIt’s the first book about the future economy that I can’t put down!
—— Frances Morris , ELLE DecorationA fascinating look at future economic policy
—— U2’s The Edge , Daily TelegraphKate is not the first person to try to reconcile economic growth with our world's finite resources . . . but her book makes a complex thesis accessible.
—— George Alagiah , New StatesmanOne of the best books I have read in the last year or two was Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth, an economist. She puts economics into the framework of society and the environment, rather than at the top. I recommend it to all.
—— Lord GreavesIn Doughnut Economics, Kate Raworth's economics serve life - not the endless growth of late capitalism. Compellingly, she invites us to see the economy as an organism rather than a mechanism. By referring to our knowledge of natural systems instead of the machine models of Newtonian mechanics, she offers us a way to reimagine money in order to regenerate rather than degenerate. In this wonderful, readable book, Raworth completely rewrites the textbooks of economic theory in language that is lucid and inspirational: a must read!
—— Antony Gormley , GQRaworth radically redraws the system, putting people's needs at its heart . . . with growth bound by an ecological ceiling, the outer edge of the circle, beyond which there is climate change, freshwater stress and biodiversity loss. The doughnut is the safe space where there can be sustainable development.
—— Conde Nast TravellerAn accessible, relatable account that relays academic thinking back to everyday lives and communities.
—— Best Books on Climate Change , Independent