January 8, 2008 Review of Angela V. John's book -- ''War, Journalism and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century: The Life and Times of Henry V. Nevinson'' [London: I. B. Tauris, 2006. 246 pp. Index. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-84511-081-9] Reviewed for Jhistory by E. M. Palmegiano, Department of History, Saint Peter's College Snipped from http://warandgame.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/war-journalism-and-the-shaping-of-the-twentieth-century-the-life-and-times-of-henry-v-nevinson/ Quote - Henry Nevinson was, according to Angela John, a prolific writer, an ardent proponent of human rights, and a champion of national self-determination as well as an egoist, an adulterer, and an imperialist. John calls him the last Victorian war correspondent, a man his peers crowned their "king". Notwithstanding these labels and the book's title, the text devotes more space to his endeavors as a foreign correspondent than to his military reporting. Nevinson's early commentaries on Russia ran about the same time as those on India. In 1907 he went to the subcontinent for the _Manchester Guardian_, _Glasgow Herald_, and _Daily Chronicle_ in order to study "unrest". His "Letters" to the _Nation_ were fodder for another book, published in 1908. To prepare for this trip, John notes, Nevinson interviewed John Morley, secretary of state for India, but she fails to link Morley's journalistic background with his understanding of the symbiotic relationship between Raj governance and pressinfluence. Likewise, the chapter on India cites rather than analyzes, in terms of character and audience, the Indian and Anglo-Indian gazettes of Nevinson's acquaintance and frequently does not indicate his connection to them. For example, the reader discovers only from endnotes that he wrote for the _Indian Review_. Additionally, John has little to say about Indian editors except for Surendranath Banerjeawith (_Bengalee_), whose skill impressed Nevinson. Instead, she delineates his perceptions of the Indian National Congress. One explanation for this imbalance, as in the chapter on Gallipoli, is John's dependence on Nevinson's diaries. While his reactions justify her emphases, his responses reveal more about the man than the reporter. -- Unquote =================================== ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India