Not since John McCarthy walked free in Beirut over 15 years ago has the world held its breath over the fate of a British journalist. Five months on, this is Alan Johnston's account of his days in captivity, a celebration of his journalism and a tribute to freedom.When Alan Johnston, the last western journalist who dared to remain in Gaza, was kidnapped by religious terrorists - millions of people, from the backstreets of Gaza to London, New York and Johannesburg, felt the need to express their anger and their determination to see him free. The captivity of Alan Johnston was a historical attack on the freedom of speech - and this collection of his dispatches is the long awaited and moving account of life in Gaza, his ordeal and his release.He talks of the room in which he was held, how he was stripped of his watch and could only tell the time by the passage of the sun and the five calls to prayer from mosques. His captors allowed him to see his parents' television appeal and he tells of the relief to see his father's 'powerful and dignified' address.
He evokes the psychological battle to keep control of his mind in these extreme conditions and his deeper sense of the value of freedom...
- ISBN10 1846681421
- ISBN13 9781846681424
- Publish Date 23 November 2007
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 23 August 2010
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Profile Books Ltd
- Edition Main
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 176
- Language English