What do you think?
Rate this book
Heroes
John Pilger's classic work of literary journalism, now with a new introduction by the author.
656 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
About the author
John Pilger
34 books360 followersJohn Richard Pilger was an Australian journalist and documentary maker. He had twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US. Based in London, he is known for his polemical campaigning style: "Secretive power loathes journalists who do their job, who push back screens, peer behind façades, lift rocks. Opprobrium from on high is their badge of honour."
Pilger had received human rights and journalism awards, as well as honorary doctorates. He was also a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York.
Pilger had received human rights and journalism awards, as well as honorary doctorates. He was also a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Read
July 27, 2011Whenever I read a John Pilger book I find myself having to constantly pick my jaw off the ground. This book is full of the horrific things that human beings do to each other, horrific seems like an understatement in fact, the one that sticks in my mind the most is one of the final examples in the book. A recorded incident white Australians buried Aboriginal babies up to their head in sand and had a contest to see who could kick the heads off the furthest. What is more astounding than the horrors that are described is that western foreign policy is allowing us to support horrific people and horrific regimes. Thankfully Pilger profiles the 'Heroes', the people on the scene who fight, many knowing that their fight risks their lives and worse.
Worse still, and probably one of the key points of this book is that the media toes the government line, not only do we not hear about the tragedies in other countries but when we do it's always propagandist, fed to the media by those in power. There is of course some free press, some free thinking journalists but even back in the late 80's when this book was written Pilger flags how the media is beginning to fill with celebrity gossip and corporate fed stories leaving the real journalism behind. Have readers and consumers now accepted this and accepted the stories fed to them?
One thing this book leaves you with is the urge to question everything you read and consume, will we ever find the truth behind the headlines? Maybe not but we should keep trying.
Worse still, and probably one of the key points of this book is that the media toes the government line, not only do we not hear about the tragedies in other countries but when we do it's always propagandist, fed to the media by those in power. There is of course some free press, some free thinking journalists but even back in the late 80's when this book was written Pilger flags how the media is beginning to fill with celebrity gossip and corporate fed stories leaving the real journalism behind. Have readers and consumers now accepted this and accepted the stories fed to them?
One thing this book leaves you with is the urge to question everything you read and consume, will we ever find the truth behind the headlines? Maybe not but we should keep trying.
August 19, 2007
I was a very young child during the Vietnam War and didn't have much idea that there was a war going on until it was over. Then people didn't talk about it much, until the 80s, when it became fodder for a rash of Hollywood films such as "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket." Needless to say, these did not inform me about the war. So, thank goodness for this amazing book, which I read in the very early 90's. Pilger, a journalist stationed in Vietnam for the duration of the conflict, takes the reader on a journey from the origins of the war right up to its end and aftermath. It is brilliantly written, enlightening, and absolutely devastating. A must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of the Vietnam War.
December 8, 2020
Thoroughly well written. John Pilger is a hero himself. A collection of his writings which should be required reading for any student of modern history, or indeed politics.
July 29, 2019
John Pilger is an veteran Australian journalist. His reports cover everything from the Vietnam war to the latest anti-globalisation rallies. Like Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein he is an avowed enemy of the the right, who will do all they can to discredit him.
If you like your truth served up in digestible chunks, then Pilger is worth reading. If, on the other hand, you do not wish to face the fact that you are being screwed, forget it...
If you like your truth served up in digestible chunks, then Pilger is worth reading. If, on the other hand, you do not wish to face the fact that you are being screwed, forget it...
Read
August 3, 2011John Pilger is something of a hero of mine. And this book is a marvelous introduction to the writing of the doyen of investigative journalism.
September 3, 2023
SJC Review: 5.11
Pilger offers a passionate personal tribute to those individuals and events which have made a lasting impression upon him during his many years as a front-line journalist. From chronicling the poverty he witnessed on the bread-line in British cities, yet which is invisible to the British establishment, to providing damning evidence of the racism inherent in 60s America, the author clearly reveals his political leanings. Though his style can be quite sermonising at times, the issues he wishes to raise are of extreme importance. On many occasions, Pilger can utilise his supreme talent for ironical analysis of the hypocrisy of the political classes to supreme effect. In demonstrating how callous the American establishment is in treating its veterans of the ignoble Vietnam conflict, the author reveals the story of Roy Benavidez. Having sustained 90 per cent disability during a Vietcong ambush, he ignored his injuries to rescue troops trapped in a downed helicopter, thereby winning America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honour. Though lauded at an emotional White House ceremony by Presiden Reagan himself, two weeks later the Reagan administration cut Social Security payments to disabled veterans and Benavidez was one of its first victims. Moreover, the author quotes the astonishing estimated statistic that more than 50,000 Vietnam veterans committed suicide since their return from war. Perhaps one of the most momentous events Pilger was eye-witness to was the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June 1968. Pilger reveals the man, warts and all, by detailing his political reimaging from young assistant to Joe Mccarthy's witch-hunts to man of the people. As one of the journalists accompanying his push for the Democtratic nomination, the author was present at the Ambassador hotel where security appeared quite haphazard as Kennedy was surrounded by political supporters such as astronaut John Glenn, and his many advisers. Amazingly, Pilger recounts how a young female political volunteer in returning with drinks for the journalists had spoken of coming across a young man who appeared quite nervous in the hotel kitchen. As the author points out, had more notice been taken of her unease, the pages of American history may have been rewritten, as the young man in question, a Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan Bishara, angered at Kennedy's support of the Israeli occupation of his home in the West Bank, would fatally shoot the presidetial nominee in the head as he met the kitchen staff a short time later. Pilger captures the disbelief that the loud reports which sounded like balloons bursting could be gunshots, even to himself, till a young woman collapsed to his side with blood seeping from her head. In a collection which grasps the twentieth century's disdain for human life and the horror which is war, Pilger's chapters on the Vietnam conflict should be required reading for all who wish to bear witness to the inhumnaity and farce which chracterised this needless and bloody game of political chess. Yet, it is this author's unstinting dedication to highlight the genocide unleashed by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia which should stand as testament to this war correspondent's courage to buck the establishment's account, and grace in seeking to raise the consciousness of the world that such barbarity must never be allowed to take root again.
Pilger offers a passionate personal tribute to those individuals and events which have made a lasting impression upon him during his many years as a front-line journalist. From chronicling the poverty he witnessed on the bread-line in British cities, yet which is invisible to the British establishment, to providing damning evidence of the racism inherent in 60s America, the author clearly reveals his political leanings. Though his style can be quite sermonising at times, the issues he wishes to raise are of extreme importance. On many occasions, Pilger can utilise his supreme talent for ironical analysis of the hypocrisy of the political classes to supreme effect. In demonstrating how callous the American establishment is in treating its veterans of the ignoble Vietnam conflict, the author reveals the story of Roy Benavidez. Having sustained 90 per cent disability during a Vietcong ambush, he ignored his injuries to rescue troops trapped in a downed helicopter, thereby winning America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honour. Though lauded at an emotional White House ceremony by Presiden Reagan himself, two weeks later the Reagan administration cut Social Security payments to disabled veterans and Benavidez was one of its first victims. Moreover, the author quotes the astonishing estimated statistic that more than 50,000 Vietnam veterans committed suicide since their return from war. Perhaps one of the most momentous events Pilger was eye-witness to was the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June 1968. Pilger reveals the man, warts and all, by detailing his political reimaging from young assistant to Joe Mccarthy's witch-hunts to man of the people. As one of the journalists accompanying his push for the Democtratic nomination, the author was present at the Ambassador hotel where security appeared quite haphazard as Kennedy was surrounded by political supporters such as astronaut John Glenn, and his many advisers. Amazingly, Pilger recounts how a young female political volunteer in returning with drinks for the journalists had spoken of coming across a young man who appeared quite nervous in the hotel kitchen. As the author points out, had more notice been taken of her unease, the pages of American history may have been rewritten, as the young man in question, a Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan Bishara, angered at Kennedy's support of the Israeli occupation of his home in the West Bank, would fatally shoot the presidetial nominee in the head as he met the kitchen staff a short time later. Pilger captures the disbelief that the loud reports which sounded like balloons bursting could be gunshots, even to himself, till a young woman collapsed to his side with blood seeping from her head. In a collection which grasps the twentieth century's disdain for human life and the horror which is war, Pilger's chapters on the Vietnam conflict should be required reading for all who wish to bear witness to the inhumnaity and farce which chracterised this needless and bloody game of political chess. Yet, it is this author's unstinting dedication to highlight the genocide unleashed by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia which should stand as testament to this war correspondent's courage to buck the establishment's account, and grace in seeking to raise the consciousness of the world that such barbarity must never be allowed to take root again.
May 1, 2007
Every American should read the chapters on Vietnam in this book! The rest is interesting but you have to have some background knowledge of history to understand.
Want to read
February 16, 2010I have the l989 Softcover edition by Pan books.
May 16, 2012
The best political book you will ever read.
August 9, 2020
A frightening review of the U.S.A.'s interference into other countries around the world.
September 3, 2014
Shocking.
July 30, 2014
Essential reading, though didn't expect so much to be autobiography.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews