From 2001 to today, Patrick Cockburn's coverage of conflicts that have stirred the Middle East and other regions has unparalleled. In his chronicles, free of preconceived ideas, and in which he uses his extensive direct experience and his deep knowledge of the history of the region, Cockburn's ability to nail in the midst of very complex crises has proven to be extraordinarily accurate.

Thus, he predicted that the western invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq would be unsustainable, that it was very likely that Libyan rebels would end up pitting themselves against each other or that the Sunni uprising in Syria would spread to neighboring Iraq. And, perhaps most surprisingly, he reported the emergence of IS as the main force in the area before even the government's intelligence services were aware of the threat it posed, leading the British Journalism Awards jury to wonder whether the authorities should not consider retiring to the bloc MI6 and hiring Patrickburn instead. Written in the form of a fascinating diary, this book brings together a careful selection of Cockburn's writings from the war fronts of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria.