I would have preferred Stiles to go more in-depth into the countries he reported on but I suppose he can't since he visited most of them on a whirlwind. Nevertheless, there are some interesting anecdotes and he tries to bring out the message of hope even in the most desolate of places. ( )

I first heard of Kevin Sites when he came to give a talk to a journalism class at my school, which I crashed. What he attempted to do was amazing, and I was very glad to find this book at the airport bookshop while I was waiting for my flight. This book, though billed as "current events" is more of a memoir. He gives the basic history of each of the conflict zones he covers, but what he does that is more valuable, in my opinion, is give a human face to the conflict. He tells the stories of those affected by these wars: the innocent bystanders, the soldiers, and the victims. I wish he could have given more depth to each but it was a necessary weakness when he was only in each area for a few short weeks. ( )

It feels as though it marks a particular moment in time for these countries, but left you with the feeling to know more about these places and to know what is going on with them today.

Stories from numerous areas of conflict around the world. Sites manages to give readers a swift but clear window into the struggles in each region. Each page is compelling and reveals a little more of how much we don't know.

Hired by Yahoo!, journalist Kevin Sites visits every armed conflict zone in the world in a single year, filming a short documentary on each one along the way. When I began reading this book, my first thoughts were that this man clearly had (1) an incredibly resistant spirit to tragedy and (2) a death wish. Sites consistently puts the story above his personal safety; he dodges bullets in Iraq, faces angry mobs in Addis Ababa, and heads down to Lebanon in the midst of a bombing. His personal thoughts and experiences are interwoven with interviews from war lords, child soldiers, and armed rebels as well as ordinary people caught up in the war.

While I can't imagine why anyone would volunteer for such a job, much less display enthusiasm for it, I started In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars on a whim and stayed up late to finish it. Sites sheds light on conflicts that don't get the press coverage that Iraq and Afghanistan do, but are no less important. No one is affected by war more than civilians, but Sites introduces us to inspiring people who have overcome tremendous adversity. The story of Gulsoma, an abused child bride from Afghanistan, struck me the hardest. Ultimately, I closed this book feeling like I was close friends with Sites and all the people he interviewed, which is how you know you've read a great autobiography. ( )