Witness to atrocities

Gritty, harrowing and near nerve-wracking, Alex Crawford's Colonel Gaddafi's Hat punches huge holes in misconceptions surrounding war reporting.

Leaving nothing to the imagination in terms of the fight for Libya's emancipation obtained exactly a year ago, Crawford brings to life the terror of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 40-year reign and the final days of his desperate fight to cling to power.

With a genuine perspective, Crawford reveals the tangible - and often unreported - fear of covering breaking history. She and her Sky News team become caught up in pitched battles between outnumbered rebel forces and government loyalists. They also witness heart-wrenching moments as doctors frantically and, often in vain, try to save civilians who are wounded in the crossfires of horrific street battles.

Crawford weaves a poignant narrative to draw readers into the text and what was one of the most bloody of the Arab Spring wars.

Having reported from Libya at the time, Crawford's grim accounts of the battles for Zawiya and Misrata - cities at the heart of the freedom fighters' resistance, which bore the brunt of Gaddafi's fury - bring back memories of the deceased dictator's ruthless campaign to wipe out the opposition.

With casualties brought on by ever increasing tyranny, Crawford reveals how, despite being outgunned and outnumbered, rebels refused to back down. Their anger at being oppressed explodes as they battle to reach Tripoli's Green Square - the bastion of Gaddafi's powerhouse.

Throughout her writing, Crawford puts a "human face" to war reporting by detailing accounts of fathers weeping over their dead children. She also touches on missing out on family occasions, snatched telephone calls with her children and the savage deaths of colleagues and friends - all reminders of the terrible cost of war.

'Colonel Gaddafi's Hat', Jonathan Ball, available at Exclusive Books, R200