Historical Dictionary of War Journalism

An elusive figure until the 1840s, the war correspondent is a comparatively new phenomenon. Prior to the Mexican War and the invention of the telegraph, military commanders reported their own victories. Correspondents rarely used bylines prior to the 20th century. The first of its kind, this book fills a gap in the history of war journalism as well as military history, literature, imperialism, and the Victorian era. Entries cover reporters, photographers, and artists who represented a newspaper, magazine, radio, or television station, or another news source as well as significant events and terms relating to war reporting from 1846 to the recent Gulf War and Yugoslavian conflict.

To this day, the identity of the world's first war photographer remains a mystery. The first war correspondent—probably a male from New Orleans—also remains an elusive figure. The first identifiable war correspondents were not produced until the Mexican War. The larger history of the war correspondent has not been thoroughly explored. This volume attempts to fill that gap, providing coverage from 1846 to the present.

MITCHEL P. ROTH is Assistant Professor of History and Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. His history of the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety was published in Courtesy, Service, and Protection: The Texas Department of Public Safety, and his research on epidemic disease on the 19th century West has appeared in Gateway Heritage and Pacific Historical Review.