Charles Glass
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Charles Glass (born November 18, 1951) is an American-
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
author, journalist, broadcaster and publisher specializing in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
and the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. He was ''
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
'' chief Middle East correspondent from 1983 to 1993, and has worked as a correspondent for ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' and ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
''. He writes regularly for ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' and his work has appeared in newspapers and magazines, and on television networks, all over the world. Glass is the author of ''Tribes With Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East'' (1991) and a collection of essays, ''Money for Old Rope: Disorderly Compositions'' (1992). A sequel to ''Tribes with Flags'', called ''The Tribes Triumphant'', was published by HarperCollins in June 2006. His book on the beginning of the American war in Iraq, ''The Northern Front'', was published in October 2006 by Saqi. His next book, ''Americans in Paris'' (HarperCollins and Penguin Press), tells the story of the American citizens who chose to remain in Paris when the Germans occupied the city in 1940. He also wrote "Deserter: The Untold Story of World War II" (Penguin Press and HarperCollins) His most recent book is ''They Fought Alone: The True Story of the Starr Brothers, British Secret Agents in Nazi-Occupied France'' (Penguin Press, 2018). One of Glass's best known stories was his 1985 interview on the tarmac of Beirut Airport of the crew of TWA Flight 847 after the flight was hijacked. He broke the news that the hijackers had removed the hostages and had hidden them in the suburbs of
Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, which caused the Reagan administration to cancel a rescue attempt that would have failed and led to loss of life at the airport. Glass made headlines in 1987, when he was taken hostage for 62 days in
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
by Shi'a militants. He describes the kidnapping and escape in his book, ''Tribes with Flags''.


Personal life

Glass was born in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, on January 23, 1951, and holds dual US/UK citizenship. Raised as a Catholic, he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
(USC), then undertook graduate studies at the American University of Beirut. He lived in Beirut, Lebanon, for six years. He was married to Fiona Ross for seventeen years. He has three sons, one daughter and two stepdaughters and lives variously in France, Italy, Britain and Lebanon. His maternal grandmother was a Lebanese
Maronite Catholic The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the ...
from
Ehden Ehden ( ar, إِهْدِن, Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܗܕ ܢ ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Zgharta, as ...
, and his father's family emigrated from Ireland to
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in 1700.


Professional life

Glass began his career in 1973 with ABC News in Beirut, where he covered the
Arab-Israeli war The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...
in Syria and Egypt with
Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born American television journalist who served as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. He dropped o ...
. He became the network's chief Middle East correspondent, a position he held for ten years, before deciding to freelance. Since then, he has also worked with
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. In print, he has written for ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'', ''
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'', ''
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'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...
'', ''
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'', ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'', ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'', ''
Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'', '' London Review of Books'', ''
Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...
'', '' Harper's Magazine'', and ''
The London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics. 1732–1785 ''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...
''. He has made many documentary films for U.S. and British television, including ''Pity the Nation: Charles Glass' Lebanon''; ''Iraq: Enemies of the State'' about military escalation and human rights abuses, broadcast six months before Iraq invaded Kuwait; ''Stains of War'' about war photographers; ''The Forgotten Faithful'' about the Palestinian Christian exodus from the West Bank; ''Our Man in Cairo''; ''Islam'' for
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
; and ''Sadat: An Action Biography'' for ABC. Glass's film, ''
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''Whit ...
: The Last Interview'', was shown at the ICA in London, the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
and other cinemas around the world. He is a lecturer on Middle East and international affairs in Britain and the United States. He was the Books Editor of the ''
Frontline Club The Frontline Club is a media club and registered charity located near Paddington Station in London. With a strong emphasis on conflict reporting, it aims to champion independent journalism, provide an effective platform from which to support div ...
'' Newsletter in London and is a publisher under his imprint, Charles Glass Books, in London.


Notable stories

Glass's one-hour documentary on Lebanon, ''Pity the Nation: Charles Glass's Lebanon'', was broadcast in 20 countries, prompting the London ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'' critic to call it "one of the best and most heart-rending documentaries e hadever seen." ''Iraq: Enemies of the State'', made for the BBC, was broadcast around the world six months before
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
's invasion of
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
. He also made ''Stains of War'' (1992), and ''The Forgotten Faithful'' (1994), which looked at the situation of the Palestinian Christians who have left the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. In 1988, he revealed that Saddam Hussein had developed
biological weapon A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterroris ...
s. In 1991, he was the only American television correspondent to enter northern
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
to cover the
Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...
rebellion from start to finish. In 1992, he took a hidden camera to
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...
, occupied by
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, and filed a report that caused a U.S. Senate committee to vote for a suspension of military aid to Indonesia. From 1991 to 1993, he covered the war in
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
for ABC News and wrote about it in the Spectator. He returned to Iraq in 2003 to cover the American invasion for ABC News and wrote about the war in '' Harper's Magazine'' with photographs by a friend, Don McCullin. He and McCullin covered Iraq again for ''Harper's'' in the autumn of 2016 to report on the war against the Islamic State and in 2017 recorded in words and photographs for ''Granta'' the destruction of the Roman ruins in Palmyra. Glass won an Overseas Press Club award in 1976 for his radio reporting of the deaths of Palestinians at the Beirut refugee camp at Tel el Zaatar; and he has shared the British Commonwealth and Peabody Awards for documentary films. In 2011, he initiated his publishing imprint, Charles Glass Books, under the aegis of Quartet Books in London. His first publications were Stephane Hessel's '' Time for Outrage!'', D.D. Guttenplan's ''American Radical: The Life and Times of I. F. Stone'', John Bird and John Borrell's ''The White Lake'', and Jeremy Clarke's ''Low Life: The Spectator Columns''.


Works

*''Tribes With Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East'' (hardcover and paperback), Atlantic Monthly Press, 1991; (Published in the United Kingdom by Secker and Warburg, as well as Picador.) *''Money for Old Rope: Disorderly Compositions'' (paperback), Picador, 1992; *''The Tribes Triumphant'' (hardcover), HarperCollins, 2006 *''The Northern Front: An Iraq War Diary'' (paperback), Saqi Books, 2006 *''Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under the Nazi Occupation, 1940-1944'' (hardcover), HarperCollins, 2009; *''The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II'', (hardcover) The Penguin Press, 2013 *''Syria Burning: ISIS and the Death of the Arab Spring'', OR Books, 2015
''Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe''
VersoBooks, 2016 *''They Fought Alone: The True Story of the Starr Brothers, British Secret Agents in Nazi-Occupied France'' (hardcover), Penguin Press, 2018


External links

* * .
Vice News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...
(21 May 2015) * https://worldview.stratfor.com/people/278436 * https://www.nybooks.com/contributors/charles-glass/


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass, Charles 1951 births Living people American male journalists American Roman Catholics American people of Irish descent American people of Lebanese descent British male journalists British Roman Catholics British people of Irish descent British people of Lebanese descent Kidnappings by Islamists Date of birth missing (living people)