Toby Harnden - Author & Journalist

Media Masters

Toby Harnden is an award-winning author and veteran foreign correspondent. In 2012 he won the Orwell Prize for his book ‘Dead Men Risen’ - an account of beleaguered British soldiers fighting desperately to prevent the Taliban from seizing Afghanistan’s Helmand province. As foreign correspondent, he reported from 33 countries for The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and The Sunday Times, including postings in Belfast, Baghdad and Washington DC. In this in-depth interview, Toby shares the inspiration and journey behind his new book ‘First Casualty’ - which is the prime account of CIA Team Alpha in their own words - the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11; reflects on how a decade serving in the Royal Navy inspired him to become a foreign correspondent, and better equipped him to report on “real stuff, real people - war, blood, and guts;” and discusses why much of his work is dedicated to covering PTSD - including presenting a BBC Panorama special, with the shock revelation that more British soldiers and veterans took their own lives last year than were killed in action.