The photographers at VII Photo Agency: It has been a privilege working with and being affiliated with all of you. You helped me grow as both a photographer and an artist.
I am so honored to have worked with so many brilliant correspondents, some of whom have had the great misfortune of suffering repeated 5 a.m. wake-ups while I searched for the golden morning light: Lydia Polgreen, Dexter Filkins, Tim Weiner, Alissa Rubin, Rod Nordland, Carlotta Gall, Ann Barnard, Jim Yardley, Elisabeth Bumiller, Sabrina Tavernise, Anthony Shadid, Kirk Semple, Richard Oppel, Bobby Worth, Kareem Fahim, Joe Klein, Aryn Baker, Anthony Loyd, Sara Corbett, Andrea Elliott, Jon Lee Anderson, and Marion Lloyd.
Dexter Filkins and Ivan Watson: I will eternally be grateful for your company and care in Pakistan after the accident. You are the greatest stand-in brothers and loyal friends I could ever ask for.
Kathy Gannon: You have been so generous over the years with your knowledge, contacts, and hospitality in Afghanistan. Fourteen years ago you helped me secure my first visa to Afghanistan when it was under Taliban rule, and with that, you opened the door to so much of my professional career and personal journey.
To Elizabeth Rubin, for being both a courageous and fun partner in crime in some of the most oppressive places. You have been a role model for many years in your relentless pursuit of the story, and with your passion, humor, and wit.
Ruth and Larry Sherman: You helped change the course of my life with the invitation to India many years ago. Barbara Tuozzoli: Thank you for bringing me into the darkroom in those early days. Roxanne, Joseph, and Fabiana: You have provided so many years of laughter and love, and will always be extended family.
I am grateful for the enduring friendships of Tara Subkoff, Jordi Getman, Gabrielle Trebat, Desa Philadelphia, Riva Fischel, Katia Almeida, Sigalle Feig, Alyssa Norton, Cleo Murnane, Lisa Deroy, Vineta Plume, Angela Lekkas, and Candace Feit.
The Istanbul crew, my family in Constantinople: Madeleine Roberts, Ansel Mullins, Ivan Watson, Jason Sanchez, Behzad Yaghmaian, Suzy Hansen, Paxton Winters, and Karl Vick.
To Anthony Shadid, Marie Colvin, Tim Hetherington, Chris Hondros, Khalid Hassan, Marla Ruzicka, Raza Khan, Mohammed Shalgouf, and Anja Niedringhaus: May you rest in peace.
Amanda Urban: Your enthusiasm alone convinced me to write this book. You helped me take a vague idea and make it a reality. Thank you for believing in me, and for holding my hand every step of the way.
Ann Godoff: I’ll forever be grateful you took on this project. You inspired me to write with your vision for the book, for recognizing my voice in those early days, and for helping me shape my unwieldy manuscript into a coherent text. Thank you to Claire Vaccaro for bringing your creative eye to the layout, to editorial assistants William Carnes and Sofia Ergas Groopman for your help and patience with all my last-minute changes, to Yamil Anglada and Sarah Hutson for ensuring that the book gets out there, to Gillian Brassil for your meticulous fact-checking, to Darren Haggar for the jacket design, and to Matt Boyd, Brittany Boughter, Kate Griggs, and Candy Gianetti for all your work on this project.
Suzy Hansen: I simply could not have done this without you. You are a true friend, a brilliant friend, a great editor, writer, and partner. You pushed me to write with your questions, you made me relive experiences I had tucked deep inside. You are compassionate, wise, and insightful, and I am eternally grateful and honored you embarked on this journey with me.
To Paul’s wonderful family: Simon de Bendern, Kass Miskin, Ethel de Bendern, Emma and Neil Simmons—to name a few—thank you for opening your arms to me, and for being the coolest, most loving family next to my own. To the matriarchs, my two grandmothers, Nonnie and Nina, who—at one hundred one and ninety-seven years old, respectively—continue to inspire me every day with their strength, wisdom, and resilience. My sisters, Lauren, Lisa, and Lesley: You are my best friends and role models, and with me wherever I travel. Your husbands: Chris, Joe, and Jer—there aren’t many men who could handle the four Addario women, and thank you for being such wonderful additions to our family. My mother, Camille Addario, who never ceases to amaze me with her love, infinite generosity, and ability to overcome hardship—I hope I can replicate a quarter of that one day. My father, Phillip Addario, and Bruce Chapman: You continue to teach me how to be true to myself, and how to build and maintain an enduring, loving relationship. My family gives me the strength to overcome any and all of life’s adversities.