Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars | 5,340 ratings

Price: 18.89

Last update: 03-31-2025


About this item

"An affecting, singular story...a bracing tale of life on the edge of death." —Kirkus Reviews

When veteran war reporter Benjamin Hall woke up in Kyiv on the morning of March 14, 2022, he had no idea that, within hours, Russian bombs would nearly end his life. As a journalist for Fox News, Hall had worked in dangerous war zones like Syria and Afghanistan, but with three young daughters at home, life on the edge was supposed to be a thing of the past. Yet when Russia viciously attacked Ukraine in February 2022, Hall quickly volunteered to go. A few weeks later, while on assignment, Hall and his crew were blown up in a Russian strike. With Hall himself gravely injured and stuck in Kyiv, it was unclear if he would make it out alive.

This is the story of how he survived—a story that continues to this day. For the first time, Hall shares his experience in full—from his ground-level view of the war to his dramatic rescue to his arduous, and ongoing, recovery. Going inside the events that have permanently transformed him, Hall recalls his time at the front lines of our world’s conflicts, exploring how his struggle to step away from war reporting led him back one perilous last time. Featuring nail-biting accounts from the many people across multiple countries who banded together to get him to safety, Hall offers a stunning look at complex teamwork and heartfelt perseverance that turned his life into a mission.

Through it all, Hall’s spirit has remained undaunted, buoyed by that remarkable corps of people from around the world whose collective determination ensured his survival. Evocative, harrowing, and deeply moving, Saved is a powerful memoir of family and friends, of life and healing, and of how to respond when you are tested in ways you never thought possible.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Night Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book- many heroes.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2023
    Amazing well written book that was hard to put down. I had been watching Ben Hall on Fox reporting from the Ukraine when all of a sudden he wasn’t there. When we heard he had been wounded and later his colleagues had been killed it was incredibly upsetting as if you see someone every evening you begin to feel you know them. To be able to read about his life up to the tragedy and then to the aftermath of his recovery is one incredible journey. His spirit and the spirits of all the many people who rallied around him were beyond heroic to save him both on the battlefield and in recovery. He must be a very special person to have instilled such loyalty, caring and love from so many. The magnitude of his rescue and recovery are monumental and he tells it with incredible clarity and heart. As an aside, I have just read this while fairly inactive after having an ankle replacement (after getting a hip replaced 3 months ago) and am in a non walking cast. At times I have felt a bit sorry for myself but I changed quite a bit of my attitude upon reading this book. It still isn’t fun going through this in my 70s but my goodness, piece of cake in comparison. Thanks Benjamin Hall for putting things in perspective and for giving us such an incredible book to read. I will also add a huge thanks to everyone that helped save Mr Hall.
    It took a lot of people and a lot of logistics but look what we humans can do when we work together and say yes.
  • Teresa Shubert
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Story of Recovery Against the Backdrop of War
    Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2023
    As Russia began to invade Ukraine, I intently tuned into the nightly news programming of FOX News, to see their war correspondents: Benjamin Hall, Trey Yingst, Greg Palkot, Steve Harrigan, Lucas Tomlison, and Mike Tobin, along with their crew, as they reported the devastation and human suffering the Ukrainian people were experiencing every day. The correspondents would also live feed these events as well, up, and close, as the horrors and realities of war began to weave into our collective consciousness. Because the information they relayed was so raw, so intense and seemed so dangerous, I began to fear for their safety as well. So, it was heartbreaking to hear that Benjamin Hall and Pierre Zakrzewski, along with their Ukrainian cohort, Sasha Kushynova, had been the target of one of Putin’s attacks - even sadder to hear that Pierre and Sasha had died as a result. Yet, thankfully, Benjamin Hall, although gravely ill and severely injured in the same attack, had survived.
    SAVED is the account of Benjamin Hall’s harrowing journey, that he tells beautifully, succinctly, with clarity of thought, vision, hope and complete and total brute strength, and positive frame of mind, to not only make it out of the war-torn country of Ukraine alive, but with help, compassion, know-how, expertise, and the coordination of FOX News executives, as well as the intelligence operatives that were utilized in the Pentagon and on the ground in Ukraine, and with the help of medical personnel in Ukraine, how Ben made it back to the states for critical medical treatment.
    Minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour and day-by-day, Benjamin gives his account of how this was all accomplished. I was on the edge of my seat, unable to put the book down, but had to on many occasions, as he wove in visions, stories, hope and positivity, coupled with descriptions of the immense severity and pain of his injuries, so that I could cry and then compose myself only hours later, to continue reading. His intense love for his wife, Alicia, and their precious daughters, Honor, Iris, and Hero, were always on the forefront of his mind and in his desperation to see his family as soon as possible, he powered through the pain, while enduring multiple surgeries, hallucinations, infections, a few recovery setbacks, intense physical therapy, along with the reality of having to live the rest of his life without his body ever being ‘whole’ again. But it is not the loss or injury to a few limbs to keep Benjamin down, it is his unwavering optimism, that after all the pain and hard work to physically recover – he would be up, and well and ‘whole’ again, once he was able to travel home, to be in the loving arms of his family.
    Benjamin gave credit where credit was due, to all of the people who gave support in any capacity to him, with every step along the way, from the Ukraine people and the doctors who gave him lifesaving treatment there, to the United States, and our unmatched, professional medical personnel, to ensure that his recovery would be successful.
    Ben wrote a wonderful book, and I can’t wait to see what the ‘new’ Benjamin Hall will be up to next. But I believe he has a knack for compassion toward others – and a serious knack for writing!
  • Joan Mucci
    5.0 out of 5 stars fabulous but a little gory
    Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2025
    Wonderful story and a great man. It was descriptive both in the Ukraine and in Texas. It was great to see president Bush reach out to Benji.
  • Charliep
    5.0 out of 5 stars People can be loving, inspiring, and sacrificial.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2023
    In a suburb of Kyiv, Ben Hall and his reporting team get blown to bits by a Russian drone.

    The first part of Ben's story is about how and why he became a war correspondent and left home searching for war. In the second half, Ben is being put back together to return home to his wife and little girls.

    The first part of the story is exciting. It is filled with insights into purpose. It describes in detail, and very personally, the conviction that sent him to war zones. He knew he had to be there. He knew he was risking his life. He learned the only way to cover war as a journalist was to get as close as possible to the action. In fact, to be right there.

    The book's second part shows the consequences of his purpose and his choice to live it. And these consequences are ugly, gruesome, and inspiring. Ugly as it shows the reality of war. Gruesome as it has us live through the loss of friends, limbs, and career. It is inspiring when it shows how people come together, total strangers from all over the world, with different occupations, to help a man whose goal is to get home.

    This book was a page-turner for me. His life reminded me of how excited I was in my early career when I finally found my career. How I was willing to do whatever it took to succeed. To even sacrifice time with Kathy and the kids. I was all in, and so was Ben. It brought back some great memories of being in the "trenches" with my co-workers and friends. It also brought about the regrets I live with from the sacrifices we all made to live our purpose.

    But the second half was a tough read. The story of getting Ben out of Kyiv and to the States is thrilling and miraculous. It was surely a God's hand is in this escape story. And then there is the reconstruction of his body, mind, and spirit. To get Ben back on his feet, literally. To get him home.

    In the end, he makes it. And not only is he rewarded but he rewards us, the readers too. Ben, a man, husband, father, and journalist tells us what he learned from all this. And what makes this sharing unusual is these life lessons are coming from a man in his early thirties. Lessons I didn't learn until much later in life. Lessons I am learning right now at seventy.

    I thank Ben for sharing his life story. I thank Ben when he says, "I went into this believing in God, and I still do." He saw the underbelly of life. He experienced the pain. But he concluded that good will always overcome evil. And pain is overcome by love.

    • Best Sellers in

     
     

    Writing Down the Bones

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,388
    31.47
     
     

    Critical Thinking: MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series

    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 528
    15.04
     
     

    Mastering the Process: From Idea to Novel

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 126
    18
     
     

    Working

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 247
    18
     
     

    Novelist as a Vocation

    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 851
    18
     
     

    Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writin

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,201
    18
     
     

    ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life: Second Edition: Strategies That Work from an Acclaimed Professional Organizer and a

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 446
    24.06
     
     

    Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication

    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 978
    15.75