Reckless disregard

"In the winter of 1984, an extraordinary series of events brought two remarkable libel suits to trial in neighboring courtrooms in Manhattan, and in doing so brought into almost astrological configuration three of America's most powerful establishments; military, legal and journalistic. In both courtrooms, a renowned general was suing a media giant for libel: William Westmoreland contended that he had been libeled in a CBS documentary that claimed he had led a "conspiracy at the highest levels" to conceal crucial estimates about enemy troop strength in Vietnam; and Israel's Ariel Sharon was suing Time for having published a story claiming that Sharon had discussed the need to take "revenge" with Lebanese Christian leaders just before a Phalangist massacre of Palestinians during the Lebanese War. To complete the paralleled, both CBS and Time were defended by the same aggressive New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. With an unmatched eye for the telling or damning detail, and with an unprecedented understanding of the way in which important trials are shaped not simply by what goes on in the courtroom but by the long and opaque process of deposition and discovery before the trial, Adler draws a portrait of lawyers, generals and journalists worthy of Daumier or Dickens."--Jacket.