* Nonfiction. By Martin Fletcher. Thomas Dunne Books, $24.95. Grade:B+

Book in a nutshell: NBC News' Tel Aviv Bureau Chief Fletcher has traveled the world, going from one hot spot to the next, risking his life to capture video footage and deliver first-hand accounts of war and its carnage. In his new book, Fletcher tells the story, not from the perspective of generals and heads of state, but from the view of those for whom war is a matter of life and death. "Nobody with a story to sell or a policy to spin interests me," Fletcher writes. "What I care about are the people who pay the price . . . "

Readers follow Fletcher from his early days as a bumbling 26-year- old rookie cameraman who arrives at his first foreign posting - Israel - just days before the outbreak of war in 1973. When news of the fighting reached him, he phoned his editor and was told to get to the Golan Heights pronto. He didn't even know where the Golan Heights was, but he hopped into his orange sports coupe and followed the traffic to find the war.

The adventure continues for the next 30-some years. Fletcher shares tales of hiking into war-torn Afghanistan with mujahedeen warriors; of tense days covering the Islamic revolution in Tehran; of watching in desperation as friends were blown up stepping on land mines in Kosovo; and of witnessing horror after horror in Africa. Through it all, he shares tales of office politics that even deskbound pencil pushers can relate to.

Best tidbit: "Did I agree with how these mountain Moslems punished crime or oppressed their women, their religious bigotry or their worship of martyrdom? No. Did I understand where they were coming from and where they hoped to go? Yes. As I sat beside Abdul, the career difficulties I suffered as an American network reporter with a British accent seemed irrelevant."

Pros: Fletcher's depictions of the human cost of war are memorable and chilling. He says he wants to answer the question "Why should we care?" when confronting headlines about conflict in far-off lands. When told in such human terms, the answer is clear.

Cons: Fletcher's depiction of hard-living and hard-drinking journalists will do little to smash unsavory - and often inaccurate - stereotypes.

Final word: Fletcher does a good job narrating his attempts - not always successful - to walk the fine line between journalistic noninvolvement and the very human desire to reach out to those in trouble.