The war in Iraq and its aftermath took a terrible toll on the media. Between March 19, when the United States bombed Iraq's capital, Baghdad, and April 9, when the city fell, 11 journalists died. Since then, several more have lost their lives. Amid these tragedies, crackdowns on press freedom continued as authoritarian leaders from Central Asia to Southern Africa sought to muzzle the press. The most blatant attack on free speech this year was in Cuba, where 75 dissidents --including 28 independent journalists --were arrested, tried, and sentenced to between 14 and 27 years in jail. Because scores of journalists are imprisoned every year for their work, and hundreds more endure physical attack, illegal detention, spurious legal action, and death threats, each year the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization, publishes a reference guide to violations of press freedom worldwide. Attacks on the Press in 2003 provides factual and detailed accounts of press freedom abuses in more than 90 countries, as well as in-depth reports on journalists jailed and murdered for their work.If you are interested in world affairs, Attacks on the Press is a valuable guide to everything you need to know about the state of global press freedom.