Who By Fire recovers the untold story of Leonard Cohen's concert tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. Journalist and author Matti Friedman, himself a veteran of the Israeli military, pieces together the story from interviews with soldiers who attended the performances, Cohen's own journals and letters, and archival research. Cohen, already famous as a poet and singer, was living on the Greek island of Hydra when war broke out. He flew immediately to Israel, connected with a small troupe of performers, and spent weeks traveling between military positions in the Sinai Desert, performing for soldiers at the worst moment of their lives—many had seen friends die hours before. Friedman captures both the surrealism of the situation and its emotional reality, showing how Cohen's songs spoke to young soldiers confronting their own mortality. The book also explores Cohen's complicated relationship with Judaism and Israel, his ongoing spiritual searching, and how the war experience shaped his subsequent work, including songs like 'Who by Fire' that draw directly on these weeks. For Cohen admirers and anyone interested in how music meets historical crisis, Friedman offers a moving and meticulously researched account.