Essential reading

– The Bookseller

Similar to Michael Herr's high-octane Vietnam War classic, Dispatches, Anderson delivers a gritty, brutal, realistic account of British and American troops on the Afghan frontlines in a bitter counterpoint to all the policy concessions and peace chatter.

– Publishers Weekly

"Unusually courageous… With humor, compassion and a fine eye for detail, Anderson meticulously pieces together each scene with the skill of a good choreographer… [This is] an engrossing blow-by-blow account of the nuts and bolts of modern warfare."

– Kirkus Reviews

Anderson's book makes a vivid contribution to the record of the conflict, and left me gasping at his courage.

– Max Hastings for The Sunday Times

"An essential if unsettling synopsis that brutally strips away any pretence that this is a just or even necessary conflict ... Highly recommended for those with even a passing interest in what is being done in our name in far-off Afghanistan."

– Military History Monthly

‘[A] brilliantly observed but troubling memoir… [an] outstanding book.’

– Daily Mail

"Wonderful… offers real insight into the war."

– The Sun

Gripping.

– Warfare Magazine

If you want to understand how the war in Helmand is really being fought, buy this book.

– Alex Strick van Linschoten - Author of An Enemy We Created and My Life with the Taliban

Candid and honest. An invaluable perspective for those who want to know the real story.

– Ed Darack - Author of Victory Point

Compelling and brilliant... A vivid account, of heroism, courage, and loyalty.

– Regulo Zapata - Regulo Zapata Jr, USA (Ret), Green Beret Special Forces - author of Desperate Lands:

Take it from a guy who's been there, done that, and got the tshirt, Anderson hits the nail on the head on how the war feels, tastes, and frustrates the soldiers tasked with fighting it.

– Benjamin Tupper

"The best book from the frontline so far... Will do for Afghanistan what Michael Herr's Dispatches' did for Vietnam. If you thought it was bad in Helmand, you were wrong. Anderson shows that it is much worse than that."

– Frank Ledwidge - Bestselling author of Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afgha

"A tactile, gripping first-hand account of the heroic yet tragic efforts of allied troops to drive out the Taliban. A powerful read."

– Bing West - Former Assistant Secretary of Defense, a Marine combat infantryman, and prize-winning au

"Ben Anderson is the bravest journalist I know. Anyone interested in what life is really like on the front line in Afghanistan should read this book."

– Louis Theroux

“A tour de force. Ben Anderson plunges the reader into the reality of the war in Afghanistan in all its horror. The stories he brings back are as vivid an account of the war and its almost insurmountable difficulties as any I have read.”

– David Dimbleby

The truth about the Afghan war, from a brave and exceptionally honest reporter... Essential reading for anyone who wants to know what is really going on in Helmand.

– Sherard Cowper-Coles - Former British Ambassador to Afghanistan

"Hugely revealing … A brilliantly observed account of war in Afghanistan by an extraordinarily brave reporter."

– Jason Elliot - Author of An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan

I cannot possibly fathom how he does what he does.

– Spike Jonze