Dead Men Risen: An Epic Story of War and Heroism in Afghanistan

Synopsis

Dead Men Risen, winner of the prestigious Orwell Prize for Books, is the epic story of a beleaguered British battle group fighting desperately to prevent the Taliban from seizing Afghanistan's Helmand province just as the U.S. Marines arrive to take over.

Bestselling author Toby Harnden describes how men from the coal mining valleys and slate quarry villages of Wales found themselves in the most intense combat faced by British troops for a generation. Underequipped and overstretched, the fighting prowess of the Welsh Guards in the killing fields of Sangin and Nawa awed the U.S. Marines. NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal, who was awaiting a response to his urgent request to President Barack Obama for more troops, hailed their "burn-in-your-gut passion."

Harnden was on the ground with the Welsh Guards in Helmand in 2009. He gained access to a trove of secret military documents and conducted nearly three hundred interviews in Afghanistan, England, Wales, and the United States to produce this timeless and profound account of men at war.Commanding the Welsh Guards was Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, a passionate believer in the justness of the war who was dismayed by the military and political incompetence surrounding it. In chilling detail, Harnden reveals how and why Thorneloe-the first British battalion commander to die in action since the 1982 Falklands War-was killed by an IED during Operation Panther's Claw. By the time the fighting was over, almost no rank had been spared.

From the searing heat of the poppy fields and the mud compounds of Helmand to the dreaded knock on the door back home, the reader is transported there. Harnden weaves the experiences of the soldiers, their historical forbears and the flawed NATO strategy into a masterly narrative. No other book about modern conflict succeeds on so many levels.

Dead Men Risen is essential for anyone who wants to understand the reality of the Afghan war for the U.S and its allies. reveals how and why Thorneloe - the first British battalion commander to die in action for 27 years -- was killed by an IED during Operation Panther's Claw.Harnden, who had known Thorneloe since they met in Northern Ireland in 1996, was on the ground in Helmand with the Welsh Guards. He draws on a trove of military documents, including many by Thorneloe. Major Sean Birchall left behind an unvarnished account of the shortcomings of the Afghan forces that represent Nato's exit strategy.

Lieutenant Mark Evison wrote a diary that raises questions from beyond the grave.It was more than half a century since a British battalion had lost officers at these three key levels of leadership. By the time the fighting was over, almost no rank had been spared. A timeless account of men at war, Dead Men Risen conveys what it is like to be a soldier who has to kill, face paralysing fear and watch comrades perish in agony.

Given unprecedented access to the British troops, Harnden conducted more than 300 interviews in Afghanistan, England and Wales.The searing heat of the poppy fields and mud compounds of Helmand to the dreaded knock on the door back home, the reader is transported there.

Harnden weaves the experiences of the guardsmen and their loved ones into an unsparing narrative that sits alongside a piercing analysis of military strategy. No other book about modern conflict succeeds on so many levels. Dead Men Risen is essential for anyone who wants to learn the reality of the war in Afghanistan.

Copyright:

2014

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9781621572732

Related ISBNs:

9781621572718

Publisher:

Regnery History

Date of Addition:

05/30/18

Copyrighted By:

Toby Harnden

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Military, Nonfiction

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.