Synopses & Reviews
Nothing can prepare you for
Anthony Loyd's portrait of war. It is the story of the unspeakable terror and the visceral, ecstatic thrill of combat, and the lives and dreams laid to waste by the bloodiest conflict that Europe has witnessed since the Second World War.
Born into a distinguished military family, Loyd was raised on the stories of his ancestors' exploits and grew up fascinated with war. Unsatisfied by a brief career in the British Army, he set out for the killing fields in Bosnia. It was there--in the midst of the roar of battle and the life-and-death struggle among the Serbs, Croatians, and Bosnian Muslims--that he would discover humanity at its worst and best. Profoundly shocking, poetic, and ultimately redemptive, this is an uncompromising look at the brutality of war and its terrifyingly seductive power.
Review
"Not like any other book on the Yugoslav war, his gripping, viscerally subjective chronicle puts a human face on the tragedy as it mourns the strangled soul of multiethnic Bosnia." Publishers Weekly
Review
"An extraordinary evocation of the war in Bosnia, that is also a painful personal story...idiosyncratic, unsparingly graphic, refreshingly critical, and beautifully written." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Loyd's fragmentary reports morph into first-rate war correspondence from Bosnia that places him into the great tradition of Hemingway, Caputo, and Michael Herr." Boston Globe
Review
"A fascinating look at war from a front-row seat." Denver Rocky Mountain News
Review
"Magnificent...a stench of blood, excrement, mortar-fire, slivovitz and human bestiality emanates from these pages." Literary Review
Review
"I have nowhere read a more vivid account of frontline fear and survival." The Times (UK)
Review
"I would be lying if I told you I enjoyed the experience of reading this book, but I would also be lying if I said I regretted a minute of it. It simply is a damn good book, and if you are at all interested in wars and why they keep happening, you really should read it." Doug Brown, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopsis
Nothing can prepare you for Anthony Loyd's portrait of war. It is the story of the unspeakable terror and the visceral, ecstatic thrill of combat, and the lives and dreams laid to waste by the bloodiest conflict that Europe has witnessed since the Second World War.
Born into a distinguished military family, Loyd was raised on the stories of his ancestors' exploits and grew up fascinated with war. Unsatisfied by a brief career in the British Army, he set out for the killing fields in Bosnia. It was there in the midst of the roar of battle and the life-and-death struggle among the Serbs, Croatians, and Bosnian Muslims that he would discover humanity at its worst and best. Profoundly shocking, poetic, and ultimately redemptive, this is an uncompromising look at the brutality of war and its terrifyingly seductive power.
Synopsis
"A truly exceptional...account of his time in the Balkans and Chechnya....I read [Loyd's] story of war and addiction (to conflict and to heroin) with a sense of gratitude for the honesty and courage on every page." Independent (UK)"
About the Author
Anthony Loyd served as a platoon commander in the British army for operations in Northern Ireland and the Persian Gulf before going to work in Bosnia. He is now a special correspondent for the Times of London, for which he has covered seven other wars, including the conflicts in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and Kosovo.