ISBN: 0307372200 9780307372208

Category: History / Wars & Conflicts / General

Page count: 288

A provocative story of war that offers rare insight into the real effects of conflict on civilians, reporters, and societies themselves.<br><br>Once it was simple to write about war. States or ideologies clashed; battles were fought between national armies or movements. But war has changed. <br><br>War has become “privatized” by small armed groups, states have fragmented and the conventional arms of the West are found wanting against warlordism. Drawing on the author’s experiences as a foreign correspondent in the world’s most dangerous places, <b>The Secret Life of War</b> focuses on the human cost of war: to the combatants, to civilians and to the author, as one who bears witness.<br><br>Every encounter is arresting: a visit to the bombed and abandoned home of Mullah Omar; a deserted Al Qaeda camp where a plan to attack London is found; young bomb-throwers in Rafah refugee camp. <br><br>Unflinching and exquisitely written, <b>The Secret Life of War</b> goes beyond classic reportage: it is a deeply personal and defining vision of the inner, secret nature of modern war.