- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Black Swan; New edition edition (5 Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0552771333
- ISBN-13: 978-0552771337
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
185,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #64 in Books > Biography > War & Espionage > Civil War
- #81 in Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > Russia
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Anthony Loyd's first book is a vivid, haunting account of the war in Bosnia from 1993 until 1996, from where he reported for the Daily Telegraph and then the Times as a special correspondent. However, what separates it from standard reportage is the war Loyd was fighting on a personal front, which drove him to seek war as a "final absolution of self-responsibility". While snipers shot people indiscriminately Loyd, living on whisky-chased adrenaline, fought to understand the compulsion he felt to be there and struggled to shoot the pictures that were the pretext for his presence. It is this battle, set against the brutality that tore the Balkans to shreds, that gives the book its anguished focus and embattled majesty.
Loyd gradually reveals a fractured upbringing, which culminated in the death of the father from whom he had been torturously distant for many years. Five years in the army did little to relieve the embittered emotional hangover that had become his burden, and in indulging the impulse that propelled him to war he was following in the footsteps of generations of males in his family. In addition to the stimulation engendered he was also fighting a heroin dependency that reared up when the buzz of the danger passed.
The descriptions of mortar-damaged flesh in Bosnia do not depart easily from the consciousness of the reader, who is left shuddering at the damage they must have inflicted on the author. Loyd, though, free from the constraints of newspaper journalism, writes with an angrily articulate physicality that throbs with a challenging compassion one longs for him to apply to himself. He finally achieves a redemption of sorts, and in the process has written one of the most uncompromising and personally honest accounts of the ugliness of war that puts to shame complacent apathy. Brave, provocative, essential, but not for those who take cream in their coffee. --David Vincent --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
QUOTES:
"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
""I have nowhere read a more vivid account of frontline fear and survival." --"The Tim"es
"Magnificent--a stench of blood, excrement, mortar-fire, slivovitz and human bestiality emanates from these pages." --"Literary Review
"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
""I have nowhere read a more vivid account of frontline fear and survival." --"The Tim"es
"Magnificent--a stench of blood, excrement, mortar-fire, slivovitz and human bestiality emanates from these pages." --"Literary Review
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"From the Trade Paperback edition."
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First Sentence
There was a Bosnian government army sniper positioned in one of the top floors of the burned-out tower block overlooking the Serbs in Grbavica. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
There was a Bosnian government army sniper positioned in one of the top floors of the burned-out tower block overlooking the Serbs in Grbavica. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not just another journalistic account of the war in the Balkans (and in Chechnya come to that). This is much much more. Anthony Loyd, it has to be said, does not show a very loving and friendly description of himself...
Some customer reviews mention the portrait that he paints of himself and I believe this to be central. He knows that his account is biased but that is because he lived in one particular part of Bosnia during the war and met few Serbs... He knows that this is not journalism for journalism's sake. This is much MUCH more. This is an account of humanity in recent years, on both a global scale and a personal one.
For all those who understand that humanity is not all that pretty...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not the sort of book I would have thought I'd have liked. I'vebeen researching the Yugoslav wars and started this expecting the usualfactual analysis/wisdom with the benefit of hindsight sort of thing. Realising that the author was also, for much of the time he was coveringthe wars, struggling with drug addiction further confused my expectations. Some peace-loving hippy then? No, not at all. I have to say, in fact,that given the enormous subject he's tackling, the subject of the author'sown personality became far more compelling for me than the wars he wascovering. He is fascinating - startlingly honest, which is possibly whyhe finds it so hard to live with himself. That said, the book isbeautifully written and about as enlightening as you're going to get onthe real dynamics of this war - and all wars.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a truly remarkable book. I read it and continued to reread it my mind well after I finished the last page. The sheer hideousness of what is described stops making an impact at times and one actually starts to get numb to grim details, a clear sign that the author has succeeded in moulding the readers perceptions to his own.
Anthony Loyd describes his heroin addiction in parallel with the war in Bosnia. This creates a two-tier description of war: internal and external. Whilst in terms of pages, the addiction is far less prominent in the book, it seems to dwell in the background throughout the carnage, you can't help but get the feeling that without the heroin, the author would not have continued to go back to Bosnia, following weeks of stagnation in London.
As the book progresses, the authors perspective changes not in a tangible or obvious fashion, but subtly, with his compassion starting to emerge and his idealogy crystallising. This is quite cathartic for the reader, without this it would be an empty and desolate tale. There is great strength in Anthony Loyd in the war, and great weakness in peace where his addiction flourishes. This in itself is grounds for an interesting read.
However, perhaps the most rewarding aspect of reading this book is the fine detail of the carnage coupled with the strength in the people that the author encounters. You catch a glimpse of how people maintained their sanity and dignity in the midst of such madness, and for that alone, this is well worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A must read
This book is a must read. Engrossing from the moment I first picked it up. In truth, I first read a friend's copy a few years ago, and it stuck in my head so much I had to get my... Read more
Published 7 months ago by I. Losada Rodriguez
Astonishing honesty
I like reading war books. What impresses me about these books is not the bravery of the men. Its the honesty,humility and sincerety of the men who write them. Read more
Published 9 months ago by S. S. Mangat
A brave confession
This is the confession of an ex army officer come reporter who is driven by the horrors and futility of the Bosnian war and his own human failings to become an individual fueled by... Read more
Published 13 months ago by smutters
a fascinating book
a fascinating insight into a war reporters mind. the flips between (almost) reality in the uk and the war are dealt with in a way that opens your eyes to what the "impassive"... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Quick reviews!
Gripping and Educational
Fascinating book, couldn't put it down. Helps to explain the complicated ethnic and political situation that lead to the war. Read more
Published 16 months ago by TriggerHappy
Enlightening and enthralling. Superb war writing.
Probably one of the best and most honest accounts by a war correspondent in recent years. Loyd doesn't pull any punches yet is never judgemental of those around him in this very... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Paul Harris
The best book of reportage since Dispatches
Caught in a loop of mutually reinforcing heroin and war addiction, Lloyd struggles to get out, finally succumbing to bodily terror in Chechyna at a point where any reasonable... Read more
Published 21 months ago by i'msogreen
Bleeding and Breathing . . . . just?
Have you ever done physical work to such an extent that you ached in places you didn't know existed? This book had a similar effect on my emotions. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2008 by Ryan
war keeps the author going!
Strange but true the author's heroin addiction is only "cured" whilst delving in Bosnia during the war. This is a deep personal account of a war correspondent. Read more
Published on 9 May 2006 by Mariella Grima
Superb, please write some more
I picked up this book a few years ago while at university because I had a book voucher to spend. I lent it to someone but can't remember who so I bought another copy. Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2004 by "irish_si"
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