The secret life of war
Subtitle: journeys through modern conflict
By: Peter Beaumont
Publisher: Harvill Secker
Published: 2009
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 280
ISBN-13: 9781846551574; 9781846551581
Subjects: War and society; Modern Military history; Krieg
Description: Once it was simple to write about war. States or ideologies clashed; battles were fought between national armies or movements. But war has changed. War has become 'privatised' by small armed groups, states have fragmented and the conventional arms of the United States, the world's last superpower, have been defeated by warlordism. Drawing on the author's experiences as the Observer's chief foreign correspondent, The Secret Life of War focusses on the human cost of war, in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, the Occupied Territories and elsewhere: to the combatants, to civilians and to the author, as one who bears witness. Every encounter is arresting: a visit to the bombed and abandoned home of Mullah Omar; a deserted Al Qaeda camp where Beaumont discovers documents describing a plan to bomb London; young bomb-throwers in Rafah refugee camp.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-280).