Soldiers of Light - Tapa dura

In 1991, civil war broke out in Sierra Leone; in 1999 peace was declared and the British soldiers who had entered the country acclaimed as heroes. The war had lead to thousands of mutilations, and yet the reasons behind it and the fates of those involved remained hidden in a land of startling beauty and brutality. Here, the stories are told: the mercenary pilot who gives his money to the people; the child soldier and sometime cannibal; an amputee who lost his hands saving his daughter; the medical student who believes in magic; the Western outsiders hoping to rebuild the country, from American missionaries to British troops. Dark, moving and ultimately hopeful, this is a deep and beautifully written book.

Daniel Bergner is an acclaimed American journalist never before published in the UK. His previous book, God of the Rodeo, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He lives in Brooklyn, New York and is a regular contributor to Harpers and The New York Times. He is currently writing about Afghanistan.