KANDAK: Fighting with Afghans

Description

When Patrick Hennessey returned home from Afghanistan, he left behind him the surreal intensity and exhilaration of battle. He also left behind lasting bonds of friendship formed with his Afghan comrades Qiam, Syed and Majhib. Kandak is the story of how, in the heat of the moment between living and dying, unlikely alliances can be forged. Patrick Hennessey tells of their awkward first meetings, mutual suspicion and incomprehension, and how this eventually turned into brotherhood. 'This beautifully-written sequel to his first book tells us much about the bonds forged by combat in the dust and heat and danger, when there was no 'them and us'.' Mail on Sunday 'A passionate tribute to the Afghan soldiers he fought alongside in Helmand . . . excellent.' Sunday Times 'A moving, humbling and rare account of mutual respect among men who might as well be from different galaxies but have forever bonded through battle.' Independent 'His prose is lean and muscular, characterised by dry wit and acute intelligence. He also has a novelist's eye for the vivid image and the telling detail.' Daily Mail 'This topical book, beautifully written, gives important insights at a crucial time in Afghanistan's transition.' Daily Telegraph

Patrick Hennessey was born in 1982 and educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read English. He joined the Army in January 2004, undertaking officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he was awarded the Queen's Medal and commissioned into The Grenadier Guards. He served as a Platoon Commander and later Company Operations Officer from the end of 2004 to early 2009 in the Balkans, Africa, South East Asia and the Falkland Islands and on operational tours to Iraq in 2006 and Afghanistan in 2007, where he became the youngest Captain in the Army and was commended for gallantry. Patrick is currently studying to become a barrister and hopes to specialize in conflict and international humanitarian law.

Required reading ... unfettered, unpretentious prose ... peppered with amusing anecdotes, a moving, humbling and rare account -- Terri Judd * Independent * Graced with characters who might easily belong in a Rudyard Kipling or George MacDonald Fraser story -- Ben Felsenburg * Metro * A passionate tribute to the Afghan soldiers he fought alongside in Helmand ... a serious piece of work ... excellent -- Stephen Morrison * Sunday Times * Soldiers who can write are as rare as writers who can strip down a machinegun in forty seconds, but Patrick Hennessey is one of the few * Sunday Times * Hennessey is an exceptional talent * Times * This variously tender, ironic and ferocious new voice gives us literature and not propaganda * Independent * Hennessey has a reporter's eye for detail and a soldier's nose for bullshit * Guardian * It's extremely rare to have this level of analytical intelligence combined with brutal first-hand experience * William Boyd * Hennessey has a reporter's eye for detail and a soldier's nose for bullshit * Guardian *