Desert of Death: A Soldier's Journey from Iraq to Afghanistan

Description

A devastating first-hand account of the current war in Afghanistan. Desert of Death - or Dasht-e-Margo - is the locals' name for the barren terrain of south-west Afghanistan. Before Captain Leo Docherty was deployed there in the Spring of 2006, he used the name as a joke. Desert of Death is a brilliantly vivid on-the-ground report of the events which led to the fiercest fighting faced by UK troops since the Korean War. It is a story of bravery and making-do, of farce and misadventure, and above all it is an unforgettable story of war in the twenty-first century.

Leo Docherty was born in Scotland and grew up in Gloucestershire. After studying Swahili and Hindi at university he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Scots Guards in 2001. First posted to London, he performed ceremonial duties and trained as a paratrooper. After a short spell in Germany he completed an Arabic course and served operationally in Iraq. Having passed a further language course in Pashtu, he deployed to southern Afghanistan as the ADC to the Commander of the first British forces to enter the volatile Helmand Province in April 2006. His language skills quickly led him to move from the British Headquarters to serve alongside the Afghan National Army.