Among You: The Extraordinary True Story of a Soldier Broken by War

Description

Among You is the gripping real-life story of a soldier serving on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an unforgettable, unflinching account of the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Jake Wood lives parallel lives: encased in the glass tower of an international investment bank by day, he is also a dedicated TA soldier who serves on the front line during the invasion of Iraq, later returning to the war zone to conduct surveillance on insurgents. Disillusioned with the dullness and amorality of the banking world, he escapes back to the army for a third tour of duty. But in Afghanistan he discovers the savage, dehumanising effects that war has on both the body and the mind. Diagnosed with chronic PTSD on his return, he must now fight the last enemy - himself - in order to exorcise the ghosts of his past. Brutally honest and beautifully written, Among You brings home the harsh reality of front-line combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the courage of the troops who risk their lives for their country, as well as revealing the devastating after-effects of service.

Jake Wood is a former soldier who worked in parallel as a business analyst. Having now retired from both posts, he is embarking on a career as an author. He lives in London.

"Jake Wood writes unflinchingly about his life, whether on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the trading desks of Canary Wharf or the frenzied, hallucinatory landscape of sexual passion . . . A more pertinent story of our time it is hard to imagine" -- John Irvin, director of Hamburger Hill "The most haunting and moving account of how battle scars your mind" * Daily Mail * "Jake Wood tells his story with an expert eye for detail . . . intensely gripping and emotional" * The Scotsman * "As a military historian, I have read thousands of first-hand accounts of war, in all its gore and glory, brutality and suffering. But there were tears in my eyes as I followed Wood's story of his descent into the bleakness of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" -- Tony Rennell * Daily Mail * "Jake Wood is . . . a burning man who shapes sentences with a poet's heart and a fighter's rage . . . This one soldier's story is indeed extraordinary and a reminder that if you can write like Jake Wood, your life - whether lived in your head or in the world at large - will be far from ordinary" * The National *