Outside the Wire: The War in Afghanistan in the Words of Its Participants [Import] [Paperback]

Kevin Patterson (Author), Jane Warren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

A remarkable collection of first-hand accounts written by soldiers, doctors and aid workers on the front lines of Canada’s war in Afghanistan.

Visceral, intimate and captivating in ways no other telling could be, Outside the Wire features nearly two dozen stories by Canadians on the front lines in Afghanistan, including the previously unpublished letters home of Captain Nichola Goddard, the first female NATO soldier killed in combat, and an introductory reflection by Roméo Dallaire.

Collected here are stories of battle and the more subtle engagements of this little-understood war: the tearful farewells; the shock of immersion into a culture that has been at war for thirty years; looking a suicide bomber in the eye the moment before he strikes; grappling with mortality in the Kandahar Field Hospital; and the unexpected humour that leavens life in a warzone. Throughout each piece the passion of those engaged in rebuilding this shattered country shines through, a glimmer of optimism and determination so rare in multinational military actions–and so particularly Canadian.

In Outside the Wire, award-winning author Kevin Patterson and co-editor Jane Warren have rediscovered the valour and horror of sacrifice in this, the definitive account of the modern Canadian experience of war.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In these accounts, we hear crying children saying good-bye to parents; we witness the horrific deaths of Canadian heroes and we are shown the difficulty soldiers have trying to reintegrate back at home. Some of these accounts are moving and heartbreaking. Others are painfully raw. All are memorable and, in most cases, quintessentially Canadian, being a mixture of fearlessness and civility. Outside the Wire tells us more about the lives and deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan than will ever be conveyed in news reports or military briefings. It's a book to make you cry and to make you feel proud, not just of the soldiers serving there but of all the soldiers who have worn the Canadian uniform for the past century."
—The Ottawa Citizen

"We hear a lot [about the war], but relatively little from the ones most directly affected, such as rank-and-file soldiers, aid workers, or even Afghan citizens. That’s where this excellent new book comes in. It’s written from the perspective of people who have been there. They’ve lived, fought, died, aided the needy, and invariably been changed by their experiences in that country. …None of the chapters are throw-aways; they’re all engrossing. It’s not an easy book to read, but it is an astonishing one."
—The Winnipeg Free Press

"[I]n this startling new book... the voices of battle denote the ecstasy of survival, the thrill of engagement, and the crippling loss that accompanies the death of friends and compatriots. At times haunting and desperate and at other times playful, even lyrical, these unmediated dispatches are flesh and bone, mind and matter, and, above all, soulful to the last. For observers of Canada’s national drama on the killing fields of Kandahar province, Outside the Wire is a must-read. It ensures that our soldiers are heard — that they do not go missing in action."
— The Walrus


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Kevin Patterson grew up in Manitoba and put himself through medical school by joining the Canadian army. Recently, he served for seven weeks as an internist at the Kandahar Air Field hospital. His first book, a memoir called The Water in Between, was a Globe Best Book and an international bestseller. Country of Cold, his debut short-story collection, won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize. His latest book is the novel Consumption. He lives on Saltspring Island.

Jane Warren was raised in Toronto and attended McGill University in Montreal. She has worked as a literary scout in New York City, a subsidiary rights and contracts assistant at Random House of Canada Ltd., and a literary agent with Anne McDermid and Associates. She works as a freelance editor and lives in Toronto with her husband.


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Canada (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307356310
• ISBN-13: 978-0307356314
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,482,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Human faces in Afghanistan...17 tales from the Kandahar war zone, February 26, 2008

By 

R. Nicholson - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Outside the Wire: The War in Afghanistan in the Words of Its Participants (Hardcover)

A truly beautiful book!

This is a collection of 17 unconnected stories from the Afghanistan theatre; as told from letters, diaries, memoirs etc. of Canadian personnel (soldiers, nurses, carpenters, doctors etc.). Some of these people did not make it back to Canada alive. Some stories are recent, other cover areas back as far a 2001.

There is something that transcends normal story telling here; mainly because the stories told are true ones. The quality of writing makes you feel the anxiety of leaving home, smell of the garbage and sewers in Kabul, feel the heat and boredom of an Afghan summer and appreciate the fear and tension of firefights in a hostile country (especially at night). Truly writing at its best.

Three things really stuck with me about this book...

1.)how virtually all participants of this book felt so much empathy towards the Afghan people and their plight.

2.)the chapters were arranged in such a way as to make you aware that some of the contributors to this book actually knew and spoke about some of the other writers (whose letters where also used in this book), who had already died or would be killed later on. I find it hard to express in words just how much this moved me when I came across one of these few occurrences.

3.)and finally, this book could easily be described as a set of 'snapshots' of how the war has changed (for the worst) over the last couple of years. And although, to a man, the contributors of this book felt that they are doing some good over there, you begin to realize that with the paltry number of forces (NATO) that have been sent there, they have almost no chance of making any substantial difference in this tribal based, sectarian country.

Conclusions:
1.)A book that will make you stop reading and think.

2.)This is a book about war participants that have the qualities of good, caring human beings; who demonstrate all the emotional strengths and frailties that go with this distinctive attribute.

3.)The quality of writing, the telling of their tales will absolutely leave you stunned; but for all the right reasons.

5 Stars...more if I could

R.Nicholson