Charles Glass

This is the Iraq war as it really started, amid lies, confusion and profound distrust between the United States and its Iraqi allies. Charles Glass, who first covered the Kurds in 1974 and was in Iraq for their failed rebellion in 1991, depicts the tense epoch that sowed the seeds of Americas inevitable failure there. The Northern Front is the dramatic eyewitness account of the machinations of Iraqi leaders - Ahmad Chalabi, Abdel Aziz Hakim, Massoud Barzani and Jelal Talabani - to control the country before their opponents seized the initiative. Glass recounts what went wrong when the US, with Britain in tow, imposed its will on a people unlikely to accept foreign designs for their future. He indicts international media conglomerates that failed to tell the truth when public debate could have prevented the deaths and destruction that came with war. Witty and absorbing Essential, and humbling, reading for all those pundits and commentators who think they understand what happened in Iraq. Malise Ruthven, author of A History of the Arab Peoples A vivid picture of the events leading up to the war and the chaos of the war itself. Ian Gilmour Should be mandatory reading for all wannabe foreign correspondents. Jonathan Randal A beautifully written account of the full sweep of the war and of what it was like to report on it. A starting-point for any proper understanding of the whole contentious business of the Iraq war. John Simpson In the finest tradition of radical reporting - anti-war, sympathetic, compassionate and enlightening. Phillip Knightley, author of The First Casualty

A brilliant and poignant history of the friendship between two great war poets, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, alongside a narrative investigation of the origins of PTSD and the literary response to World War IRecommended not only to psychiatrists but also to those with an interest in the complex relationships created by war and the management of traumaBritish Journal of PsychiatrySecond Lieutenant Wilfred Owen was twenty-four years old when he was admitted to the newly established Craiglockhart War Hospital for treatment of shell shock. A bourgeoning poet, trying to make sense of the terror he had witnessed, he read a collection of poems from a fellow officer, Siegfried Sassoon, and was impressed by his portrayal of the soldiers plight. One month later, Sassoon himself arrived at Craiglockhart, having refused to return to the front after being wounded during battle.As their friendship evolved over their months as patients at Craiglockhart, each encouraged the other in their work, in their personal reckonings with the morality of war, as well as in their treatment. Therapy provided Owen, Sassoon, and fellow patients with insights that allowed them express themselves better, and for the 28 months that Craiglockhart was in operation, it notably incubated the eras most significant developments in both psychiatry and poetry.Drawing on rich source materials, as well as Glasss own deep understanding of trauma and war, Soldiers Dont Go Mad tells for the first time the story of the soldiers and doctors who struggled with the effects of industrial warfare on the human psyche. As he investigates the roots of what we now know as post-traumatic stress disorder, Glass brings historical bearing to how we must consider wars ravaging effects on mental health, and the ways in which creative work helps us come to terms with even the darkest of times.

Una historia silenciada de la segunda guerra mundialEn la segunda guerra mundial, más de 150.000 soldados aliados desertaron. Ésta es la historia desconocida de algunos de esos hombres corrientes en