Excerpts from classic stories for children relate the adventures of Pinocchio, Peter Pan, King Arthur, Anne of Green Gables, Mowgli, Tom Sawyer, and other heroes and heroines.
In 2006 a British peace-keeping force was sent to Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. Within weeks they were cut off and besieged by the Taliban. Here, in their own words and for the first time, are the young veterans of Herrick 4- alongside the words of the Taliban themselves. Fergusson examines the war in Helmand and asks this most troubling question: could Britain have avoided the violence altogether?