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Book Summary and Reviews of The Dogs are Eating Them Now by Graeme Smith

The Dogs are Eating Them Now by Graeme Smith

The Dogs are Eating Them Now

Our War in Afghanistan

by Graeme Smith

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  • Published:
  • Dec 2014, 304 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The Dogs are Eating Them Now is a highly personal narrative of our war in Afghanistan and how it went dangerously wrong. Written by a respected and fearless former foreign correspondent who has won multiple awards for his journalism (including an Emmy for the video series "Talking with the Taliban") this is a gripping account of modern warfare that takes you into back alleys, cockpits, and prisons – telling stories that would have endangered his life had he published this book while still working as a journalist. Smith was not simply embedded with the military: he operated independently and at great personal risk to report from inside the war, and the heroes of his story are the translators, guides, and ordinary citizens who helped him find the truth. They revealed sad, absurd, touching stories that provide the key to understanding why the mission failed to deliver peace and democracy.

From the corruption of law enforcement agents and the tribal nature of the local power structure to the economics of the drug trade and the frequent blunders of foreign troops, this is the no-holds-barred story from a leading expert on the insurgency.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. [G]ripping and disheartening testimonies to the hell of war and the resilience of foreign correspondents." - Publisher's Weekly

"Recommended for readers of battlefield accounts and those seeking a better understanding of the Afghani people." - Library Journal

"Starred Review. Cheerless and even nightmarish, one of the best books yet about the war in Central Asia." - Kirkus Reviews

"Lucid, angry, and grief-stricken ... Despite its very bleak tone, and its scathing assault on Western hubris, the author's empathy—for ordinary Afghans, and for ordinary...soldiers—shines through." - The Vancouver Sun

"A wise, enthralling, detailed, realistic account of his time in Afghanistan." - The Globe and Mail

"Graeme Smith has long since demonstrated that he is one of the most resourceful and well-informed reporters covering Afghanistan. In his very well-written and entertaining new book he dissects the Western project in Afghanistan with deep reporting and analysis. It is a pleasure to read even if his conclusions are sobering." - Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad

"This is a Dispatches for a new generation. Brilliant writing, unforgettable scenes, fascinating characters, a propulsive narrative and crucial insights into what went wrong in the blundering Western intervention in Afghanistan. Written by a man who embedded himself deeply and courageously in Afghan society." - Geoffrey York, author of The Dispossessed: Life and Death in Native Canada

This information about The Dogs are Eating Them Now was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith is a Senior Analyst for the International Crisis Group, the world's leading independent, non-partisan source of analysis and advice to governments and intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations, European Union and World Bank on the prevention and resolution of deadly conflict. He covered the Afghan war for The Globe and Mail from 2005 to 2009, spending more time in southern Afghanistan during that period than any other Western journalist. The winner of many awards for investigative reporting--including an Emmy Award, the Amnesty International Award, three National Newspaper Awards, and the Michener Award for public service granted once annually by Canada's head of state--he lectures widely and served as an Adjunct Scholar at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Based in Kabul, he travels frequently to Washington and Brussels.

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