Ben Anderson - No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan

As well as being the best book from the front lines so far, it is the first which shows the real down and dirty story behind the headlines and upbeat assessments. A superbly written, considered piece of war reportage, it will stand comparison with the very best of the last half-century. Unlike any book before it, this one asks us to see the British and American soldiers through the eyes of the bewildered and all-too-often bereaved eyes of Afghans. No Worse Enemy will do for Afghanistan what Michael Herrs Dispatches did for Vietnam.

Frank Ledwidge author of Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan

Ben Anderson has written an account of his time in Helmand that is both extremely readable and useful, in that he presents lots of the detail that usually gets lost. No Worse Enemy has the benefit of the author having spent his time in the country on the ground, on patrol, taking risks and always patiently listening to what was going on around him. If you want to understand how the war in Helmand is really being fought, buy this book.

Alex Strick van Linschoten author of An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban

Compelling and brilliant ... Ben Anderson presents the reader with an extraordinary account of the tragedies in the Afghanistan war. This is a first-hand look behind the headlines at the reality of the difficult challenges British and American infantry face in modern, bloody counterinsurgency warfare operations.

Regulo Zapata Green Beret Special Forces (Ret) and author of Desperate Lands: The War on Terror Through the Eyes of a Special Forces Soldier

No Worse Enemy provides the very rare first-hand account of the realities of the war in Afghanistan, a gripping narrative derived not from just one or two trips to large forward operating bases, but from multiple embeds with a variety of different units in the most austere reaches of Afghanistans restive Helmand Province. The book provides a candid and honest insight into what is really happening on the ground, an invaluable perspective for both military practitioners, as well as those who have never set foot on a battlefield but who want to know the real story. A great addition to the books out there on Afghanistan.

Ed Darack author of Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers

A Oneworld Book

Published by Oneworld Publications 2011
This ebook edition published in 2012

Copyright Ben Anderson 2011

The moral right of Ben Anderson to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved
Copyright under Berne Convention
A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781851688524 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781851688579 (Paperback Travel Edition)
ISBN 9781851688630 (Ebook)

Typeset by Jayvee, Trivandrum, India
Cover design by BoldandNoble.com

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For Nanny Butch, who endured more bombs than I ever will, and despite weighing less than a jockey, even helped the anti-aircraft guns shoot back. She was the toughest, but most humble, person Ive ever known. Ill remember her, and the example she quietly set, forever.

Vi Anderson 19242011

You knew that this was going to happen one day. And now youre going to die in the cold wet mud of a ditch in Afghanistan because you chose to join a bunch of American marines as they were dropped like kittens into the middle of a perfect ambush.