The poems and prose pieces in this definitive and compelling collection illustrate the enduring narrative of war and civil conflict in Africa.

Military strategists, commanding officers, warriors, conscripted youngsters and seasoned combatants are brought together from myriad and diverse battle landscapes to give voice to the horror and pathos of war. Around them, in a haunting chorus, are heard the laments of war-widows, survivors and those who bury the dead or gather up bones.

These voices remove the presumed glamour from war, exposing instead its carnage, the subsequent wasteland it gives rise to and the dirge of mourners trailing in its aftermath.