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Rebels: My Life Behind Enemy Lines with Warlords, Fanatics and Not-so-Friendly Fire
A 21st century take on Dispatches , award-winning VICE News journalist Aris Roussinos tells the real stories behind life in a rebel army
The hidden truth about war is how much fun it is. However they begin, whatever their aims, wars are fought by young men. They fight in burned-out buildings and shelter under thorn trees. They eat their meager rations, and starve for days cut off from supply lines. They smoke 40 cigarettes a day and ride to war stoned, listening to Craig David. But the bombs and bullets are terrifyingly real, and the guys they’re killing aren’t always faceless sometimes they’re friends. For the last three years, award-winning journalist Aris Roussinos embedded himself with rebel groups across the world. Part travelogue from the world’s most dangerous hotspots, part eyewitness testimony to recent, bloody history, this is one man’s uncensored, unflinching account of living with the enemy.
The hidden truth about war is how much fun it is. However they begin, whatever their aims, wars are fought by young men. They fight in burned-out buildings and shelter under thorn trees. They eat their meager rations, and starve for days cut off from supply lines. They smoke 40 cigarettes a day and ride to war stoned, listening to Craig David. But the bombs and bullets are terrifyingly real, and the guys they’re killing aren’t always faceless sometimes they’re friends. For the last three years, award-winning journalist Aris Roussinos embedded himself with rebel groups across the world. Part travelogue from the world’s most dangerous hotspots, part eyewitness testimony to recent, bloody history, this is one man’s uncensored, unflinching account of living with the enemy.
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 27, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 28, 2015
Having become aware of Aris’ excellent work as a war correspondent through his dispatches from the current conflict in Iraq and Syria for Vice News, I was excited to find out he had written a book on his experiences in earlier conflicts including those that came about from the Arab Spring.
Aris’ first hand accounts from his time in Libya, Sudan, Mali, Lebanon and Syria exude a refreshing candour that is missing from most mainstream accounts of these conflicts that we hear on the nightly news. His vivid descriptions of battlefields and war zones, the ubiquitous violence and death that he witnesses are enthralling not only for their insightfulness but for their frank and sometimes brutal honesty, all written with the aim of creating a complete and uncensored account of the wars. And as part of his attempt to tell the full story of his experiences in these conflicts, we also get detailed and at times humorous accounts of the lulls between battles, the waiting around endlessly for orders and perhaps surprisingly to some, the numerous spliffs smoked.
As a war journalist, it’s his job to capture as much of the mayhem of war as possible, selling the footage to the highest bidder, but as a young man himself, there are poignant moments of empathy with many of the rebels he’s filming in their fight against tyrannical oppression or Islamic extremism.
Overall this is a great read, especially for someone with a keen interest in these conflicts looking for unique and refreshing insights into both this nature of conflict and the true experiences of the civilians, combatants and the people who write about them.
Aris’ first hand accounts from his time in Libya, Sudan, Mali, Lebanon and Syria exude a refreshing candour that is missing from most mainstream accounts of these conflicts that we hear on the nightly news. His vivid descriptions of battlefields and war zones, the ubiquitous violence and death that he witnesses are enthralling not only for their insightfulness but for their frank and sometimes brutal honesty, all written with the aim of creating a complete and uncensored account of the wars. And as part of his attempt to tell the full story of his experiences in these conflicts, we also get detailed and at times humorous accounts of the lulls between battles, the waiting around endlessly for orders and perhaps surprisingly to some, the numerous spliffs smoked.
As a war journalist, it’s his job to capture as much of the mayhem of war as possible, selling the footage to the highest bidder, but as a young man himself, there are poignant moments of empathy with many of the rebels he’s filming in their fight against tyrannical oppression or Islamic extremism.
Overall this is a great read, especially for someone with a keen interest in these conflicts looking for unique and refreshing insights into both this nature of conflict and the true experiences of the civilians, combatants and the people who write about them.
January 27, 2015
This is a unique story, the author's travels with rebels from Libya to Lebanon, giving a privileged view of the ordinary people trying to manage their desperate situations. The desperation of the rebels to get some media attention was palpable through out the story but the value of world opinion is fading fast as some of the rebel movements like the Kurds were openly hostile to any filming of their attacks for fear of negative world opinion. Aris has clearly undertaken some very hazardous journeys in an attempt to raise the profile of the many rebels causes spread across Middle East and Africa and deserves full credit for producing a great story which does justice to the iconic image of the perennial rebel, challenging the big media myth of terrorists running around shooting each other.
The book has given me some hope, that someday when the the adrenalin of war subsides, these same ideological rebels maybe able to make a better Middle East for themselves. But for that to happen it is clear that the Middle Eastern rebel has to be kept engaged instead of rejected as a mere terrorist if peace is to be given a proper chance.
The book has given me some hope, that someday when the the adrenalin of war subsides, these same ideological rebels maybe able to make a better Middle East for themselves. But for that to happen it is clear that the Middle Eastern rebel has to be kept engaged instead of rejected as a mere terrorist if peace is to be given a proper chance.
May 26, 2017
Very current unfortunately with the bomb in Manchester this week. I did skip the chapter about Sudan but didn't feel that it deprived me from the power of the book.
March 13, 2024
Really informative while staying fun and funny - very self aware of the darkness of the situation and the hypocrisy
February 12, 2016
"I used to think my presence in wars like this could help the people living here. Now I realise it's all pure selfishness. I come to wars in Syria because I enjoy the risk, because the chaos staves off the emptiness I feel when safe at home in the West."
March 18, 2024
A good read. Interesting account of being at the front line at wars. Honestly written.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews