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Another Bloody Love Letter
Critically acclaimed writer and award-winning foreign correspondent, Anthony Loyd is also an ex-heroin addict. ANOTHER BLOODY LOVE LETTER exposes the thrilling and brutal reality of life as a war journalist - from the climax of war in Kosovo to tracking ambush commanders in Sierra Leone, confronting the danger and confusion of northern Afghanistan at the start of the 'war on terror', and the harsh realities of life in Iraq during the second Gulf War. But it is also the very human story of a man fighting to beat a heroin addiction and coming to terms with the death of a friend and colleague murdered by the RUF in Sierra Leone, and the death of his mother from a terminal illness at home.
ANOTHER BLOODY LOVE LETTER takes the reader into the mind of a man who has chased war and death for more than half his life, and must now find clarity. It is a moving and powerful memoir of love and friendship, betrayal and loss, war and faith.
ANOTHER BLOODY LOVE LETTER takes the reader into the mind of a man who has chased war and death for more than half his life, and must now find clarity. It is a moving and powerful memoir of love and friendship, betrayal and loss, war and faith.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
26 people are currently reading
401 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Loyd
5 books39 followersAnthony William Vivian Loyd is an English journalist and war correspondent, best known for his 1999 book My War Gone By, I Miss It So. He gained prominence in February 2019 when he tracked down a British ISIL bride, Shamima Begum.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 28, 2014
War correspondent Anthony Loyd's second book is set across a much larger territory than his first. He relates experiences in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. In some ways this offers a less tight structure than in his first novel which was chiefly about Bosnia and Chechnya. In others it allows a greater look at his life across similar but different nations. No matter where it's set, however, his writing is just as memorable and as moving as always. Loyd is a man who feels deeply and who has an ability to self disclose that everyone should envy. He is poetic in the best way with his descriptions without making his message fake or profane. In one particular scene, discussing the reaction of a group to the death of a close friend, he describes deep grief in a way that's so perfectly RIGHT that I just sat back, nodded, and thought that there was no better way to explain it.
This is a very haunting read, but one which gives hope and provides insight into cultures that we can easily feel alienated from. I recommend it to everyone.
This is a very haunting read, but one which gives hope and provides insight into cultures that we can easily feel alienated from. I recommend it to everyone.
September 10, 2013
the praises will be endless, Anthony's writing is unparalleled. I'm with him every moment of every war, every moment that is raw and honest, every moment that he didn't die and lived to tell, the ghosts that chased him, I almost hope that he ventures out again and makes another conflict hits own as much the conflict making him his slave. that marriage is imperfect but a grand read.
November 28, 2023
Once again I'm just resigned to the fact that anything I write is going to be wholly inadequate. Just gnashing my teeth and shaking my fist over this guy's way with words I guess.
In style it's both similar and different to his first one. There's all the same mastery of language and emotion, but the book covers a much broader scope and jumps back and forth a lot more, with varying attention paid to various events and some things stretching across the whole thing. In that respect it's very different, but it's still just as brilliant as his first book. It contains all of the same unflinching honesty and is just as impressive for it.
Essentially, if you loved his first book and you're here because you're naturally wary about sequels, don't be.
In style it's both similar and different to his first one. There's all the same mastery of language and emotion, but the book covers a much broader scope and jumps back and forth a lot more, with varying attention paid to various events and some things stretching across the whole thing. In that respect it's very different, but it's still just as brilliant as his first book. It contains all of the same unflinching honesty and is just as impressive for it.
Essentially, if you loved his first book and you're here because you're naturally wary about sequels, don't be.
August 7, 2011
This was a confronting book about an ex-heroin addict foreign correspondent, mainly in wars. This author is not afraid to tell of his life, including the parts that are not pleasant and expose the personal depths he has gone to. However, there is no preaching; I never got the sense that the author was trying to force a message. While this is not a book that everyone will get through, I found it utterly compelling.
June 11, 2011
If you like war lit. you should read this book. Loyd's a fantastic writer.
February 2, 2019
Starting off Finish February by finishing this book! My War Gone By I Miss It So is one of my favorite books so I wanted to read more by the author. This one is also an incredible memoir and look into the darkness and light of humanity, but it also sometimes comes across with a strong bias at times. Of course, I wasn’t there during the wars the author walked through so I am not trying to argue with his perspective, it just felt at times that he was trying to sway my opinion over to his views on which side was the right and which wrong. But that is his perspective and he’s welcome to share, he just seemed less biased in the first book. That said I really appreciated the first hand account shared of what he endured. This helps one gain a better perspective on the conflicts.
June 26, 2025
A brilliantly depressing book. As I read it ..Sudan is in hell, Ukraine too ...then theres also Gaza..& Israel & Iran are at war . Plus a few other wars or something similar in other parts of the world !
We don't learn do we humans ..fucking lemmings electing clowns.
Anthony is a good man recording these horrors so hopefully one day a future future future generation may actually learn to not be so ignorant
We don't learn do we humans ..fucking lemmings electing clowns.
Anthony is a good man recording these horrors so hopefully one day a future future future generation may actually learn to not be so ignorant
May 20, 2021
Hard-hitting if sometimes a little too philosophical. Gives a great insight to war reporting, more so than TV war reporters' bulletins.
August 6, 2023
Legendary war correspondent shares his experience from multiple conflicts. The thrill, the friends, the idiots. It is brilliant.
April 14, 2025
Feel like I could listen to this man talk about mortality all day.
Read
August 9, 2025Vastly improves in the last hundred pages when the author covers Afghanistan. The final push from the Shamali Plain to Kabul is very well written.
August 22, 2022
The issue with a war-chasing and drug addiction memoir is that the latter reveals that it’s simply impulse and selfishness that also drives the former
February 7, 2023
Anthony Loyd's follow up to his 1997 work 'My War Gone By, I Miss It So' makes for a remarkable further look into the life and work of a foreign correspondent. Loyd's work tackles work more conflicts and much more territory than his previous book making it slightly less focused and thorough. Loyd's previous book took a refreshing investigative approach to the Bosnian War by revealing many of its less known aspects which don't fit the typical narrative. In 'Another Bloody Love Letter' Loyd doesn't take quite the scathing journalistic approach because he is spread from theaters of conflict ranging from: Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq.
That's not to say Loyd's work is entirely barren of analysis and investigation. Loyd exposes the lack of pluralism and the segregation in Kosovo between the Kosovars and the Serbs which made the place a tinderbox for conflict. The high altitude bombing campaign by NATO to avoid combatant casualties which resulted in very high civilians casualties in Serbia and Kosovo all to avoid a PR disaster. The lack of protection offered to Serb civilians by NATO forces either out of prejudice or ineptitude. The farcical claim by the British army that they were knowledgeable and adapt at dealing with sectarian warfare because of their experience in Northern Ireland. To the cynical and sanguinary attempt by the KLA to conduct massacres against the Serbs to provoke a response and then play the victim in order to promote their case for Western intervention. Loyd is still able to educate about these important and obscure aspects to the conflict and be a incisive and needed voice in these conflicts.
Loyd's writing has improved greatly since his last book. His previous book was characterised by some rather childish and immature metaphors which seemed like a poor attempt to hold the reader's attention. However, after 10 years it seems that Loyd's writing has matured and writes candidly and engagingly about his experience without resorting to ubiquitous metaphors about strippers and shagging. This also compliments Loyd's writing about his heroin addiction and the deaths of his friend and journalist Kurt Schork and his mother. Both accounts are movingly written and further show Loyd as being a man who frequently deals with the extremes of the human experience from war, drug use to the close and intimate deaths of friends and family. Loyd's writing about his drug use has become more sobered and clinical rather than the bombastic William Burroughs's style descriptions of the life of an addict. Loyd is more reserved as you can tell his is growing up and out of his addiction which thankfully is now well and truly behind him.
To paraphrase the Sunday Times review of 'Trainspotting' in 1993; Loyd's work has 'grown up, grown wise and grown eloquent'. Loyd has given an excellent synthesis of a human portrait of a man racked with discontent and dealing with it with drugs and one who chases conflict to expose the horrors of it. Loyd's work is excellent and engaging and I cannot recommend it enough to those interested in the life of a foreign correspondent and those interested in war.
That's not to say Loyd's work is entirely barren of analysis and investigation. Loyd exposes the lack of pluralism and the segregation in Kosovo between the Kosovars and the Serbs which made the place a tinderbox for conflict. The high altitude bombing campaign by NATO to avoid combatant casualties which resulted in very high civilians casualties in Serbia and Kosovo all to avoid a PR disaster. The lack of protection offered to Serb civilians by NATO forces either out of prejudice or ineptitude. The farcical claim by the British army that they were knowledgeable and adapt at dealing with sectarian warfare because of their experience in Northern Ireland. To the cynical and sanguinary attempt by the KLA to conduct massacres against the Serbs to provoke a response and then play the victim in order to promote their case for Western intervention. Loyd is still able to educate about these important and obscure aspects to the conflict and be a incisive and needed voice in these conflicts.
Loyd's writing has improved greatly since his last book. His previous book was characterised by some rather childish and immature metaphors which seemed like a poor attempt to hold the reader's attention. However, after 10 years it seems that Loyd's writing has matured and writes candidly and engagingly about his experience without resorting to ubiquitous metaphors about strippers and shagging. This also compliments Loyd's writing about his heroin addiction and the deaths of his friend and journalist Kurt Schork and his mother. Both accounts are movingly written and further show Loyd as being a man who frequently deals with the extremes of the human experience from war, drug use to the close and intimate deaths of friends and family. Loyd's writing about his drug use has become more sobered and clinical rather than the bombastic William Burroughs's style descriptions of the life of an addict. Loyd is more reserved as you can tell his is growing up and out of his addiction which thankfully is now well and truly behind him.
To paraphrase the Sunday Times review of 'Trainspotting' in 1993; Loyd's work has 'grown up, grown wise and grown eloquent'. Loyd has given an excellent synthesis of a human portrait of a man racked with discontent and dealing with it with drugs and one who chases conflict to expose the horrors of it. Loyd's work is excellent and engaging and I cannot recommend it enough to those interested in the life of a foreign correspondent and those interested in war.
July 5, 2014
I have read Anthony Loyd's work in the past but it never registered until he was shot in Syria a couple of months ago. His intro began something like: "Two hours before he shot me....". Great way to begin a story although you do have to get shot for it to work. Even if that part was unplanned. When I saw on a friend's Facebook post that he had a couple of books, including this one that also deals with his heroin addiction, I thought this is going to be worth a read. It didn't disappoint. His personal journey through war is as much about the friends as it is about firefights. His relationship to his family, the addiction, his beloved friend Kurt and the hurt he feels about loss portrays war reporting like many other professions that involve danger. You do the work, do it well and the things that keep you awake at night are the same as the rest of us experience; worries about friends, family, work, personal demons, mistakes, ambitions and fears. He ridicules the idea of a death wish amongst war reporters, and I'm inclined to agree with him. I suspect it is like many jobs with a good dose of adrenalin attached to them. It attracts a certain personality type and has its own addictions. The book shows how far British expeditionary journalism has come, from the likes of Winston Churchill and the satirical portrayal of the foreign correspondent in Evelyn Waugh’s scoop, which I would thoroughly recommend as well. The saddest part of this book isn’t the brutal and questionable scene approaching Kabul before its liberation. Or hopelessly, carelessly, trying to save an acquaintance’s life in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a personal moment far away from a war zone. Well worth a read.
August 3, 2010
Brilliant. One of those books that you finish and then are tempted to start over again. Even if the book was just war stories, it would be great. From Kosovo to Kabul, Loyd shares the excitement, as well as the boredom, fear, and pain, of his experiences. It helps that Loyd is an excellent writer. I've always understood the attraction of war; Loyd's writing is the first time I understood the attraction of heroin.
But there is so much more to the book than just war stories. Loyd can sketch out the historical and geopolitical complexities of his wars in a few simple sentences, so that we know where we stand when the bullets start flying. In the Balkans and Afghanistan especially, his plain explanation of the situation cuts to the heart of the matter. Those complex conflicts make sense when you understand the players, and Loyd provides a detailed and unflinching scorecard I don't know enough about Sierra Leone to comment on his analysis, and can only hope he is overly pessimistic. And Iraq, I suspect, is more complicated than even Loyd allows.
So it's not just a book about wartime adventures, it's also a book about the specific wars of the last two decades. And it's a book that thinks hard about the nature of war, but does not come to any easy conclusions. It's a book you should read if you claim to hold opinions on any of the wars Loyd covered. Your opinion will be just a touch more nuanced afterwards.
But there is so much more to the book than just war stories. Loyd can sketch out the historical and geopolitical complexities of his wars in a few simple sentences, so that we know where we stand when the bullets start flying. In the Balkans and Afghanistan especially, his plain explanation of the situation cuts to the heart of the matter. Those complex conflicts make sense when you understand the players, and Loyd provides a detailed and unflinching scorecard I don't know enough about Sierra Leone to comment on his analysis, and can only hope he is overly pessimistic. And Iraq, I suspect, is more complicated than even Loyd allows.
So it's not just a book about wartime adventures, it's also a book about the specific wars of the last two decades. And it's a book that thinks hard about the nature of war, but does not come to any easy conclusions. It's a book you should read if you claim to hold opinions on any of the wars Loyd covered. Your opinion will be just a touch more nuanced afterwards.
December 12, 2016
Another engaging, grim book of war reportage from Anthony Loyd. Loyd writes with intimacy about atrocities that occur in war zones throughout the world, wondering both why they occur, and why he is so attracted to such tragedy and destruction. This tension makes for gripping and harrowing reading. War, suggests Loyd, is both an external and an internal reality. For some it is waged with bombs and bullets and for others with drugs and addiction. In both cases, it can tear us apart.
February 17, 2013
An engaging and highly interesting read, probably only given four instead of give stars because I can't help comparing it to Loyd's amazing previous book. Takes you on a dizzying and personal tour of all the wars western civilization has been involved with during the last thirteen years. Loved it.
June 16, 2008
I'd have to say that I liked his first book better but this one was still pretty good. I wouldn't say that it really gets going until the second half when the writer goes to Afghanistan.
March 25, 2009
Interesting war reporter stories from the hell holes of this planet. The bits about the author´s heroin addiction get boring fast, though they might be good as anti drug propaganda for kids.
May 18, 2010
Despite a few awkwardly placed punctuation marks here and there, this is an utterly fantastic read... beautifully.., amazingly written... one of those books i feel like i want to memorise...
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews