Contact Charlie: The Canadian Army, the Taliban and the Battle that Saved Afghanistan - Hardcover

Wattie, Chris

4.13

70 ratings by Goodreads

9781554700844: Contact Charlie: The Canadian Army, the Taliban and the Battle that Saved Afghanistan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554700841 ISBN 13: 9781554700844

Publisher: Key Porter Books, 2009

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In the summer of 2006, Canadian army patrol Charlie Company stumbled into a massive group of Taliban forces. The Canadians found themselves up against opponents who were suicidally brave, cunning at planting mines and roadside bombs, and experienced at disappearing into the scenery. Based on author Chris Wattie’s own experiences in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of post-tour interviews with the men and women on the ground, Contact Charlie documents the series of battles between Taliban and Canadian forces in a dramatic account of the conflict that made headlines that summer and continues to do so today.

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About the Author:

CHRIS WATTIE was a senior national reporter with the National Post, and one of the first Canadian reporters embedded with the army when he accompanied Canadian troops on the International Security Assistance Force mission in Kabul in 2003.Wattie lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Review:

“... an incredibly great book. It really does focus you on what occurred in southern Afghanistan in the summer of 2006 and it tells the story in a very personal manner. As far as I can determine, it`s all true and I think that`s the first time I`ve ever said that about a reporter who wrote anything in their entire life. It`s all true.” ?General Rick Hillier

“It is rare that a book about the Canadian military comes along that grabs your attention from the opening paragraph and holds it right to the last page. This is the case with the? best seller Contact Charlie.” ?Sergeant Kurt Grant, CD, Canadian Army Journal

“In the summer of 2006 the Taliban were poised to take back their Jerusalem, Kandahar City. They didn’t figure on 1 PPCLI. Chris Wattie’s outstanding effort lets us eavesdrop on the intense battles that saved the city, the country and NATO itself, and should make every Canadian proud of our country’s sacrifice in the name of freedom.” ?Lewis MacKenzie, Major- General (ret’d), Commanding Officer 1PPCLI, 1977?1979

“Way beyond the perceived access of embedded reporting, Contact Charlie brings the boots on the ground view in Afghanistan closer than anyone outside the Canadian Forces has ever seen it. Wattie’s account of the battle for the Panjwayi is reminiscent of war correspondence from such giants as Ross Munro, Matthew Halton or Bill Boss?as close to the sharp end as one can get.” ?Ted Barris, journalist and author

“Many journalists try to write about military life but few possess the ability, eloquence and sheer grasp of the fleshy reality of war and soldiering that Wattie has in obvious abundance. This is reporting, military history and political analysis of the first order. Splendid and memorable?a book that should carve an honoured place in Canadian literature.” ?Michael Coren, Sun Media columnist, television and radio host and best-selling author.

“Contact Charlie fills in the blanks between Canada’s military objective in Afghanistan and the dizzying transformation on the ground. It is a thorough, lucid account of how one company’s tour of duty altered so many lives. Like a magnet, Charlie Company is drawn into a fight behind every wall and Chris Wattie captures it all in meticulous detail. Each time they suit up for a ‘routine’ patrol, there is a sense of dread for what looms. Contact Charlie will survive as a testament to the soldiers who never came back and the friends who will never forget them.” ?Lisa LaFlamme, National Affairs Correspondent, CTV News

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