The Changing of the Guard

Simon Akam

ISBN 10: 1950354490 / ISBN 13: 9781950354498

Published by Scribe Us, US, 2021

About this Item

Seller Inventory # LU-9781950354498

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Changing of the Guard
• Publisher: Scribe Us, US
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1950354490
• ISBN 13: 9781950354498
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 975 grams

About this title

Synopsis

A revelatory, explosive new analysis of the military today.

Over the first two decades of the twenty-first century, Western militaries changed enormously. Multi-year campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan had a considerable financial and human cost. Yet neither war achieved its objectives. This book questions why, and provides challenging but necessary answers.

Composed from assiduous research including hundreds of interviews, The Changing of the Guard is a strikingly rich, nuanced portrait of a military institution in a time of great stress. It is informed by conversations with soldiers who served in the British Army, and the politicians who directed them, as well as interviews with members of the US military and other allies who accompanied them, and the family members who loved and―on occasion―lost them.

Award-winning journalist Simon Akam, who spent a year in the British Army when he was 18, returned a decade later to see how the institution had changed. His book examines the relevance of the armed forces today―their social, economic, political, and cultural role. This is as much a book about the politics of failure, as it is about the military.

About the Author

Simon Akam (@simonakam, simonakam.com) held a Gap Year Commission in the British Army before attending Oxford University. He won a Fulbright scholarship to study at Columbia Journalism School in New York and in 2010 won the professional strand of The Guardian’s International Development Journalism Competition. He has worked for The New York Times, Reuters, and Newsweek, and is currently a contributing writer for The Economist’s 1843 magazine. His work has appeared in other publications including GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, Outside, and The Atlantic. He co-hosts the writing podcast Always Take Notes (@takenotesalways, alwaystakenotes.com).