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CONTACT, by AFN CLARKE
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This newly expanded edition of AFN Clarke's best selling and controversial memoir CONTACT is a raw, visceral, "no-holds-barred" account of combat from one of the men we paid to kill. When first published it caused a furore for its devastating honesty and chilling revelations. Clarke takes us into the private world of soldiers operating under extreme stress and living each day with their senses on high alert. Where the enemy wears no uniform and shoots from the shadows, and the bomber's trip-wire is an ever-present nightmare. We experience their emotions, fear, courage, humour, bravado and the anguish of death.
In this powerful classic, Clarke vividly recounts his experiences of two tours in Northern Ireland (in Belfast and Crossmaglen) as a Platoon Commander with Britain's elite Parachute Regiment during the blood soaked 1970's. The dangers, political agendas and religious roots underlying the conflict are eerily and heartbreakingly similar to Iraq and Afghanistan today, where soldiers are ordered to hold the lines in an ancient quarrel they have little affinity for, but whose consequences are deadly.
This expanded edition includes a section omitted by the publisher from the original book, where Clarke reveals what it was like to be in his twenties, go to hell and come back having nearly died with half his insides missing, suffering from PTSD and being expected to return to a "normal life". It's a story of the scars of war that affect generations on all sides of a conflict. Of heartache, courage and hope for peace. (Available as an ebook and paperback.)
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT THE BOOK
"Clarke's tale of his actions in Northern Ireland are eye-opening to this American... like the stories I have heard first-hand from the men who served in Vietnam." Robert, USA 2013.
"The best account we have had of what it is like to serve in Northern Ireland." Richard West, The Times Literary Supplement.
"A major contribution to our understanding of war and how people act ... Contact is the work of a brave writer." Kevin Toolis, Irish News.
"Contact is one of the best military stories that I have ever read and I recommend it to you in the highest terms; it's a book from a past conflict that has timely and resonant lessons for a present one." Steven McLaughlin, Author of Squaddie: A Soldier's Story. UK 2010.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CONTACT was reviewed by soldiers who served with Captain Clarke as verification of his recollections. First published in the UK in 1983 by Martin Secker & Warburg, it was serialized for 5 days in The Mirror, and became an instant best seller. In 1984 it was published in paperback by PAN Books, by Schocken Books New York and made into an award-winning BBC TV film. The expanded ebook edition was published in 2012, the paperback in 2014. Readers outside the UK are invited to visit Amazon.co.uk for soldier's reviews and comments.
For readers interested in other books by AFN Clarke, though his latest books "The Orange Moon Affair" and "The Jonas Trust Deception" are thrillers and works of fiction, they do continue a thread established in CONTACT, revealing the inner turmoil of a former soldier who wants nothing more than to forget his past and live a "normal" life but whose circumstances make it difficult to do so.
"CONTACT" - BOOK CATEGORIES
* Biography and Memoirs of Military People
* Memoirs of a Soldier
* Military Best Sellers
* Biography and True Accounts
* Classic Best Seller
* Books Made Into Film
* Controversial Books
* Leaders and Notable People
* Parachute Regiment
* History of Northern Ireland
* Politics and Philosophy
- Sales Rank: #489447 in eBooks
- Published on: 2012-05-28
- Released on: 2012-05-28
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
" ... a major contribution to our understanding of war and how people act ... Contact is the work of a brave writer." Kevin Toolis, Irish News.
"...the best account we have had of what it is like to serve in Northern Ireland..." Richard West, The Times Literary Supplement.
" ... it is impossible to turn its pages without a profound sense of shock". David Hewson, The Times.
" .... an unashamedly personal account ... a fascinating view of fighting a war from a perspective which we may very rarely experience or hear about." Michael Keene, Irish Evening Press.
"Captain Clarke is more than a serving solder, he is a writer of distinction." Jack Gerson, Glasgow Sunday Standard.
"... its honesty and passion cannot be denied ..... Mr. Clarke has sent out a powerful and disturbing early warning signal." Maurice Leitch, Daily Telegraph.
"The most telling and realistic soldier's account to come out of the whole sorry mess. The emotions are as vivid as the events. Anger and frustration tinge every page." Daily Mirror.
From the Author
CONTACT was the first book I ever wrote and had published. After 8 years of active service I left the army as a young man having nearly died, with half my guts missing and endless surgeries to look forward to, trying to rebuild a life with my wife and children. PTSD was not something talked about then, but looking back it's clear that in some small way, Contact was my "therapy", my way of releasing and communicating those raw experiences and emotions. I wrote it for myself, something I was driven to do. I had no idea that my mother would find the manuscript in the bedside drawer when she came to visit and stay up all night reading it. I thought it would embarrass and shock her. Instead, she became my greatest fan and supporter, urging me to get it published at any cost.
I am so grateful to her. Though it caused a lot of controversy and throughout my life has kept drawing me back into the issues of war and conflict that I would rather forget, the most humbling and satisfying experiences were when mothers and fathers of young soldiers wrote to tell me how grateful they were for the book. For giving them an understanding of what it must have been like for their sons who came home changed by the experience. And for providing some hope that through this understanding they might be better equipped to help their sons rebuild their lives and bridge the gap that had suddenly appeared as a result of their changed realities. They just wanted their boys back. What is most distressing is that the experience of the parents back then, is still much the same today.
What happens in war and as a result of war has far reaching consequences, both for the soldiers that fight it, their families, and the country that sends them to war in the first place. And I think what pains me the most is that we don't seem to learn from the past. We continue to get embroiled in ancient quarrels, in religious based conflict, in power struggles for resources and we continue to repeat the same mistakes leaving broken bodies, broken lives, and broken hearts.
I just hope that one day we can see life through different eyes, value it for the precious gift that it is, and enjoy and share the beauty and abundance of our great planet rather than engage in petty squabbles about ownership of it.
I think that's why I never stopped writing after CONTACT - to keep challenging old ideas, make people think, make people laugh, and keep creating a different way of seeing and understanding the world.
About the Author
AFN Clarke is a full-time author, screenwriter, the son of a British MI6 operative, pilot, sailor, racecar driver, father of four who's lived all over the world, served in the British Parachute Regiment, and recovered from the physical/emotional traumas of war. His highly acclaimed, bestselling memoir CONTACT was serialized in a British newspaper and made into an award-winning BBCTV film. He now writes fiction of various genres and his latest Thomas Gunn thriller series has captured the imagination of readers worldwide. He's insatiably curious, loves heated discussions and has a wry, irreverent sense of humour!
Books include: Contact, The Orange Moon Affair and The Jonas Trust Deception (Thomas Gunn thriller series), An Unquiet American, Dry Tortugas, Dreams from the Death Age and Armageddon (The Book of Baker Satire Series), Collisions, with more coming soon. Visit afnclarke.com for more information and please leave your email for updates on new releases and special promotions.
Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
An Endless War
By John J. Mclennon
Contact is the best account of military service in North Ireland during the latest eruption of terrorism. It gives us a fresh view of the "Troubles" from a British paratrooper who served in Belfast and Crossmaglen. It discusses lessons that might apply to the violence now taking place in Isreal.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Eye opening view of life in combat!
By KTHuffy
As a civilian, it's hard to imagine what it's really like to be a soldier in combat but this book opened my eyes. It was like walking in Clarke's shoes every day, wondering where the next shot or explosion's going to come from. His style of writing is direct, immediate, descriptive. He took me into the heart of the action, the emotions, the fear, the sadness and outrage at the senseless loss of life. And despite his own medical suffering and fight with life and death he still manages to crack a joke or make me smile at what he and his "boys" did or said to kept their sanity intact!
It's a raw, in your face, honest presentation. I highly recommend it for anyone who's never been on active service and wants to better understand what that really takes. And I'm sure anyone who has served in more recent times in Iraq or Afghanistan would (unfortunately) see the similarities to their own experience and identify with the challenges of coming home to a so-called "normal" life.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
CONTACT: A timeless and classic account of terrorist warfare
By S. Mclaughlin
A few years ago I was a guest speaker at a `Peace & Reconciliation' conference hosted by the Tim Parry Peace Centre in Warrington. Various figures from the military were there to speak about our experiences of serving in Northern Ireland at different stages of the conflict; I was there to discuss how it felt in the very end stages, when 'The Troubles' had all but petered out. But by far our most illuminating guest and powerful speaker was a former Parachute Regiment Captain and author, AFN Clarke - which brings me to the purpose of this review.
In 1983 Tony wrote Contact, a blisteringly honest and deeply controversial account of his two tours in NI at the very height of the troubles in the 1970s. Contact rapidly achieved cult status amongst the rank & file of the army, won critical acclaim from prestigious reviewers and at the same time drew stinging criticism from the retired Brigadiers & Colonels establishment brigade - which usually means you're doing something right because you've got them rattled. As the saying goes: "You judge a man by the strength of his enemies." Well Tony gained plenty; not least of all in the highest ranks of the MOD and politics - so much so that a smear campaign was launched against him and he was forced to defend his name with aggression and grit. The attacks only strengthened him and Contact was immediately made into an award-winning BBC film.
Tony went on to live in America where he built a new career as a Pilot, Yacht Charter Captain for hire and general all-round adventurer. If ever you have the privilege of meeting him you'll instantly recognise the classic `rebellious officer' streak that runs right through him and so irritated his former paymasters. But maddeningly for them he was undeniably a gifted soldier; he joined 3 Para as a Private `Tom', made Lance Corporal within a year and was commissioned from the ranks after just two; a difficult task in today's army but damn near impossible in the class ridden 70s - unless you were very, very good. And he was.
Contact deals with his first tour in Belfast in 1973 and his second tour in South Armagh in 1976, before culminating in his tragic and premature medical discharge from the army as a 28yr old Captain with his entire brilliant future cruelly ripped away from him. During his first tour the temporarily `friendly' locals spiked his tea with ground glass as he drank it on hearts & minds patrols, which resulted in internal organ failure, the removal of his entire bowel region and the almost complete ruination of his health. He soldiered on for six long years passing glass shards and undergoing a dozen operations, before his body finally gave in and literally half of his belly was removed. It was only his previous dogged fitness and determination that kept him in the army and on his feet for so long. Of course, he fought back and went on to climb mountains and fly planes, but all the time since he's carried a permanent pain and dreadful scars.
But the pride, fierce glint in the eyes and inner steel remains...
It felt a little odd at the Warrington peace talks because some anti-war types and `Troops Out' members were there and they clearly had strong feelings about British soldiers. And there was Tony, sat there with injuries that they couldn't imagine, this hard-as-nails former Para, and he was cool as a cucumber, effortlessly batting away their attacks with genuine warmth, humour and compassion. He'd seen more action than everyone in that room put together and paid the highest price, yet he was the calmest, most graceful and forgiving one there. It was inspiring stuff and a lesson in how to handle yourself when you're getting it from all sides.
Tony has now fully updated Contact to take in the aftermath of his own service, that of his former colleagues and his own assessment and true feelings about the peace process - something that I know he's a great supporter of, however painful NI was and continues to be for him. I can't recommend his book highly enough to you - truly it's a superb, timely read - especially in light of the recent deaths in NI and roadblocks that seem to constantly block the path to peace. I think too that it's an important and hugely relevant book in that we seem to be bogged down in an eerily similar `terrorist War' in Afghanistan, and there are lessons and parallel conclusions to be drawn for our military involvement `out there'.
Certainly I reckon that any young Squaddie going on his first tour abroad would get a hell of a lot from this book, because for me it was an object lesson in how to treat and interact with the locals; they're never going to be your friends and they'll never accept your presence, but if you at least treat them with a modicum of tact, diplomacy and discretion (whenever you safely can), then a wary tolerance and fragile mutual respect can sprout. Which is a damn sight better than the alternative...
Contact is one of the best military stories that I have ever read and I recommend it to you in the highest terms; it's a book from a past conflict that has timely and resonant lessons for a present one.
Steven McLaughlin,
Author of Squaddie: A Soldier's Story
Mainstream Publishing
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