The Bodies in Person
An Account of Civilian Casualties in American Wars
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1.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, uncounted thousands of civilians have died in the fighting and as a result of the destruction. These are deaths for which no one assumes responsibility and which have been presented, historically, as fallout. No one knows their true number.
In The Bodies in Person, Nick McDonell introduces us to some of the civilians who died, along with the rescue workers who tried to save them, U.S. soldiers grappling with their deaths, and everyone in between. He shows us how decent Americans, inside and outside the government and military, looked away from the mounting death toll, even as they claimed to do everything in their power to prevent civilian casualties.
With a novelist's eye — and hundreds of hours of recorded interviews — McDonell brings us the untold story of the innocent dead in America's ongoing wars, from leveled cities to drone operation centers to Capitol back rooms. As we follow him around the world, The Bodies in Person raises questions not only about what it means to be an American, but about the value of a life, what it means to risk one, and what is owed afterward.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Political theorist and novelist McDonell (Twelve) brings investigative research and a strong narrative voice to this harrowing search for an accurate understanding of civilian casualties in the United States' recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Receiving limited access to U.S. personnel, McDonell seeks out firsthand accounts of military actions that resulted in noncombatant injury or death. Rather than relying on a linear narrative, he creates a collage of chaos, violence, and cold calculation: using a novelist's eye for character and detail, he introduces readers to a wide variety of Iraqis and Afghans, from the young veterans of Iraq's civil defense staff to emergency room doctors treating the injured and a con man whose brother was shot while working on American base. The vivid reporting of the unrecorded lives of those killed and harmed is moving, and the discussions with American officials are revealing. Given the vast cast of characters and the jumps between different war zones, the narrative can be difficult to follow, but the overall power of the work is undeniable. By introducing the human stories behind anonymous and apparently often inaccurate casualty reporting, McDonnell casts a much-needed light on a significant and too often downplayed aspect of war.
