Voices from the Front: Turkish Soldiers on the War with the Kurdish Guerrillas

These riveting first-hand accounts of Turkish soldiers who have fought in the internal war against Kurdish guerillas speak to universals: the shock of entering military life and the traumas of warfare; the changes in personality and relations with family and friends; the lingering emotional effects of violence; and the difficulties in returning to the "real world." Mater's reportage is in the best tradition of revealing the surreal, illuminating the universal truth of war's devastation. At a time when American troops are again caught in a vicious insurgency, the Kurdish issue has high visibility, and Turkey is a major actor in the Middle East, the experiences of these former soldiers resonate.