KANDAK: Fighting with Afghans

KANDAK, from Patrick Hennessey, author of the TV Book Club pick, The Junior Officers'' Reading Club, is ''a rich depiction of life and death, love and sorrow ... read this brilliant book'' Evening Standard

When Patrick Hennessey returned home from Afghanistan, he left behind him the surreal intensity and exhilaration of battle. He also left behind lasting bonds of friendship formed with his Afghan comrades Qiam, Syed and Majhib. Kandak is the story of how, in the heat of the moment between living and dying, unlikely alliances can be forged. Patrick Hennessey tells of their awkward first meetings, mutual suspicion and incomprehension, and how this eventually turned into brotherhood.

''A passionate tribute to the Afghan soldiers he fought alongside in Helmand ... excellent'' Sunday Times

''This beautifully-written sequel to his first book tells us much about the bonds forged by combat in the dust and heat and danger, when there was no "them and us"'' Mail on Sunday

''His prose is lean and muscular, characterised by dry wit and acute intelligence. He also has a novelist''s eye for the vivid image and the telling detail'' Daily Mail

''An erudite account ... this topical book, beautifully written, gives important insights at a crucial time in Afghanistan''s transition'' Daily Telegraph

Patrick Hennessey was born in 1982 and educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read English. He joined the Army and served from 2004 to 2009 as an officer in The Grenadier Guards. In between guarding towers, castles and palaces he worked in the Balkans, Africa, South East Asia, the Falkland Islands and deployed on operational tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. On leaving the Army he wrote his first book The Junior Officers'' Reading Club. He is now a barrister.