WINNER OF 2016 COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR& Pitch-perfect the outstanding novel of the year so far& Robert Mc Crum Observer& More wrenching & beautiful than anything I&ve read in a long time& Aravind Adiga Guardian Books of the Year After signing up for the US army in the 1850s barely seventeen Thomas Mc Nulty & his brother-in-arms John Cole fight in the Indian Wars & the Civil War Having both fled terrible hardships their days are now vivid & filled with wonder despite the horrors they both see & are complicit in But when a young Indian girl crosses their path Thomas & John must decide on the best way of life for them all in the face of dangerous odds