This is the tale of the Welsh Guards in Helmand in 2009. Underequipped & overstretched, guardsmen found themselves in Helmand in some of the most intense fighting by British troops in a generation. They were confronted by a Taliban enemy they seldom saw, facing the constant threat of Improvised Explosive Devices & ambush. Leading them into battle was Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Throneloe, destined for the highest ranks, but tragically the first British battalion commander to die in action since the Falkland's was of 1982. This book will unnerve politicians & generals alike. Toby Harnden draws on a trove of secret documents & more than 300 interviews to give a visceral & timeless account of men at war. He conveys what it is like to be a soldier who has to kill, face paralysing fear & watch comrades perish in agony. Harnden weaves the experiences of the guardsmen & their loved ones into an unsparing narrative that sits alongside a piercing analysis of political & military strategy.