During their tour of Afghanistan in 2008 a number of soldiers kept personal diaries of their experiences & now for the first time Osprey Publishing have collected them together to provide a gripping first-hand account of life in the front line in modern warfare. Although these soldiers were on the same tour they all encountered different experiences & so while the time frame is the same their perspectives are inevitably different. Included here are the diaries of Lt John Thornton who sadly lost his life just two weeks before the end of the tour a Padre a CO a 2IC & a member of Lt Thornton's section. With a narrative that pulls the diaries together & puts them in context this book provides a chance to look at what changes when the men & women come home & what they learned from the tour. The diary of Lt Thornton's brother Ian who is currently serving in Helmand provides an example of the war 4 years on & provides further context to the original tour diaries.