Detailing the experiences of soldiers from 13 NATO countries, this is truly an international account of the war in AfghanistanBetween 2006 and 2013, journalist Nick Allen traveled to Afghanistan to "embed" himself with soldiers on the front line in the war against the Taliban. He was posted with military units from many countries, including Britain, America, Finland, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Denmark, and Estonia, and spent time with the Royal Gurkha Rifles, the U.S. Marine Corps, the 39th Combat Engineer Regiment, and the 506th Airborne of Band of Brothers fame. This book is an unrivaled first-hand account of military operations, from the battlefields of Helmand and Kandahar to the so-called "backwaters" of the Afghan conflict. This eyewitness portrayal of combat operations, reconstruction, and daily soldiering life faithfully reflects the reality of life on the frontline of a war that had no defined frontline. Fully up-to-date as the troops withdraw, it also surely helps to answer the question: what was the West doing there?