The Boys from Baghdad

An intimate, action-packed account of life as a soldier of fortune in the most controversial conflict of our age. As a former fighter in the legendary French Foreign Legion, Simon Low thought he had seen it all. Then he was posted to Iraq. Employed as a private military contractor — a “hired gun” — his assignment was to guard the deadly convoy routes out of Baghdad. Once there, Simon quickly realized that no one could be trusted, including the U.S. military. Whether sending him on perilously hazardous missions or, in one terrifying incident, knowingly opening fire on him, the Americans often proved as dangerous as the insurgents. Simon and his staunch “oppo,” Dave, faced the daily terror of suicide bombers, armed ambushes and grenade attacks, and also had to keep a close watch on their ill-prepared Iraqi comrades. The Boys from Baghdadis full of grim, earthy humour. Simon Low’s eyewitness descriptions of Iraq as it spirals into bloody chaos provide a unique and uncompromising insight into the theatre of war.