Now it is time we finally understood their history and paid our respect and give our thanks to them and this book is perfect for that and I felt honoured to have had the chance to read it. The moment I saw this book I was intrigued, I think the Gurkha’s are always overshadowed a little by the more famous battalions in the British Military but they have and do play a crucial part in our military. The result is a record of war and peace that is rare in its honesty and humility. In this compelling narrative Capt Limbu celebrates his Gurkha heritage, relates remarkable stories of courage (his own and others'), and confronts demons that have shaped but never broken him. But even amid the simplicity of mountain life, danger and tragedy lurked. His means of coping with the trauma of conflict was to travel back in his mind to his childhood in a remote Himalayan village in Nepal. On many occasions he has feared he would not live to see the end of the day – and, inevitably, he lost several friends and colleagues from the close-knit Gurkha brotherhood. He talks of other operations in which he has served – and, perhaps most movingly, of the other Gurkha soldiers – the united band of brothers – with whom he serves and on whom he relies every day.

On dangerous resupply missions and on offensive patrols that took them to the heart of the 'killing zone', he and his men came under frequent attack from Taliban fighters. Kailash Limbu was in the front line of the fighting in Helmand Province. So begins this searingly honest memoir by Kailash Limbu, a serving Gurka soldier who undertook five tours of active service in Afghanistan. 'Sometimes my mind reaches back beyond the fear and the arid landscapes of war, to memories of childhood that fill me with happiness and laughter.'