After the Blast is a visceral and unflinching memoir by Garth Callender, an Australian officer who served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. This powerful account captures the raw reality of modern warfare, following Callender from his initial deployment in 2004 as a junior cavalry officer to his experience as Australia’s first major casualty in the Iraq War. Refusing to be sidelined, he returned to Baghdad in 2006 amid rising insurgency and later volunteered for a high-stakes role in Afghanistan, leading a weapons intelligence team to track down insurgent bomb-makers.
Beyond the tactical intensity of roadside bombs, missile attacks, and the grim aftermath of conflict, this is a deeply human story. Callender candidly reflects on the fears, camaraderie, and personal toll of military service. By turns dramatic, moving, and surprisingly funny, this book offers a rare, honest insight into the life of a frontline soldier and the difficult journey of healing. It is an essential, gripping narrative that brings the harsh complexities of contemporary conflict into sharp focus for any reader.
Used (good, see images, some yellowing) Softcover ISBN 9781863957380
