The First Stone - Carsten Jensen

This book is already a bestseller in it's native Denmark, being published in 2015 and only recently translated into other languages.
Picked it up as part of the "Amazon First Reads" Prime initiative I knew little of it and had no preconceptions - not sure I even read the description, just judged it by it's cover and name. Normally not wise.

It covers the story of a group of Danish soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, and probably the fact that there were Danish soldiers, and that they fought in Afghanistan, were the first things that I learned.

You'd never expect war to be pretty, but the author here has cleverly layered the story to show it's many faces, and tell the story of the conflict through characters that are also learning.

Not wanting to give the story away, but this is a well written and intelligent narrative that makes you think about the terms of war, particularly in Afghanistan.

Where there are UN, Americans, Brits, Danes, mercenaries, Afghan army, police, militia and of course the Taliban it seems like lines are blurred or even wholly confused, and ultimately it's the local population that pay the price.

There is even reference to the many different wars and invaders that Afghanistan has witnessed, and while it sounds like a beautiful and interesting place, it also sounds hellish.

The author cleverly creates characters on all sides that you can emotionally connect with, as well as those that remain mysteries to be understood.

A well written and complex book that makes you think differently about anyone's involvement in Afghanistan, or any other foreign war.