They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children
| Author | Roméo Dallaire |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Ben Weeks[1] |
| Cover artist | Hans Madej[1] |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Random House: Hutchinson,[2] Cornerstone.[3] Bloomsbury Publishing: Walker & Company[4] |
| Pages | 320[4] |
| ISBN | 978-0-09-179632-7 |
They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children is a non-fiction book by the Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general Romeo Dallaire (with Jessica Dee Humphreys) about the child-soldier phenomenon. The book contains a foreword by Ishmael Beah, an ex child soldier and author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children was first published in Canada in 2010 by Random House, and in Great Britain in 2010 by Hutchinson.[1]
"Roméo Dallaire was first confronted with child soldiers in unnamed villages on the tops of the thousand hills of Rwanda during the genocide of 1994. The dilemma of the adult soldier who faced them is beautifully expressed in his book's title: when children are shooting at you, they are soldiers, but as soon as they are wounded or killed they are children once again.
Believing that not one of us should tolerate a child being used in this fashion, Dallaire has made it his mission to end the use of child soldiers. In this book, he provides an intellectually daring and enlightening introduction to the child soldier phenomenon, as well as inspiring and concrete solutions to eradicate it."[5]
Synopsis[1]
In conflicts around the world, there is an increasingly popular weapon system that needs negligible technology, is simple to sustain, has unlimited versatility, and an incredible capacity for both loyalty and barbarism. What are these cheap, renewable, plentiful, sophisticated, and expendable weapons? Children.
This important campaigning book is part of a passionate personal mission against the use of child soldiers, by the three-star general who commanded the UN mission in Rwanda.
When Romeo Dallaire was tasked with achieving peace there in 1994, he and his force found themselves caught up in a vortex of civil war and genocide. He left Rwanda a broken man, disillusioned, suicidal, a story he told in the award-winning international sensation Shake Hands with the Devil.
Now, in They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children, Dallaire provides an emotionally daring and intellectually enlightening introduction to the child-soldier phenomenon, as well as concrete solutions for its total eradication.
'In the Rwandan civil war, I was confronted with child soldiers. I saw them, heard them, faced them down, and ultimately confronted them in the midst of a carnage that swallowed their youth and my professional warior [sic] ethic. They, the once-children in unknown villages on the top of the thousands hills of Rwanda, were real, determined, deadly, and somehow camouflaging the incredible fear they must have been repressing in the constant presence of death.'
Dallaire speaks up for those without a voice - children in conflicts around the globe who do not choose to fight, but who through ill-fate and the accident of birth find their way into soldiering. This is a book that addresses one of the most harrowing, urgent and important issues of our time.
Review Quotes
"A compelling, moving and insightful book that exposes the problem of child soldiers in all its dimensions. . . . The book is emblematic of Dallaire’s resolve, compassion and abiding commitment to justice. . . . Refreshingly sincere." —Samantha Nutt, The Globe and Mail (Best Book)[6]
"Gripping." —Calgary Herald[5]
"Discover for yourself the compassion that shines through in this book. . . . Heartbreaking and informative. . . . After all the horrors Dallaire has seen, his enthusiasm and optimism is a wonder. But it’s also infectious and refreshing." — The Gazette[5]
"Painful but beautifully rendered." — The Vancouver Sun[5]
"As a documentation of the changing face of modern global warfare it is a must-read." — Telegraph-Journal[5]
"Dallaire portrays the making, training, and deployment of child soldiers in detail that is often painful to read." — Emily Donaldson from Quill & Quire[7]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Dallaire, Roméo. They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. Hutchinson, 2010.
- ↑ "cdon.se, published by Hutchinson". Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ↑ "cdon.se, published by Cornerstone". Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- 1 2 "cdon.se, published by Walker & Company". Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Random House". Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ Samantha Nutt (Nov 9, 2010). "Arms and the child". theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ Emily Donaldson (December 2010). "They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers". quillandquire.com. Retrieved 22 January 2011.