The Patrol
Seven Days in the Life of a Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan
HarperCollins Canada · Print & ebook · February 26, 2013
In 2008, Ryan Flavelle, a reservist in the Canadian Army and a student at the University of Calgary, volunteered to serve in Afghanistan.
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- Who it’s for
- A grounded soldier’s memoir finds the strain, absurdity, and questions of service far from home.
- Themes
- Military service and war, Combat patrol, Returning to civilian life
- Genres
- Military Lives, Afghan War (2001-), Canadian Military History
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Start with this bookAbout this book
In 2008, Ryan Flavelle, a reservist in the Canadian Army and a student at the University of Calgary, volunteered to serve in Afghanistan. For seven months, twenty-four-year-old Flavelle, a signaller attached to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, endured the extreme heat, the long hours and the occasional absurdity of life as a Canadian soldier in this new war so far from home.
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Flavelle spent much of his time at a Canadian Forward Operating Base (FOB), living among his fellow soldiers and occasionally going outside the wire. For one sevenday period, Flavelle went into Taliban country, always walking in the footsteps of the man ahead of him, meeting Afghans and watching behind every mud wall for a sign of an enemy combatant. The Patrol is a gritty, boots-on-the-ground memoir of a soldier’s experience in the Canadian Forces in the 21st century. It is about why we fight, why men and women choose such a dangerous and demanding job, and what their lives are like when they find themselves back in our ordinary world.
War, Up Close
A grounded soldier’s memoir finds the strain, absurdity, and questions of service far from home.
Come here for
- A Canadian soldier’s view of Afghanistan, beyond the headlines
- The uneasy mix of danger, routine, and occasional absurdity
Expect
- A boots-on-the-ground account of service and life back home
- Reflections on why people take on dangerous, demanding work
Where it sits
| Afghan War (2001-) | 85% |
|---|---|
| Canadian Military History | 80% |
| Military Lives | 50% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Military Lives
- Canadian Military History
- Authors
- Ryan Flavelle
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Canada
- Published
- February 26, 2013
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Military service and war · Combat patrol · Returning to civilian life
- Reading lane
- Military Lives