PublishedHurst Publishers, September 2023 |
ISBN9781805260202 |
FormatHardcover, 208 pages |
Dimensions21.6cm × 13.8cm |
An award-winning journalist courageously reveals the personal cost of war reporting, vividly recalling his dangerous assignment and confronting its devastating impact on his family.
After ten years reporting from central Africa, Anjan Sundaram is living a quiet life in Canada with his wife and new-born. But when preparations for genocide emerge in the Central African Republic, he is suddenly torn between his duty to his family, and his moral responsibility to expose the conflict.
Soon he is travelling through the CAR, driven by a possible spy - discovering ransacked villages and locals fleeing imminent massacre, fielding offers of mined gold, and hearing of soldiers who steal schoolbooks for cigarette paper. When he refuses to return home, journeying instead into a rebel stronghold, he learns that there is no going back to the life he has left behind.
Breakup illuminates the personal price paid by those bearing witness on the frontlines of humanitarian crimes across the globe. This brilliantly introspective, strikingly grounded account of perilous warzones and inner turmoil is sure to become a modern classic.
'Riveting...A powerful study of the forces that tear nations and people apart.' - Publishers Weekly
'A compelling journey of hatred and horror, of compassion and courage, through the wreckage left by French imperialism in the Central African Republic, what should be one of the most prosperous and productive countries in the world, leading the way for Africa. I can hardly imagine the bravery it took to compile this invaluable record' - Noam Chomsky
'A wonderful blend of the public and personal, of war and love, told in clear and beautiful language.' - T Gary Shteyngart, author of Our Country Friends
'War destroys countries. War destroys love. At its heart, Breakup is about a forgotten war in a country far away. But it is also a universal story, beautifully written and passionately told, of a seeker on a dangerous journey, about the power of love and the eventual redemption that a child and family can bring. Breakup captures this in all its pain, joy, sadness, and mystery.' - Janine di Giovanni, author of Ghosts by Daylight: Love, War, and Redemption
'I marvel at those journalists who put their lives in peril covering conflicts in countries that most people don't know exist. Breakup is so gripping that I had to remind myself to breathe. Sundaram's unflinching reflections on his inner conflict - his doubts, his terror, and the toll his work takes on his marriage - are even more admirable. This is an extraordinary work that will linger in my mind.' - Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone
