Our Bodies, Their Battlefield: What War Does to Women

• I had assumed, after 40 years of researching and writing about war in the 20th century, that I was prepared for just about any horror. But Christina Lamb’s research, into the mass rape of women and young girls in more recent wars and ethnic cleansing shook me to the core. This is the most powerful and disturbing book that I have ever read, and it raises important questions.

• Some books are painful to read. This one is guaranteed to break hearts. It tells the stories of dozens of girls and women who have been raped in conflicts throughout the world. Readers will have to brace themselves for an onslaught of pain, terror and anguish. Female suffering is exposed and emotions are laid bare. Christina Lamb is a distinguished reporter with over thirty years’ experience as a foreign correspondent.

• Our Bodies, Their Battlefield provides a corrective that is by turns horrific and profoundly moving. Lamb, the chief foreign correspondent of the Sunday Times whom I have known and admired for years, is an extraordinary writer. Her compassion for those she talks to and deep understanding of how to tell their stories makes this a book that should be required reading for all – even though (and perhaps because) it is not an enjoyable experience.

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