The Kill Switch

This book looks closely at what it is like for soldiers to take human lives in combat, and how they carry those memories afterwards. The author revisits two Marines and several other veterans he met during the Iraq fighting, and they speak openly about firefights, ambushes, suicide car bombs and hand-to-hand fights. They also recall the split-second judgments they made, including mistakes, and the people, sometimes children, who were caught in the wrong place. The book argues that war cannot be understood without facing the killing at its centre, and it treats these veterans' reflections with patience and honesty.