This moving story tells of the struggle for survival of a Kurdish community living in Halabja in northern Iraq. Events from the early 1960s onwards, the various stages of the Peshmerga war and the gradual rise to power of Saddam Hussein, are followed through the eyes of Kadir and his extended family. The book opens with Kadir growing up – full of life, although often getting into trouble – finding his way within the traditional structures of Kurdish life, together with his cousin Raza and friend Ahmad. As the years pass, we follow the fortunes of these three boys as they are forced to face the tragedies that war inflicts on those around them and are drawn into the conflict from that, by virtue of their birth, they cannot escape. Hama Dostan provides the reader with a real insight into how it feels to be caught up in a war-torn region of the world. His portrait is both intimate and harrowing, giving a powerful impression of the human cost of all such senseless violence.