War & Conflict

Narratives shaped by conflict, survival, and the human cost of war.

All countries Afghanistan Algeria Armenia Bangladesh Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Cambodia Canada China Congo, Democratic Republic Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Croatia Cyprus Ethiopia France Germany Greece Indonesia Iraq Japan Kenya Lebanon Malaysia Mexico Myanmar Netherlands Nigeria North Korea Pakistan Palestine Russia Rwanda Senegal South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Tanzania Türkiye Ukraine United Kingdom United States Vietnam Yemen

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Earth and Ashes

Earth and Ashes

Earth and Ashes is a spare, haunting novella set in Afghanistan during the Soviet war. Dastaguir, an elderly man, travels with his young grandson, Yassin, through a devastated landscape after their village is destroyed in a bombing. Dastaguir must find a way to tell his son, who works in a distant mine, that the rest of their family has been killed. Meanwhile, Yassin, whose hearing has been damaged by the explosion, struggles to understand what has happened and why the world around him has changed so dramatically. Through their journey, Rahimi portrays the devastating consequences of war on ordinary people, particularly children and the elderly. The novella explores grief, silence, trauma, and the difficulty of communicating unbearable truths in a world where violence has shattered both families and communities.

Afghanistan 2010

Above Us the Milky Way

Above Us the Milky Way

Above Us the Milky Way is a story about war, immigration, and the remarkable human capacity to create beauty out of horror. As a young family attempts to reconstruct their lives in a new and peaceful country, they are daily drawn back to the first land through remembrance and longing, by news of the continued suffering and loss of loved ones, and by the war dead, who have immigrated and reside with them, haunting their days and illuminating the small joys and wonders offered them by the new land. The novel's structure is built around the alphabet, twenty-six pieces written in the first person that sketch a through-line of memory for the lives of the five daughters, mother, and father. Ghost stories and fairytales are woven with old family photographs and medieval-style watercolor illuminations to create an origin story of loss and remembrance.

Afghanistan 2020

About this theme

Books: 2
Countries: 43

Countries with this theme

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Congo, Democratic Republic

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)