CONTACT

---

“…the best account we have had of what it is like to serve in Northern Ireland."

“…an unashamedly personal account...a fascinating view of fighting a war from a perspective which we very rarely experience or hear about.”

“…its honesty and passion cannot be denied….Mr Clarke has sent out a powerful and disturbing early warning signal.”

“…a devastatingly realistic book, as realistic as this morning’s headlines…the writing is taut and dramatic…”

“…a major contribution to our understanding of war and how people act…Contact is the work of a brave writer.”

“Captain Clarke is more than a serving soldier. He is a writer of distinction.”

In my view the best book written by a soldier who served in Northern Ireland during the 1970s which were the really dangerous and difficult years. … mirrors my own experience very closely….

‘Contact' is an evocative portrait of warfare … With considerable skill and eloquence the author describes in detail what life was like under fire - the frustrations, the anger at the loss of comrades, the hatred on both sides.  It is a soldier's story, no punches pulled, no truths varnished over, no cover-ups. As such it is important, a witness statement written by someone who was part of that episode of history.

A good exposure of what actually went on. Not from a Catholic point of view or a Protestant point of view but the poor bugger in the middle whose main object was to keep his men and himself alive.

"...Contact is one of the best military stories that I have ever read and I recommend it to you in the highest terms; it's a book from a past conflict that has timely and resonant lessons for a present one." Steven McLaughlin, Author of Squaddie: A Soldier's Story. UK 2010. 

I was gripped when reading Clarke's experiences and after reading so many books about Northern Ireland I found this added another layer of perspective that was refreshingly honest, well written and somehow makes you feel like you are living it yourself. Fully recommended.

This book approaches the realities of war rather than the glories and heroics. He tells the truth about the fears, the questionable moralities of war itself and strips bare the thoughts of a soldier on the front lines.