This is the book, which marked Frederick Forsyth's transition from journalist to author. A record of one of the most brutal conflicts the Third World has ever suffered, it has become a classic of modern war reporting. But it is more than that: it voices one man's outrage, not only at the extremes of human violence that it depicts, but also at the duplicity and self-interest of the Western Governments - most notably the British - who tacitly accepted or actively aided that violence. For the Biafra War, in which Nigeria fought to prevent the secession of its eastern province, divided Britain almost as bitterly as it did Nigeria itself. Forsyth bears day-to-day witness to the ferocity and neargenocide that followed, chronicling the devastation that attended Biafra's bloody road to defeat. His book remains totally relevant as an insight into an Africa still threatened by the divisive violence of tribalism. At the same time, the research and experience that created this book were later to find different expression in Frederick Forsyth's immensely successful The Dogs of War. Here, though, we are most enthralled by the deep seriousness and masterly observation that underlie the skills of a great storyteller.