War Torn
Stories of Courage, Love and Resilience
by Kenneth E. Miller
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Aug 01 2016 | Archive Date Mar 03 2017
Description
With some 200 million people affected
by armed conflict or genocide, refugees are appearing in record numbers. War
Torn brings us intimately into the lives of civilians who have survived wars
in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka. Alongside stories that
convey the destruction and heartbreak of armed conflict, Miller captures the
courage and resilience that are essential counterpoints to the grief and trauma
that war creates.
Drawing on his extensive research and clinical experience, Miller also offers a nuanced critique of the overly narrow focus on PTSD among survivors of armed conflict. The stories in War Torn are powerful, heart-wrenching, and unforgettable.
“In evocative and powerful prose, he captures the remarkable human capacity for resilience in the face of great adversity. He also writes with compassion about the lasting damage that war has on the human heart and mind, when the limits of resilience have been surpassed.” --from the foreword by James Garbarino, author of Lost Boys and No Place to be a Child
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
“You could find no better guide than Ken Miller to illuminate this dark territory. A skilled story teller, he has an eye for nuance that is often missing in our cultural conversation about PTSD. There is great suffering in aftermath of unthinkable events but there is also bravery and courage that reveal what is best about humanity. I put down this book with a heart that was broken but also filled with hope. “ --Ethan Watters, Author of Crazy Like Us and Co-founder of the San Francisco Writers' Grotto.
“War Torn provides harrowing first-hand insights into human suffering across contexts burned into global consciousness as theatres of late 20th century and early 21st century inhumanity: Guatemala, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Syria. But the extraordinarily sensitive and insightful text ultimately communicates most powerfully regarding the humanity that endures in such adversity. This humanity is observed in those humanitarians seeking to respond to those in need but, above all, in the determination, humor and love shown by those struggling against the destruction of their communities and identities by civil conflict. Miller’s narrative doesn’t lapse into sentimentality, however. The humanity that it witnesses to is a bloodied one, borne of labor, sacrifice and suffering. In the year when the UN Secretary-General, through the World Humanitarian Summit, is calling for recognizing our shared humanity as the key driver of our decision-making and collective action, we would benefit from this book being compulsory reading for all who need to grasp that that sharedness is not a principle, but a visceral, tortured and consoling reality.”
Alastair Ager, Director of International Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Author of Faith, Secularism, and Humanitarian Engagement: Finding the Place of Religion in the Support of Displaced Communities, editor of Refugees: Perspectives on the Experience of Forced Migration
“War Torn is an exceptional, gripping account of the impact of war—a must-read for anyone interested in how war profoundly touches and shapes people. Ken Miller merges the expressive writing of a novelist with compassion and the profound understanding of a seasoned mental health professional. This collection of personal experiences and mosaic of situations provides rich and unique insights into the complexities of war torn countries.”
Dr. Mark Jordans, King’s College London
"Ken Miller weaves together for us tragic stories of war, loss and injustice with tales of friendship, family, and laughter. Ken's gift is the way he listens, which takes him and his readers beyond simple categories of war victim or trauma to the complex experiences people have in settings torn apart by violence. I'm grateful for the way he has captured the simultaneously disabling and inspiring coexistence of darkness and light in these places." --Jeannie Annan, PhdD, Director of Research, Evaluation, and Learning at the International Rescue Committee
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781936012787 |
| PRICE | $17.95 (USD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Bonnye Reed F, Reviewer
I received a free electronic copy of this book from Netgalley, Kenneth E. Miller, and Larson Publications on August 8, 2016 in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, for sharing your work with me.
This is an eye-opening study. Psychologist Kenneth E. Miller and his wife Debbie began collecting data and teaching volunteers in refugee camps around the world back in 1991. This book begins in the Guatemalan camps during the civil war/military coupe/ethnic cleansing of that Latin American country, following Guatemalan refugees into better safety in those camps just over the border in Mexico. The Miller's compiled information to help provide better, more rounded assistance for political refugees, training volunteers and teachers to address mental health and lifestyle necessities, and tracked the problems of both adults and children trapped into this transient lifestyle where medical attention, schooling, and a sense of safety and hope are limited or completely missing.
Ken Miller continues this journey on his own, beginning in Chicago, working with Afghan refugees in order to discover how and what questions to ask refugees to determine their mental health needs and following that up with time in Syria, Bosnia, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka. And he has gifted us with his Sir Lankan film, Unholy Ground.
We US citizens have a tendency to picture these circumstances as temporary, and fairly well funded. For many children the refugee camps are all they know throughout their whole childhood. And there are refugee camps, Gaza comes to mind, where the third generation is being born into the camps, people without a country, without continuity, without hope. Kenneth Miller tells us what we don't know.
In reality, there are almost 200 million people in over 40 countries impacted by war and genocide, living day to day exiled from their homes, families, and lifestyles. Kenneth Miller brings us their stories. This is a book I will read again, and share with my children. This is a worldwide problem we all need to understand, and address.
Polly K, Reviewer
Gritty and real, this account details the effects of the deportation and exile on many of the world's population. Author Miller and his wife started their research through volunteering in refugee camps in the early 90s. Life in these camps is lonely, hopeless, and difficult, with problems ranging from schooling to medical attention.
