In the eight years since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan has rarely been out of the news. Over a thousand coalition military fatalities have been reported, and many times that number of Afghan civilians. The country is in the process of rebuilding, and yet the fighting continues. Following the success of his previous book, Battlefield Afghanistan, Mike Ryan looks at the state of this war-ravaged nation as Barack Obama escalates America's military presence. He considers the current role of coalition troops and the progress being made - fifty-one British troops died in Afghanistan in 2008, the highest death toll for any year since the mission began in October 2001, 100 in 2009 - things are getting worse, not better. The author has unrivalled access not only to commanding officers, but also to the 'boots on the ground'.