A personal memoir by a relief worker and conflict specialist who has worked on the ground in a host of war-torn countries. It argues that civil wars are often dismissed by westerners as tribal, ethnic, or regional disputes, when in reality such violence is fundamentally part of the human condition.

The author approaches his story from a unique perspective, having worked both in the upper echelons of the U.S. government and in some of the world's most dangerous places. Moving from face-to-face encounters with warlords to quiet moments with the victims of horrific violence, he gives readers a behind-the-scenes tour of a world most of us can barely imagine. He argues that civil wars are often dismissed by westerners as tribal, ethnic, or regional disputes, when in reality such violence is fundamentally part of the human condition. He contends that people in the West continue to view war as something that is outside of themselves and profoundly foreign in its nature, even as they send troops to Iraq.