In 1998 John Burnett left the comforts of the mainstream and became a UN relief worker. On the lookout for adventure and willing to take a risk, Burnett was completely unprepared for the realities of working in a country without government or law. The experience of being an aid-worker changed the way he sees the world.

It also shocked him profoundly to realize the casualness with which unarmed and untrained civilians were sent into literally explosive situations to try to help, and to understand how even the distribution of aid in the face of catastrophe can be seen as a political act.