{"title":"Books by Andrew Harding","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781529405606","title":"These Are Not Gentle People","description":"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE STORY BEHIND NEW BBC RADIO SERIES AND PODCAST \"BLOOD LANDS\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Utterly gripping, timely and shocking\" PHILIPPE SANDS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Compelling and disturbing . . . quietly devastating\" DAMON GALGUT\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"This is a book of profound importance . . . A masterpiece\" ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A vintage crime story . . . an extraordinary tale . . . It is written as a drama, part thriller, part tragedy\" ALEC RUSSELL, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A smartly paced true-crime thriller with a vivid cast of characters\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003eas tense as it is disturbing\" JOHN CARLIN, author of \u003ci\u003ePlaying the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTwo dead men. Forty suspects. The trial that broke a small South African town\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Look what the fucking dogs did to them, someone muttered. No-one mentioned the rope, or the monkey-wrench, or the gun, or the knife, or the stick, or the whip, or the blood-stained boots. In fact, no-one said much at all. It seemed simpler that way. There was no sense in pointing fingers.'\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt dusk, on a warm evening in 2016, a group of forty men gathered in the corner of a dusty field on a farm outside Parys in the Free State. Some were in fury. Others treated the whole thing as a joke - a game. The events of the next two hours would come to haunt them all. They would rip families apart, prompt suicide attempts, breakdowns, divorce, bankruptcy, threats of violent revenge and acts of unforgivable treachery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThese Are Not Gentle People\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of that night, and of what happened next. It's a courtroom drama, a profound exploration of collective guilt and individual justice, and a fast-paced literary thriller.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAward-winning foreign correspondent and author Andrew Harding traces the impact of one moment of collective barbarism on a fragile community - exploding lies, cover-ups, political meddling and betrayals, and revealing the inner lives of those involved with extraordinary clarity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe book is also a mesmerising examination of a small town trying to cope with a trauma that threatens to tear it in two - as such, it is as much a journey into the heart of modern South Africa as it is a gripping tale of crime, punishment and redemption.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhen a whole community is on trial, who pays the price?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303662465397,"sku":"9781529405606","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529405606_05a69b7d-49f8-4179-93d6-293e734e5e9c.jpg?v=1786023247"},{"product_id":"9781804185025","title":"A Small, Stubborn Town","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Extraordinary.' Philippe Sands\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'We are touched by the courage and dignity of Andrew Harding's characters \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e- qualities that the author must surely possess in equal measure.' - Andrey Kurkov\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A  story of extraordinary heroism by ordinary people. - James Meek\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'This gripping account is the Russian invasion of Ukraine in microcosm.' - Lindsey Hilsum\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Russians are invading. But the locals have a plan.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's March 2022 and Russian tanks are roaring across the vast, snow-dusted fields of Ukraine. Their destination: Voznesensk, a town with a small bridge that could change the course of the war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe heavily-armed Russians are expecting an easy fight - or no fight at all. After all, Voznesensk is a quiet farming town, full of pensioners. But the locals appear to have other ideas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSvetlana, a grandmother with arthritis, reacts in fury when Russian troops turn her cottage into their blood-soaked headquarters. Valentin, a quick-talking lawyer, joins the town's 'Dads Army' defenders, crouching in a trench with an AK47. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Sergei grabs a Molotov cocktail and lies in wait for Russian tanks as they push towards Dead Water Bridge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe odds are terrible. But a plan is emerging, and there's a chance it could save not just Voznesensk, but the rest of southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, inside the tanks, an inner battle rages. As Russian officer Igor Rudenko prepares to invade, he has a secret. He is Ukrainian himself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA gripping work of reportage that tells the story of a pivotal moment in Ukraine's war, this is a real-life thriller about ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with resilience, humour and ingenuity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'[Andrew Harding is] one of our most gifted and sensitive journalists' - Jon Snow\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":56307307381109,"sku":"9781804185025","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685944467829,"sku":"9781804183793","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781804185025.jpg?v=1792599196"},{"product_id":"9781849049511","title":"The Mayor of Mogadishu","description":"The Mayor of Mogadishu tells the story of one family's epic journey through Somalia's turmoil, from the optimism of independence to its spectacular unravelling.Mohamud 'Tarzan' Nur was born a nomad, and became an orphan, then a street brawler in the cosmopolitan port city of Mogadishu - a place famous for its cafes and open-air cinemas. When Somalia collapsed into civil war, Tarzan and his young family joined the exodus from Mogadishu, eventually spending twenty years in North London. But in 2010 Tarzan returned to the unrecognisable ruins of a city largely controlled by the Islamist militants of Al-Shabaab. For some, the new Mayor was a galvanising symbol of defiance. But others branded him a thug, mired in the corruption and clan rivalries that continue to threaten Somalia's revival.The Mayor of Mogadishu is an uplifting story of survival, and a compelling examination of what it means to lose a country and then to reclaim it.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56313076154741,"sku":"9781849049511","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781849049511_7a03d48b-5063-477b-97ea-74d637a90708.jpg?v=1786034120"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-andrew-harding.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}