We aren't home yet, Major Paul Darling reminds his team at the end of a sixteen-hour day. "Two more miles and we are done. We have pissed off a lot of Taliban today, and they are going to want payback." Shortly, the major will find himself sitting on a concrete basketball court next to the bunker where the day started so long ago, talking by satellite phone to his wife on the other side of the world. When she asks, "What happened?" there is too much to say. But one day, he promises himself, he will put into words what it was like-one day in the life of a combat soldier in Afghanistan in 2009. This is the story of that day. In crisp prose and sharp detail Darling offers a moment-by-moment account of a one-day mission to track down and kill Taliban insurgents in the Zabul Province of southeastern Afghanistan. A rare day-in-the-life narrative that is also a page-turner, his story captures the mundane realities of deployment-the waiting, the heat, the heavy gear, the 0345 wake-up-along with the high-octane experience of crossing foreign terrain where every turn, every decision might have life or death consequences. The living accommodations, reporting up the chain of command, the bureaucracy, and the almost insurmountable challenges of functioning effectively in two cultures-all become intimately real in Darling's telling as he balances the imperatives of his mission and the skills of his men against the ever-multiplying unknowns, the unpredictable and dangerous Afghan "allies," and the elusive enemy: the unseen IED and the possibility of fatal miscalculation. In the midst of the soldier's everyday drama of never quite knowing what comes next, Darling's moments of humor and reflection put the chaos and uncertainties of combat into a larger perspective. The story is about one man and the ethical choices and compromises he has to make as a leader-a man who has promises to keep: to family; to country; to his soldiers, both Afghan and American; and, ultimately, to himself.

The fourth edition of Wilmot Smith on Construction Contracts continues to take a clear and practical approach to the law and practice relating to construction contracts in the UK. It provides comprehensive coverage of the substantive law and modern dispute resolution procedures in the field of construction and gives clear guidance when seeking difficult answers. Paul Darling Q.C. has joined Richard Wilmot-Smith Q.C. as co-editor. Together they have updated, refined and extended the work's coverage. The author team includes new and high-profile practitioners in the field of international arbitration (including Peter Rees Q.C. and David Bateson) and ADR (with Edwin Glasgow Q.C. joining Marion Smith Q.C. in re-casting the chapter on mediation). David Sawtell has considerably re-cast the chapter on adjudication. The law on extra contractual claims (unjust enrichment) has been substantively revised and updated by a leading expert on unjust enrichment. The work provides key practical tips including: where and when you issue proceedings; what the judges will expect and their preferences; and how trials can be made shorter. A separate section analyses enforcement of adjudicators' awards, covering recent case law on this area. This is carefully examined and digested in detail to ensure the reader has an understanding of the pitfalls of enforcement. Richard Wilmot-Smith QC and Paul Darling QC ensure that the work continues to provide an essential source of reference on this area of the law. Their practical approach and reliance on clear exposition is prevalent throughout this book, and it is allied with deep scholarship to secure its position as a definitive work on construction law.