In September 2014, Azad Cudi became one of seventeen snipers deployed when ISIS, trying to shatter the Kurds in a decisive battle, besieged the northern city of Kobani. In LONG SHOT, he tells the inside story of how a group of activists and idealists withstood a ferocious assault and, street by street, house by house, took back their land in a victory that was to prove the turning point in the war against ISIS. By turns devastating, inspiring and lyrical, this is a unique account of modern war and of the incalculable price of victory as a few thousand men and women achieved the impossible and kept their dream of freedom alive.

About the Author
Azad is a 34-year-old British national from a Kurdish background. Based in London and Brussels, Azad grew up in Iran, where he was conscripted into the army and escaped to the UK. Aged 19, he was granted asylum and citizenship, learnt English and began working as a journalist for the Kurdish diaspora media. In 2011, Azad was working for a television station in Stockholm when the Syrian civil war broke out and the Kurds established their autonomous enclave. Azad's response was to fly out to Syria and work as a social worker, but as the civil war expanded he became a fighter in the volunteer army, the YPG, our allies in the 62 country anti-ISIS coalition.

Reviews
A book to marvel at, learn from, and return to again and again -- John le Carre
Simply outstanding . . . powerful * BOOKLIST *
Profoundly affecting . . . There are horrors but also humanity - inspiration, even, alongside the tragedy. A surprisingly lyrical tribute to a much-put-upon people and to fallen comrades in arms that deserves a wide audience -- Fergal Hallahan * IRISH NEWS *
Vivid * DAILY MIRROR *
Striking and memorable * WALL STREET JOURNAL *
A propulsive memoir that captures the grim reality of small-scale conflict and reveals the fragmented politics of the Middle East today * KIRKUS *
Gripping . . . His story, elegantly told, will resonate long after the final ISIS fighter falls * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *



Book Information
ISBN 9781474609791
Author Azad Cudi
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publisher Orion Publishing Co
Weight(grams) 235g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 24mm