None of Us Were Like This Before
American Soldiers and Torture
Joshua E. S. Phillips (Author)
A Verso book
The legacy of torture in the "War on Terror," told through the story of one tank battalion
None of Us Were Like This Before recounts the dark journey of a tank battalion as its focus switched from conventional warfare to guerrilla war and prisoner detention. Phillips’s narrative reveals how a group of ordinary soldiers, ill trained for the responsibilities foisted upon them, descended into a cycle of degradation that led to the abuse of detainees. The book illustrates that the damaging legacy of torture is not only borne by the detainees, but also by American soldiers and the country to which they have returned.
Book Details
- Paperback
- July 2012
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ISBN 978-1-84467-884-6
- 5.2 × 7.8 in
/ 256 pages
- Territory Rights: USA and Dependencies and the Philippines.
Endorsements & Reviews
“An important and revealing book. While US officials closed cases on torture and abuse by American soldiers when the investigation reached a dead end, Joshua E.S. Philips didn't quit. His personal journey and journalistic investigation is a shocking read about a hidden chapter of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.” — Deborah Amos, NPR
“None of Us Were Like This Before details the wrenching journey that American soldiers and officers faced trying to report and halt abuse and torture during the ‘war on terror.’ The stories contained in this book reveal how brave American service members tried to stop torture and abuse—often at the expense of their careers, and their lives. Their sacrifice, and the losses that they incurred, are absorbed by all of us as a nation.” — Daniel Ellsberg, former Defense and State Department official who revealed the Pentagon Papers
“This is an important book showing the damage abuse does to the torturers as well as to their victims … Phillips’s message is that we most need the rules banning torture when we most want to break them.” — Independent
“A serious, comprehensive effort to examine how torture and abuse, once embarked upon, damage the torturer and abuser as well as the tortured and abused.” — Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell
“A deeply personal story of a generation of American soldiers plunged into conflict after September 11. Joshua Phillips tells these brave Americans’ stories with compassion and vivid detail.” — Senator John F. Kerry
“Joshua Phillips’s incredible work in documenting the experience of soldiers who detained and interrogated detainees reflects the huge dilemma and consequences of their actions. His book is about accountability where senior leaders in the military and in the highest level of government failed to account for their actions, failed to protect soldiers who expected clear instructions, and failed the nation in preventing torture and abuse of the enemy. This led to Abu Ghraib—an epic tragedy in American history.” — Major General Antonio Taguba, author of the Taguba Report
“A masterwork of narrative nonfiction.” — Chris Lombardi, Guernica
“Phillips shows that the recourse to blaming a ‘few bad apples’ should be recognized as a disgraceful, face-saving fiction.” — David Simpson, London Review of Books
“A tour de force of investigative journalism.” — Eamonn McCann, Belfast Telegraph
“This shattering book is a journey into the heart of American darkness. What Joshua Phillips makes shockingly clear is that the misbehaviour of some of our best soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan came about because of a failure of military leadership and because political leaders lacked the courage to admit the word ‘torture.’” — Richard Rodriguez, author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America
“What makes None of Us Were Like This Beforesuch an engaging read, and why there needs to be more attention on the issue of what happens to those who torture when they return, is that the stories are up close and personal ... For those who thought that torture and abuse were isolated to Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq (not counting the CIA’s black sites or extraordinary rendition), think again. It's coming home.” — Matthew Alexander, Huffington Post
“The first and best heartbreaking tale not only of the abuses taking place within our military prisons ... This outstanding book should provoke urgently needed and highly meaningful conversations about who we are as well as what we thought our military and our political leaders should be. This book is an absolute eye-opener for anyone who thinks war is 'over there' or that the use of torture has no impact on our society.” — Kristina Brown and Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense
“A model of conscientious reporting on a volatile subject ... His ethical and compassionate approach is an act of citizenship.” — Barry Lopez, author of Arctic Dreams and Crossing Open Ground
“There are many things in this book that are fascinating and generally unknown. One is that these soldiers were afraid to report what they had seen and done … but without reporting it they couldn’t receive any medical help for their trauma.” — Darius Rejali, author of Torture and Democracy
“This book contributes enormously to the struggle to abolish torture in our time by showing how immoral and illegal policies taint institutions that, in every society and for every mission, need the trust and respect of the citizenry to be effective in fighting crime and terrorism.” — Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and author of Taking a Stand: The Evolution of Human Rights
“The American public and the world have a right to know the truth about the crimes committed under the command and responsibility of the Bush administration ... But we will probably need many more books written by investigative journalists like Joshua Phillips until the truth will be fully recovered, and justice will eventually be done.” — Manfred Novak, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (2004-2010)
Also by Joshua E. S. Phillips 
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Hardcover