Publisher's Synopsis
I have written this book to help young persons (and possibly grown-ups), to think about a topic that is now constantly in the media. It's usually called 'war' or 'conflict'.
According to research carried out since 1989 by the Department for Peace and Conflict Research of the Uppsala University in Sweden, there have been over 250 wars of various sizes and lengths of time, since 1946. Although each war has its own unique causes with very different participants, they all have one thing in common - the people who suffer most because of war are innocent children.
When I was aged five until three weeks before my seventh birthday, I was a victim of the Nigeria versus Biafra war, or as some call it, the Nigerian civil war. Most victims of the Nigeria versus Biafra war that lasted from 1967 to 1970 were aged under 16. Most died of starvation.
Most children who suffer from the effects of war have no idea what is happening or why.
In a world where wars break out suddenly, for reasons not apparent to most ordinary people, it's important that political disputes are no longer sorted out in this violent and stupid manner called war.
Governments that often cannot find funds for healthcare and education tend to find money for weapons that too often kill or injure innocent children and their parents.
Such craziness cannot continue.
As acts of war now seems endless, I have not put any punctuation marks next to the word, 'war'.
This book raises many important questions for children (and possibly grown-ups) to consider. The answers to these questions can be discussed in groups, in pairs or individually. Although this book is primarily aimed at children, issues raised here concern everybody. There are no right or wrong answers, all that matters is what you think about the issues.
The characters in this book have no names and no identifiable facial features, because war affects everyone worldwide, at random, suddenly, and for no apparent reason.
Would rulers listen to our opinions about war? Most likely not. But at least we decide what we think about what's happening to the world.
Future generations might, hopefully, decide never to go to war to resolve geo-political situations.