The Sunday Times Bestseller that inspired BBC drama Danny Boy

The true story of a young soldier’s journey from hero to alleged war criminal, the determined lawyer on his tail and their search for truth in the fog of war.

Brian Wood is among several British soldiers accused of committing war crimes after a specific engagement in Iraq, the so-called Battle of Danny Boy. The allegations call into question Brian’s memories, his actions and the example he wants to set to his wife Lucy, sons Bailey and Charlie, and his former soldier dad Gavin.

With tenacious human rights lawyer Phil Shiner investigating the actions of British personnel, Brian is forced to re-examine everything he remembers about that day and everything he has experienced as a soldier. Memory, evidence and trauma collide on the fine line between war and unlawful killing in a legal and moral conflict that stretches from the battlefield at Checkpoint Danny Boy to one of Britain’s largest ever public inquiries, the Al-Sweady Inquiry.

Will Brian be able to look his family in the eye and be the husband, father and son they need him to be?

At the age of 23, Brian Wood was thrust into the front line in Iraq, in the infamous Battle of Danny Boy. Ambushed, he led a charge across open ground with insurgents firing at just five soldiers. On his return, he was awarded the Military Cross.

But Brian's story had only just begun. Struggling to re-integrate into family life, he suffered from PTSD. Then, five years later, a letter arrived: it summoned him to give evidence at the Al-Sweady Inquiry into allegations of war crimes by British soldiers during the Iraq invasion of 2003.

After years of public shame, Brian took the stand and delivered a powerful testimony, and following the tense inquiry room scenes, justice was finally served. Phil Shiner, the lawyer who made the false accusations, was struck off and stripped of an honorary doctorate.

In this compelling memoir, Brian speaks powerfully and movingly about the three battles in his life, from being ambushed with no cover, to the mental battle to adjust at home, to being falsely accused of hideous war crimes. It's a remarkable and dark curve which ends with his honour restored but, as he says, it was too little, too late.