Guantanamo: My Journey by David Hicks
Everyone has an opinion on him. But only he knows the truth
‘My story and who I am as a person is something so many people have an opinion on already. Whatever you may think of me now, in the past, or after reading this book, you will have a much better understanding of how the following events came to pass and why. You will see that I am not, and have never been, a supporter of terrorism. I am not a public threat. I did not harm anyone – I never attempted or planned to – nor was I accused of such. And I did not break any Australian, US or international laws.’ – David Hicks
In 1999 a young man from suburban Adelaide set out on an overseas trip that would change his life forever.
Initially, he was after adventure and the experience of travelling the Silk Road. But events would set him on a different path. He would be deemed a terrorist, one of George W. Bush’s ‘worst of the worst’. He would be incarcerated in one of the world’s most notorious prisons, Guantanamo Bay.
And in that place where, according to an interrogator in Abu Ghraib, ‘even dogs won’t live’, he was to languish for five and a half years, suffering physical and mental abuse, while his fate – and the opinions of all Australians – was shaped by politicians, the media and foreign governments.
Guantanamo: My Journey is an autobiographical account of Hicks’s young adulthood, his overseas travels to Japan, Albania and Pakistan, and the events leading up to his capture in Afghanistan and incarceration in the infamous US military facility at Guantanamo Bay. Released from prison in late 2007, he also tells of his attempt to put his past behind him and enjoy his life in the present.
As the first published account of David Hicks’s life, Guantanamo: My Journey is a confronting picture of unchecked power, the fight for justice and the power of endurance.
About The Author
David Hicks was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1975. After leaving school, he worked as a jackaroo in the Australian outback before settling in Adelaide. Later, he worked as a horse trainer in Japan before witnessing TV reports of atrocities in Kosovo, which motivated him to travel to Albania. Back in Australia, he developed an interest in politics, especially in disadvantaged, oppressed communities. He then embarked on a journey to Kashmir. During the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, he was apprehended by the Northern Alliance and sold to the US military, which then sent him to Guantanamo Bay, where he spent five and a half years in detention before returning to Australia.
Hardback | 480 pages
164 x 241 x 42mm | 809g
16 Oct 2010
Random House Australia
Milsons Point, Australia
1864711582
9781864711585
Condition: Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. No obvious damage to the cover. The dust jacket is included and in good condition (very minor scuff marks along the edges, and very minor scratching). All pages are undamaged with no creasing or tearing, no pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages.