Aftermath: The Remnants of War

by Donovan Webster

In riveting and revelatory detail, Aftermath documents the ways in which wars have transformed the terrain of the battlefield into landscapes of memory and enduring in France, where millions of acres of farmland are cordoned off to all but a corps of demolition experts responsible for the undetonated bombs and mines of World War I that are now rising up in fields, gardens, and backyards; in a sixty-square-mile area outside Stalingrad that was a cauldron of destruction in 1941 and is today an endless field of bones; in the Nevada deserts, where America waged a hidden nuclear war against itself in the 1950's, the results of which are only now becoming apparent; in Vietnam, where a nation's effort to remove the physical detritus of war has created psychological and genetic devastation; in Kuwait, where terrifyingly sophisticated warfare was followed by the Sisyphean task of making an uninhabitable desert capable of sustaining life.

Aftermath excavates our century's darkest history, revealing that the destruction of the past remains deeply, inextricably embedded in the present.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Military Fiction, Military History, World War I, World War II

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 1998

Reviews

[Aidan Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as supplementary material to Dan Carlin's excellent Hardcore History Podcast, specifically his series "Blueprints for Armageddon" and "Ghosts of the OstFront", in which he references and recommends this book. This book was highly informative and engaging. It addresses unexploded WWI ordnance in France, the untouched skeletons of WWII German soldiers still laying outside of Stalingrad, unexploded ordnance and the effect of "The American War" in Vietnam, mine clearing in Kuwait following the Gulf War, and finally ends with an epilogue covering the disposal of chemical weapons and the effects of nuclear testing in the Nevada desert.

The chapters on France, Russian, and Vietnam helps give the reader an idea of the scale of those conflicts. The number of artillery shells fired in WWI, the number of soldiers that died in WWII, and the number of bombs dropped by the US on Vietnam is staggering. It is very hard to comprehend and picture mentally, this book helps give you an idea of that scale.

The chapter on Kuwait has a lot of information about the state of mine warfare in the world at the time, though the focus is on the mines laid during the Gulf War. It reveals arms manufacturers mentalities on producing and distributing mines and illustrates the danger faced by mine clearing teams, who are among the bravest humans living today.

The epilogue was great, and I don't really understand why it wasn't a standard chapter in the book. It gives you a harrowing view of what chemical waste still exists in the US, the issues with disposal systems in the US, and the effect that nuclear testing had on the country.

All in all, this book is a great reference that again really gives you an idea of the scale of destruction and ruin that these conflicts unleashed. My only suggestion would be for the author to release an updated version, or perhaps a follow up book. Since this book's release, there have been a lot of developments in the world's policy on mines and ordnance, and there have been further conflicts since it was published as well. It would be great to hear a follow up on what has changed, what has remained the same, and what has gotten worse.

[David Slayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fascinating Study of the Lingering Effects of War

I read this book out of curiosity and found it captivating, especially the section on Verdun. Highly recommend to anyone who studies history, especially the World Wars. It was a long while ago and still I think about it all the time

[Nancy Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Second Battle of El Alamein became known, courtesy of Winston Churchill, as "not the end...[nor] even the beginning of the end, but ...perhaps the end of the beginning". Writing fifty plus year later, in 1996, Donovan Webster reframes my view of "the end of the beginning". After finishing Aftermath, I see the Paris Peace Treaties as the earliest possible date for the end of the beginning, the beginning, that is, of the war on the environment that the World War I leave-behinds conduct effortlessly.

Donovan visits the forests near Verdun with French démineurs who disarm and dispose of unexploded shells and grenades left over from World War I. He sees the skeleton fragments of Germans left unburied after the Battle of Stalingrad and the radioactive "playground" in Nevada where physicists who never heard the term "budgetary constraint" conjured with ideas like injecting human guinea pigs with radiation. Agent Orange's effects on Viet Nam's children of the 90's and the minefields that keep on killing in Kuwait are grim stops on his disaster tour.

The Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility had yet to begin disposing when Webster toured it. Happily, its supplies of sarin, VX and mustard agent had all been incinerated by 2012. And the product of the incineration? Shipped to another disposal facility, of course.

[Kusaimamekirai · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the aftermath of war, countries and their people are left to pick up the pieces after the devastation. Most countries given time are able to rebuild and live a semblance of a normal life again. For many countries however, the remnants of war survive long after the last shot is fired and the last body crashes to the earth.
This book takes us around the world. From France to Russia, Vietnam to Nevada, and far flung Kuwait in search of the how today’s survivors live with the scars of the past.
In France, particularly around Verdun, there are thousands upon thousands of unexploded bullets, shells, and landmines from 2 world wars that dot the country and are inadvertently detonated by unsuspecting farmers and other civilians. Their number is so great in fact, that even close to 100 years later many of them literally stick out of the ground as the earth shifts every year.
In Russia the same phenomenon is seen at the battlefields of Stalingrad, but here the melting snow exposes even more shattered limbs and skulls of German and Russian soldiers from countless unmarked graves.
A special mention to the Vietnamese in that true to their character as people who have adapted to the harshest of circumstances and survived, they have taken the detritus of war and used it to build their economy. Melting down old guns, tanks, and other metals from American weapons into bridges and other necessities for rebuilding their country.

“Ahead of us along a roadside, two massive M-48 tanks with U.S. Army insignia are waiting to be loaded onto trucks. The flatbeds will carry them to the Vicasa, a steel mill near Hue. Once there, they will be smelted and turned into wiring conduit and construction I-beams for the new high-rises of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, or maybe they’ll be poured into ingots that will be sold to the Japanese. ‘In Vietnam we laugh at the steel exports’ Vien says, his smile resurfacing. ‘We joke that American war vehicles may be sold back to Americans as Toyotas and Nissans.’”

“Now, in a nation where protein has always been scarce, the Vietnamese have pivoted American force to their advantage. They have knit the craters together with a system of dikes and levees and filled them with water and fish.”

“‘We use lots of shells. Bombs for living.’ With that, an unrehearsed show begins. Dan leads me inside the hut, where 105-millimeter shells have been emptied and sawed in half, now used as flower pots. For a moment he disappears behind a doorway; then he returns carrying a pair of long, cast iron skillets. They used to be napalm bombs. He’s halved them and fitted them with handles, Dan says, so his wife can cook with them on the hut’s wood stove.”.

The later chapters chronicle the heroic efforts of the men and women tasked with the removal of these relics, at great risk to their own lives.
As shocking as these images are, for me the more shocking fact was how many countries (as of the book’s publication in 1996 at least) were involved in the manufacturing of the most dangerous and pervasive of these weapons: land mines.
The United Nations at the time estimated that between 105 million and 200 million mines were laid in sixty-two nations worldwide.
Experts the author talked with estimated that on the lower end of the spectrum, (companies are notoriously opaque about the fact that they make mines at all) some 340 types of mines are manufactured in forty-eight nations.
The one that shocked me the most however, was the Thiokol corporation.
For those unfamiliar with them, they were the company that was accused of manufacturing the faulty O-rings in the Challenger Space Shuttle. After doing some checking, there is little online about them making landmines. They were however in 1999 engaged in making materials that assisted in their removal.
A large part of the book deals with the removal of these weapons but perhaps the most chilling is the final chapter on chemical weapons being disposed of in the United States with seemingly lax protocols in the name of speed and efficiency (The United States had at the time signed an agreement to liquidate their chemical weapons stockpile by the year 2000 and then update it with a new generation of chemical weapons.)
While some of this information is probably outdated at this point, the overall message of the book remains powerful. The aftermath of war, be it through physical or psychological scars, or its more physical manifestations such as the persistent existence of the weapons themselves, will remain with us long after our battlefields have grown silent.

[Alex Etheridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the main point of this book, but I really enjoyed learning about WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and Desert Storm as Webster talked through the unintended consequences of each war. One-sided to be sure, but hard to argue against the brutal and many atrocities of war that are still affecting nations 20-80 years after the wars ended.

For example, it is predicted that bombs from WWI and WWII throughout France, many still active,, will take another 100 years to clean up--a job where current workers cleaning up battlefields die on a weekly basis. Just crazy.

[Adam Marshall]

This is a very good book. Even though this book is from over 20 years ago, Landmines and other Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) continue to plague many of the conflict zones of which Webster wrote. If you are interested in how you can help solve this problem, please visit icbl.org for more information.

Currently, there is a campaign to make the world landmine-free by 2025. This is an issue we can all solve together. Please help by donating, writing your elected representatives, and passing this information on to all of your friends and loved ones.

[Aina Hard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bästa fakta på länge. Relevant och informativ

[Jesse D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book after listening to various episodes of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History in which he mentioned the book. Rarely mentioned when talking about war history is the physical effect that takes place on various battlefields and terrains. It was fascinating to learn what still remains on the World War battlefields after all these years. This book should be required reading for anyone who has an interest in war history

[Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly gripping account of what happens to battlefields after the war is over. It looks at the work needed to clean them up and dispose of the ordinance left behind. From the unexploded artillery shells that still turn up to this day in the fields of France, to the disposal of chemical weapons in accordance with disarmament treaties, this is utterly fascinating stuff.

[Mattthew McKinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard of this book while listening to Dan Carlin’s excellent history podcast “Hardcore History.” In it, Dan quoted passages from Aftermath concerning the bone fields leftover from the battle of Stalingrad and Operation Barbarossa, which still littered the Russian countryside more than 50 years after the end of the conflict. I picked up the book last year expecting it to be a bit dry. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover it was equal parts travel log and history, with fascinating interviews of various individuals responsible for cleaning up a century of conflicts. The chapters in the book include World War I French de-miners, World War II body recovery in Russia still active in the 1990s, the lasting effects of atomic tests in the western United States, decades of impact resulting from the Vietnam conflict, cleanup efforts after the Gulf War, and the U.S. Army’s chemical weapons disposal program. The World War I chapter was probably my favorite given my time a couple years ago touring the battlefields with a recovery expert and seeing explosive rounds and grenades littered everywhere in the woods we toured. The fact that every year people still die because of accidentally triggering munitions from over a century ago is tragic and fascinating. This book’s story, mainly focused on the tireless efforts of people across the world to dispose of such weapons, was extremely engaging and definitely worth the read.

[David Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, the author takes us on a personal guided tour through some of the battlefields that saw action in the wars of the last century. This is more like a journalistic effort than a scholarly work - the book has no index, notes, or bibliography. This is not to say it's not a worthwhile work, but more an effort for me to categorize it properly.

We start off meeting the men in France who recover, disarm, and destroy unexploded munitions from World War I, then proceed to the bone-filled fields around Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), to the nuclear test site in Nevada, to Vietnam, and finally, to Kuwait. With the varying locations comes varying aftermaths: unexploded ordnance, unmarked mass graves, nuclear contamination, chemical agents, and landmines.

In the Kuwait chapter, where the author mentions Iraq and Afghanistan, I had to keep reminding myself that this book was published in 1996. All the chapters are similar in that they are about the callous disregard for human life that is baked into war. It's not just a wish to kill the enemy on the battlefield, but absolute nonchalance regarding the well-being of the people who will inhabit these battlefields for generations afterward. But the Kuwait chapter all takes place in the (mostly) trackless desert, whereas if this chapter were replace with one about Iraq or Afghanistan today it would, presumably, be much different.

[Chuck McGrady · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about the weapons of war---not just those currently in use but also weapons used in the distant past that are still killing people. The first story is about World War I weapons that are still exploding and are slowly being found and destroyed by workers who put their lives in danger to do their jobs.

The second story is about bombs and other weapons and equipment used by Germans and Russians during World War II. The number of people killed in the battles is stunning. The third story takes the reader to the United States Nevada Test Site where nuclear weapons were designed and tested. From there, it is off to Vietnam and the weapons of that war, including napalm and Agent Orange.

Moving to Kuwait, the reader learns of the land mines that will take decades to be found and destroyed---land mines that continue to kill people in many countries. Finally, the reader gets a view of the United States chemical weapons and the effort to incinerate them without putting civilians in danger.

The book is thought-provoking, and this reader had no idea the cost of cleaning up after our wars---cost that can continue for well over a century even excluding the nuclear weapons.

[Jon Haase · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written look at the remnants of War left after the last shells have fallen. Having seen remnants of war in Vietnam, I have a first-hand appreciation for what a grave problem this remains in many places in the world. Thankfully, in Europe there is a professional program to remediate these hazards, but in many parts of the world there isn't. This is a great look that's the world we live in, how will conflict like World War I and Vietnam have left incredible amounts of unexploded Ordnance, and the impact that has local populace as well as the professional bomb disposal teams remediating the hazards.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating look at how war impacts the area long after the active fighting has ceased. From bunkers to mines, bodies to tanks, so much remains behind to be cleaned up, or covered up and forgotten.

I especially enjoyed the chapter on Siberia, enough so that I’m doing further research in efforts made to clean up the area after the publish date of this book.

Highly recommended for military history buffs as well as social history, for views into jobs produced by the need to take care of these remnants of war and how local populations view the areas.

[Mike Fendrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a story. The aftermath of war. The massive piles of bones in Verdun and from the Germans invasion of Russia and siege of Leningrad, Agent Orange in Vietnam, land mines EVERYWHERE, chemical weapons. It is amazing what can come out of the mind and heart of man. And then someone has to clean it up (or maybe not). What a sobering book.

[Byron Allred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book.

I only wish this book was longer. I'd never read about the aftermath of battles - the cleanup and removal of bodies and weapons - until now. Supremely fascinating, and written with depth and emotionally charged feelings from people that have to do the cleanup. Again, I only wish this book longer.

[Tracie Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never thought about what happens when the war is over. It’s fascinating what remains of wars fought almost a century ago. I’m grateful we’ve never had wars in our own country, and pray that we never do.

[Ryan Silve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A horrifying tabulation of the detritus of (relatively) modern warfare that should prove sobering to any saber-rattling readers. If this book needs anything, it’s an updated edition.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the more powerful and haunting books that I have read. Especially the first two chapters. Well worth a read.

[Michael Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pain that continues long after the war engine is cold... Great read

[Aneshia Knepper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book from Dan Carlin, it was a great read!

[Kady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fascinating book. I picked up on the recommendation of Dan Carlin and I wasn't disappointed at all. It's so crazy how much was left behind after wars and what needs to be done to clean up.

[Paul Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intriguing idea but I found the writing style to drag a bit.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Carlin's Ostfront brought me here. Very good read.

[Rhett Gentile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting, quick read. Author does a great job splitting the difference between travelogue, oral history, and mil history, and consistently finds and interviews fascinating characters. A good reminder that wars end, weapons don’t.

[Mme Forte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is proof that, in the words of William Faulkner, "The past isn't dead. Actually, it's not even past."

We live today with the fallout (see what I did there) of other times when war raged somewhere in the world. Donovan Webster takes us on a trip through the 20th century's conflicts, beginning with World War I and concluding with then-ongoing efforts to dispose of the United State's obsolete chemical and toxic weapons stockpiles.

In France, he accompanies the nation's de-mining squads as they continue to deal with unexploded ordnance from two world wars. On the Russian steppe, he meets men who deal with the skeletal remains of the Germans who died in the battle for and around Stalingrad. American nuclear ambitions and the tests they required still keep large tracts of Nevada off-limits to humans. Vietnam struggles to come to terms with the economic and psychological costs of a war that begin in the early '60s and continued well into the next decade. We're back to the de-mining squads in Kuwait after the Gulf War of the 1990s -- and hear about the innumerable explosive devices deployed in conflict zones worldwide with the long-lasting effects on human populations in physical suffering. Webster finishes with a trip to a toxic-weapons disposal facility still under construction in Utah, and if hearing about what happens to people who dare to question its safety and efficacy doesn't chill you, I don't know what will.

Despite its grim subject matter, the book is very readable and an excellent piece of long-form journalism. It exposes us to things we probably don't think about very often and takes us to places most of us would never visit in reality.

I'm no fan of extraneous punctuation, but it might be more accurate to write that wars are "over" than that wars are over. Because on the battlefields where they took place and in the minds of those who fought them, they really don't ever end.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many history books spend a great deal of time on the events leading up to a war which is necessary but personally, I have always been interested in what happened after the guns go silent and the treaties are signed. What happens after everyone goes home? What if they have no home to go home to? What is the effect on communities where a percentage of their young men are lost, or even in some cases if the town itself is lost?

Donovan Webster wondered the same thing. Traveling to France he wandered over the old WWI battlefields that still scar the landscape. The huge craters from underground bombs are now little ponds, added touches to golf courses but everyone knows if someone started digging around they would find human remains. Unexploded ordinances are still a 'thing', often displaced by locale farmers. A special team of brave demolition experts goes from place to place collecting armaments. The idea that this would be necessary 100 years after the war shocks the mind into realizing the scope and awfulness of the first World War. There are acres of land where no one can walk because it is still too dangerous. Human remains are often uncovered. This was from 100 years ago.

If the reader cannot comprehend this, then Stalingrad is ten times worse. Acres and acres of still unburied bodies. Tanks left scattered on the landscape. The Russian Government allowed the Germans to come in and bury their dead but would allow no monuments, just simple markers. It is terrible.

Webster travels to Sarajevo, Viet Nam, Kuwait and the parts of the American West that were the test sites for nuclear missiles. Everywhere the effects of war on the planet and on the present population are observed and recorded.

It's a sobering story and not for the faint of heart.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about battlefields generations after a war. Most military histories discuss what happened during the battle on a location and then move on when the armies do. But the effects of modern war can linger on for generations.

Webster visited battlefields in France, Russia, Vietnam, Kuwait, and even the chemical weapons disposal site in Utah and writes about what he found.

In France, Explosive Ordnance teams are still locating and disposing of bombs and shells from the battlefield of Verdun. And not only high explosive but still potent chemical weapons as well. At the time of his visit 15 years ago, parts of the battlefield were still cordoned off while the bomb squads arrange pickups of shells found by farmers in their fields. And Webster also covers the many members of the EOD teams themselves who have been killed or injured.

I recommend this book as a reminder that wars have consequences for generations and that in modern warfare the battlefield is affected well past the time the armies have moved on.

[Papaphilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read. Donovan Webster's premise is there are certain left behind issues from military action that need to be addressed from unintended consequences. Webster skillfully takes the reader through the remnant of war and the after affects on the populace both physically and psychologically. Aftermath: The Remnants of War looks at the devastation of munitions of WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War, and chemical weapons along with the effects that still affect the long quiet battlefields. What is surprising is how some of this is well over one hundred years old and still affecting parts of the world today.

Webster skillfully reports with a journalists eye without falling into the boring and is never preachy, he lets the story express itself the horrors of the aftermath of war.

[BD · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know that war happens and assume that when one is over, that's it. Life goes back to normal. Webster shows that this is definitely not the case--not with any war. He begins with WWI then each subsequent chapter moves on to the next war, ending with the Gulf War. (The final chapter is a description of the chemical weapons destruction facility in Tooele, Utah.) In each chapter, Webster visits a country that was involved in the war (France--WWI, Russia--WWII, Vietnam--Vietnam War, Kuwait--Gulf War) and describes what is left behind. The aftermath includes unexploded bombs, live land mines, and chemical agents in the bloodstream of agent orange victims. All will take time to clean up and there are many lives lost in the process of doing just that. "There is no such thing as a good war and there is no such thing as a bad peace." Ben Franklin