After the Blast cover art

After the Blast

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

After the Blast

By: Garth Callender
Narrated by: Nick Farnell
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $23.99

Buy Now for $23.99

About this listen

A very Australian story of heroism and healing.

In 2004 Garth Callender, a junior cavalry officer, was deployed to Iraq. He quickly found his feet leading convoys of armoured vehicles through the streets of Baghdad and into the desert beyond.

But one morning his crew was targeted in a roadside bomb attack. Garth became Australia's first serious casualty in the war.

After recovering from his injuries, Garth returned to Iraq in 2006 as second-in-command of the Australian Army's security detachment in Baghdad. He found a city in the grip of a rising insurgency. His unit had to contend with missile attacks, suicide bombers and the death by misadventure of one of their own, Private Jake Kovco.

Determined to prevent the kinds of bomb attacks that left him scarred, Garth volunteered once more in 2009 - to lead a weapons intelligence team in Afghanistan. He was helicoptered to blast zones in the aftermath of attacks and worked to identify the insurgent bomb-makers responsible.

Revealing, moving, funny and full of drama, Garth Callender's story is one of a kind.

©2015 Garth Callender (P)2015 Audible. Ltd Military & War Middle East Funny Military War

Critic Reviews

"Garth Callender, a wounded veteran, tells his story of multiple combat tours with acid intensity. Stark, brutal and honest, After the Blast exposes the ghastly business of modern warfare. It is an uncompromising account that will shock some readers. Raw emotions, fears, loves, frustrations and anger are unflinchingly recalled. This book provides a rare insight to the harsh realities of Australia's contemporary conflicts." (Major General John Cantwell, AO, DSC, author of Exit Wounds)
"Garth Callender shows you what soldiers really think - and, more importantly, feel." (James Brown, author of Anzac's Long Shadow)
All stars
Most relevant  
awesome insight into untold sections of recent military history, thank you for your story and service

awesome!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Garth Callender’s account is authentic, frightening and brilliant in equal measure. This is one publication not to be missed.

Nothing short of extraordinary

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I Enjoyed this book. It’s good to read a military book with out the author going all gung ho.

Excellent Narration by Nick Farrell. A great Aussie narrater

Great read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved the insight into Australians in the middle east. Very interesting look inside the military.

great listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.