Reviews for When the Walking Defeats You:

The Washington Post calls it “important and deeply moving.” Full review and interview here.

Great review in the Italian daily Avvenire. In Italian.

“At core it’s a superb narrative of one man’s nightmarish descent into a world of depravity” – from The Spectator. Full review.

An excellent review in “The Conversation” calling it “one of the best books of 2016.”

A decent review in “The Times Literary Supplement” (behind a paywall) from 30 November 2016.

‘The book captures the fierceness of infighting within the group and the powerful hold exerted on it by founder Joseph Kony. Cakaj handles George’s story, and the LRA’s, with an appealing, clear-eyed simplicity.’ Publishers Weekly. Full review here.

‘As I read this book, I read my own experiences and what I went through. It is a story that all people should know about: how men, women and children suffer and survive conflict.’ Evelyn Amony, author of I am Evelyn Amony and chair, Women’s Advocacy Network

‘When the Walking Defeats You is that rare achievement: an account of a rebel movement as seen from the inside. Cakaj’s meticulously-researched account takes the reader into the heart of one of Africa’s most feared organizations, capturing the mundane brutality of life in the LRA.’ Michela Wrong, author of Borderlines and It’s Our Turn to Eat

‘Gripping and gleaming with insight. Ledio Cakaj leads the reader into the very heart of one of Africa’s least-understood but most enduring rebel movements.’ Matthew Green, author of The Wizard of the Nile

‘A deep and intimate portrait of the daily life of a child soldier. His book deserves to take its place next to books like Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone and Uzodinma Iweala’s Beasts of No Nation in the sad catalogue of stories about children at war.’ Andrew Rice, author of The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget

‘A heartbreaking story, unmasking the everyday complexities of a most gruesome and sorrowful war. Absolutely remarkable!’ Sverker Finnström, author of Living with Bad Surroundings: War, History, and Everyday Moments in Northern Uganda

‘A remarkable first-hand account of life in the LRA, providing a compelling and convincing perspective on what it was like to be a combatant.’ Tim Allen, co-editor of The Lord’s Resistance Army: Myth and Reality

‘Cakaj skilfully takes the reader inside the harrowing world of the LRA. Interspersed with stunning photography, and reflections of persons who survived LRA attacks, a multi-layered story comes to life, further unfolding the complexities of such a devastating war.’ Erin Baines, Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia and author of Buried in the Heart: Women, Complex Victimhood and the war in northern Uganda

‘A gripping portrayal of a rebel fighter’s harrowing journey in central Africa. Without pulling punches, Ledio Cakaj provides a human face to the notorious but often caricatured Lord’s Resistance Army. An insightful tour-de-force by an author whose deep knowledge about this group shines through on almost every page.’ Ronald R. Atkinson, author of The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda