Introduction / Ian Jack -- The limeroom / John Burnside -- Victory in Lebanon / Wendell Steavenson -- The courthouse / Tahmima Anam -- Operation Gomorrah / Marione Ingram -- Military landscapes / Simon Norfolk -- Tokyo year zero / David Peace -- The bastard of Istanbul / Elif Shafak -- Trident / James Buchan -- Congo / Guy Tillim -- The little museum of memory / Mark Slouka -- Thank God we've got a navy / Brian Thompson -- Like an episode of L.A. Law / A.M. Homes.