This is a remarkable book about a clash between very different worlds: the British Army and Britain's Muslim community. It follows a young girl's extraordinary journey from working in the family kebab shop in Manchester to a London barracks where the Colonel of 21 SAS unit is putting women through selection training with the men. Lacking military experience, physically slight and, as a Muslim, socially isolated, Alisha is plunged into the ordeal with eleven other girls and 200 men. She soon realises the physical challenge is the least of her worries. Deep-rooted ethnic and gender prejudices need overcoming and she is faced with trying to defend her religion and culture within a regimented and hostile environment, a situation that is not helped by the events of 9/11. At home, Alisha hears her community's anger over the British intervention in the Middle East. Back at the barracks she supports her soldier comrades preparing for the War on Terror. On the one hand, she describes having to deal with the daily supply of non-halal ration packs, squaddie drinking culture and deeply engrained stereotypes; on the other, her parents still trying to find her a suitable boy to marry.With the two most important institutions in her life at loggerheads, Alisha's life takes off on a journey of self-discovery. This is her story.
