Tales of War — Kim Ekemar

Seven stories about war and its consequencies . . .The Dowry; Afghanistan, 1980War makes a cynical suitor. The future of a young man of marriageable age as seen from his pragmatic gunpoint view. An incident that never made the news, as recalled by a war correspondent.The lasting logic of a chance challenge; The Chinese-Russian border, the 1890sDeath for stakes to prove a point: a story about opposite approaches to a deadly game that can be played two ways.The Realm of the Black Eagle; Nature; todayThe true ruler of this mountainous region is a black eagle, until one day humans decide to invade his corner of the world. The eagle has no choice but to turn into a stealthy guerrilla warrior in his struggle to recover his kingdom.The Paper War; Stockholm, 1978 – 1992The Swedes have two main topics – the weather and their oppressive tax system. Often they find these subjects more important even than death. The question is: what can be done about them?Two Lives and the Camp of Death; Poland, 1943Gerber, the merciless commander of a World War II concentration camp, doesn’t see himself as part of a greater human community, but as a skilled administrator looking for solutions. In the village nearby a homely woman and her children welcome their husband and father as he arrives from work. In the warm atmosphere of their close-knit relationships they all avoid thinking about the ongoing war and the incineration of its victims in the camp next door. It is a dark story about shutting out a brutal reality, or thriving on it.Between a Rock and a Hard Place; Paris/London, 1997The killing game is not for amateurs. Killing for a living, the hired assassin reasons, must be better than living to be dead. Murder Inc. makes the step into the Internet age. In this cat-and-mouse narrative the challenge is as taxing for the cold-blooded killer as it is for the target of his contract.Carved Out for an Infinite Game ;Cathay, Persia, Florence and Buenos Aires;475 BC – AD 1939The art of warfare when it has taken on the stylised form of chess. The methods used to wage war may have become more sophisticated over the millennia, but the desire to conquer remains unchanged. Four historic flashbacks in which a chessboard plays the central role.