Imperial Harvest by Bruce Pascoe
Imperial Harvest is a timely book that speaks to the universal lessons of war. It addresses pertinent themes of dispossession by tracing imperialist tactics all the way back to the rise of the Khan empire in the 13th century.
Yen Se has lost everything to the Khan's brutality.
Left with one eye and one leg, he is forced out of his home village to work in the city as a horse handler. Witness to the Khan's violent crusade, their raids sweeping across Eurasia, he travels with the theatre of war, but exists outside of it; stunned every morning to find himself alive.
Yen Se moves randomly across Europe with a loose band of survivors - men who think of survival, men who think of resistance, and women who dare to dream of peace.
Whilst narrated by a male, women are at the forefront of this story; often the most active of the characters, both for their plight and for their guidance.
Imperial Harvest tells the story of war, but more importantly, of hope.
