Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-180) and index.

In 1996 the United Nations issued a groundbreaking report entitled "The Impact of War, '' which focussed on children in war, particularly child soldiers. The result was a frenzy of attention devoted to the subject, not only in the media but by humanitarian and governmental organizations as well as politicians like Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela. Since then, journalist Jimmie Briggs has been researching and writing about this phenomenon. He reveals the horror of children fighting in wars, and tells us what is happening today, since the first reports of children in combat began to make headlines. Briggs takes us to the front in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Colombia, and the Palestinian territories, where child soldiers are learning to kill, and to the villages and rehabilitation centers where they are struggling to transcend the horror of the past and build new lives. With over 250,000 children having fought in three dozen conflicts around the world, the growing exploitation of children in war is staggering and too little known. From the "little bees'' of Colombia to the "baby brigades'' of Sri Lanka, the subject of child soldiers is changing the face of terrorism. The very personal and tragic stories of these children, dramatically told in their own voices, reveal the horrific consequences of this global tragedy. Who are these children? What have been their experiences on the front? What, if anything, are countries doing about rehabilitating them? Impeccably researched and compellingly told, Worse than Death is the fullest, most personal, and powerful examination yet of this international tragedy.

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