Gulf - Robert Westall

Tom has always known his younger brother Andy (special name, Figgis) was a bit different. One morning in August when Figgis is twelve, Tom suddenly wakes up to find him shouting in the dawn. He shakes him only for Figgis to fight back viciously. When he snaps awake, Figgis says he was dreaming, and the radio over breakfast tells them the Gulf War has just begun. While Figgis shaves his hair, waking Tom up at night speaking in a strange language, Tom has a wonderful time playing rugby with his father's team. But it's his last fully happy day. Tom contacts 'Latif', the boy within Figgis, to find out about the bunkers, the guns and the army in the desert. As the Gulf War draws to a close, and life for Latif becomes harder, Figgis's condition gets worse. The family are forced to take him into a mental hospital. They are divided as Tom witnesses Latif's experiences through Figgis, while his down-to-earth parents enjoy the Americans' triumphs over Iraq. He stays with Figgis and together they live through the last moments of Latif's battle. Figgis, thankfully, remembers nothing of his experience, but Tom cannot look at the world in the same way again. He will never forget.