Shadow

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and racism.

Shadow takes place during the war in Afghanistan, which began after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. These attacks killed 2,996 people and were orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, leader of the terrorist group called Al-Qaeda. According to US intelligence, bin Laden was hiding in Afghanistan, and the Taliban—the group in charge of the country—refused to give him up. As a result, the US, along with allies such as the United Kingdom, invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban and fight terrorism.

The Taliban are notorious for human rights violations and religious extremism. They are especially cruel to women and ethnic minorities, including the Hazara people, largely because they practice Shia Islam in a predominately Sunni country. Aman, the protagonist in Shadow, is Hazara. His people are often attacked and forced to take refuge in caves in the Bamiyan Valley. This valley is famous for once having two immense statues known as the Buddhas of Bamiyan, which were carved into the cliff walls more than a thousand years ago. However, these statues were targeted by the Taliban in 1999 since they saw them as symbols that did not fit into their strict religious beliefs; by 2002, the two statues were destroyed.

When the war began, many countries supported the US and send soldiers to help, and the UK was one of its staunchest allies. However, as the war dragged on, public support began to wane. The conflict ultimately lasted 20 years. It caused great loss: Tens of thousands of civilians died in Afghanistan, and the war caused more than 5 million indirect deaths due to the wider conflict in the Middle East. Around 2,500 American troops lost their lives, and around 500 British military personnel died in Afghanistan. Many of these deaths were due to improvised explosive devices (IEDs). To help keep soldiers safe, the military trained bomb-sniffing dogs to detect these explosives, allowing bomb-sweeping units to dismantle the IEDs and prevent harm to soldiers and civilians alike. 

Springer spaniels, like Shadow, are popular sniffer dogs due to their keen nose, sharp intelligence, and good temperament. Michael Morpurgo was inspired to write Shadow after reading about a real-life bomb-sniffing dog named Sabi, who served with the Australian Special Forces deployed in Afghanistan. Sabi was separated from her handlers after an ambush that injured nine soldiers and was presumed dead. However, after 14 months, she was found alive, and she had been cared for by a local Afghan who became Morpurgo’s inspiration for Aman.