Unfinished War

*** Unfinished War was a top four finalist in the Eiger African Photobook of the Year Award 2024 ***

Check out our flipbook of the first few pages of this title here.

Over the last decade Yemen has been the scene of warfare involving the employment of advanced air delivered weapons of Western origin by Saudi Arabia, of insurgent warfare conducted by al-Qaeda, of improvised ‘technicals’, and of ballistic missiles. As a result of this ongoing conflict, Yemen has become the scene of what the United Nations have described as one of the worst ongoing humanitarian disasters of modern times and in which tens of thousands of people have died and millions have been displaced.

At the time of writing Yemen has again attracted international attention as tensions in the Red Sea grow following Houthi attacks on international shipping and the consequent responses of the USA and Great Britain. 

In Unfinished War: A Journey through Yemen’s Civil War, Egyptian photojournalist Asmaa Waguih takes us on a remarkable visual tour of Yemen, once thought of as a beautiful and mysterious land that was the realm of the Queen of Sheba, with over 150 full colour photographs contrasting scenes of everyday life for the people of this nation with the effects of an ongoing conflict between rival Yemeni factions, regional powers and their proxies.

“In Unfinished War, Asmaa Waguih’s striking photographs guide us through the reality and complexity of Yemen’s ongoing conflict, while also revealing the rich tapestry of the nation’s culture and history. As chronicled during her journeys throughout Yemen beginning in 2016 she ventures to chaotic front lines but also into people’s homes, showing the resilience and perseverance of ordinary Yemenis suffering nearly a decade of civil war, with more than 377,000 killed and 4.5 million displaced. With rare access, Asmaa Waguih takes us to places few photojournalists have dared to go and with a sensitivity that few possess.” John Moore, Special Correspondent for Getty Images, Pulitzer Prize winner

“The war in Yemen is perhaps the world’s largest humanitarian crisis; it is also one of the most underreported wars of our generation. Most people view it solely as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and that is where, for most, their understanding runs out. Asmaa Waguih’s new book, Unfinished War: A Journey through Civil War in Yemen, unlocks the door and takes the reader on a vivid and often heartbreaking journey through the ancient and mysterious country of Yemen. Yes, there is the bloody civil war that Asmaa catches with the skill, dexterity and compassion that stands alongside the great conflict photographers of our time, but there is more. From the amusingly named ‘Exposed Breasts’, the mountains surrounding the capital Sanaa, to the mud-brick, high-rise buildings of Shibham, the ‘Manhattan of the desert’, the images are music for the eyes. Like all great journalistic endeavours, access is everything, and Asmaa has that in spades. Join her as she travels Yemen’s richly diverse and often dangerous, enigmatic landscape - photojournalism at its finest.” Paul Conroy, award-winning combat photographer, and author of Under the Wire