Under Fire is an account of Dan Cruickshank and David Vincent's quest for the fragile treasures and wonders of a world caught up in conflict. Travelling in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine, their personal account of cultures in extremis also reveals the spirit and history of the people they meet on their journeys. searched for the country's great treasures, travelling out into the country in the aftermath of the war. There he discovered the heroism of individuals who had saved many precious artworks, but he also found the remains of the destruction of the Taliban, including the two giant Buddhas. Carved into the mountainside of the Hindu Kush Range on the Silk Route in the second century, the Buddhas survived until March 2001 when the Taliban destroyed them. he rapidly found that he was also witnessing a side of Afghanistan so rarely seen in newspaper headlines: its culture and the spirit of its people. attention to Iraq.