DARTMOUTH – Author and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth professor of Islamic history Brian Glyn Williams acted as a research aid during the filming and writing of “12 Strong” – an action thriller chronicling U.S. special forces fighting the Taliban in the months immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, which is based on his book, “The Last Warlord.”
Williams served as a field analyst in Afghanistan for the CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center and the U.S. Army’s Afghan-based Information Operations.
“It was an honor to interact with a team that was so dedicated to retelling the story I have told in my own book,” he said in a statement. “I was heartened by their efforts to accurately recreate both the terrain and the ‘human terrain’ I know so well and was delighted to assist in the goal of achieving maximum authenticity.”
Over the course of his career as a war-zone field researcher, Williams lived with Afghan warlords, journeyed across remote tribal zones of Pakistan, where Osama Bin Laden was killed, and visited the frontline with ISIS alongside Kurdish troops.
The film stars Chris Hemsworth and debuts across the country Jan. 19.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.
