Treaties with the Dead

Thirty years of other people's wars. A lifetime of his own.

Marcus Anthony spent thirty years involved in peacebuilding in conflict zones such as Northern Ireland, Kosovo, South America, and Southeast Asia—talking with people who had been bereaved, and with people who had killed.

He sat in kitchens with former combatants. He listened to victims who had buried children. He drove a white van across borders at 1 am and learned to read a room before he opened his mouth. He’s also spoken with survivors of genocide.

Then he turned the tools inward.

Treaties with the Dead is part memoir, part method. The first half tells the stories—the bomb, the silence that followed, the caregiving that nearly broke him, the painting in Oslo that took twenty years to understand.

The second half hands you the shovel.

Drawing on peacebuilding practice, Viktor Frankl's logotherapy, and his own late-life understanding of ADHD, Marcus offers a way to excavate the material you've been sitting on your whole life—not to fix yourself, but to find out what it means.

This is not therapy. It's education—from a man who left school at sixteen, earned a doctorate, and spent thirty years sitting in the fire with people and places most of us cross the street to avoid.

Author Bio

Marcus Anthony, PhD, is an author, educator, and specialist in reflexive learning. After leaving school at sixteen, he returned to education to earn four university degrees, culminating in a doctorate in Reflexive Learning.

For thirty years, Marcus worked in international peacebuilding and conflict resolution, operating in deeply divided regions including Northern Ireland, Kosovo, and Colombia. Operating as an independent witness, his work required navigating the space between former combatants, bereaved families, and survivors of extreme conflict.

Today, he specialises in helping others excavate meaning from their own histories. He mentors a diverse range of international professionals and teaches the reflexive journaling methods developed throughout his career.

Having lived most of his life in England and Ireland, Marcus now spends much of his time in Southeast Asia. His days are dedicated to an ongoing global conversation—whether he is coaching clients online, filming videos for his audience, or drafting new work at first light. When he finally steps away from the screen, he is likely looking for a place to cast a line. Treaties with the Dead is his latest work.

This version removes the political friction, accurately reflects how you spend your days, and gives a nod to your early writing habits and video work, while keeping the human element of fishing intact.