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    WAR
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    WAR
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    WAR
    Audiobook7 hours

    WAR

    Written by Sebastian Junger

    Narrated by Joshua Ferris

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In WAR Sebastian Junger gives breathtaking insight into the truths of war-- the fear, the honor, and the trust among men. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. Through the experiences of these young men at war, he shows what it means to fight, to serve, and to face down mortal danger on a regular basis. Read by the author.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateMay 11, 2010
    ISBN9781607881995
    Unavailable
    WAR
    Author

    Sebastian Junger

    SEBASTIAN JUNGER is the New York Times bestselling author of Tribe, War, Freedom, A Death in Belmont, Fire, and The Perfect Storm, and codirector of the documentary film Restrepo, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is also the winner of a Peabody Award and the National Magazine Award for Reporting.

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    Reviews for WAR

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    • 5/5
      Really riveting read.
    • 4/5
      Sebastian Junger in his book War gives a first hand gripping account of the warin Afghanistan from the soldiers on the front line. Junger is a top notch war corespondent going right into battle with the troops he lives with. Junger makes you feel like you are right there with the troops in the Korengal valley. He brings personal profiles and humanizing characteristics to the soldiers, their leaders and the missions. Much of what we think war and battle are like is nothing to what actually occurs. I believe that's what makes this book so interesting. War is ugly and men die and the after effects are devestating. It's also extremely boring much of the so much so that men actually can't wait to get some fighting in. No matter what your interest I believe you will find this book an interesting read. There are some follow up documentaries related to the book that are excellent.
    • 5/5
      Junger tells a great story. Amazing he and his camera man was imbedded with this group so far into the heat of the battle. As a journalist he refused to carry a weapon, so he couldn’t be considered a “combatant” tell it from a biased angle. The soldiers at the front of battle in this valley are truly a different breed. It’s no wonder they didn’t respond well to regulations and authority when they were out of combat area and on base behind the lines. I felt very sorry for the men when they had to return to “normal lives” either as civilians or in some peace side base. It sounds like many of them had many struggles adapting to the lack of adrenaline and camaraderie. Junger is very explicit of the day-to-day experiences – from low periods of extreme boredom to intense adrenaline filled excitement. Sounds like most of the soldiers would rather have the excitement than the boredom. Junger describes in such a way that the heat, smells, and tastes are palpable. Interesting how at the front lines it’s very focused on the daily combat, and most did not really care about the greater war and any progress being made. This gives me a deeper respect for our military and the sacrifices they go through. It’s not a matter of whether you support the war or not, they are putting on the line regardless.
    • 5/5
      For a long time, I put off reading Junger's book fearing it was another account of a deployment in Afghanistan or Iraq, but I was wrong. Junger follows a particular squad of infantry through a fifteen-month deployment in a contested area of Afghanistan to explore the meaning of war. This is a must-read book.
    • 4/5
      Sebastian Junger's War is a depiction of the lives of a group of men in the US military, specifically, 2nd Platoon, Battle Company of 173rd Airborne Brigade and their subsequent deployment to the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan. This a sliver of valley at the base of the desolate, rough and unforgiving Hindu Kush mountains.

      The books focus is mainly on the men of Battle Company and not the larger war effort in greater Afghanistan. It paints a picture that the men don't really care one way or the other in terms of the reasons for the war beyond survival of their platoon. It also focuses on the life, fear and courage of the men; "In some ways twenty minutes of combat is more life than you could scrape together in a lifetime of doing something else. Combat isn't where you might die - though that does happen - it's where you find out whether you get to keep living."

      Contrary to what Hollywood films would have people believe it also paints a vivid picture of the ups and downs faced by the men where, in the absence of regular life, risk is sought. One such example is a particular summer near the end of Battle Company's deployment it's noted "With summer come the twin afflictions of heat and boredom. A poor wheat harvest creates a temporary food shortage in the valley, which means the enemy has no surplus cash with which to buy ammo. Attacks drop to every week or two - not nearly enough to make up for the general [crappiness] of the place"

      I would say it fairly shows the motivations and fears of the men, and war in general whilst also addressing that the apparent lack of humanity (cheering at the death of an enemy) is in fact humanity as it's not cheering at the death of an enemy, but cheering that an enemy can no longer cause any further deaths of your comrades.
    • 5/5
      excellent battle memoir written by an observer (a reporter in this case).
    • 4/5
      Having read the very powerful, The Good Soldiers, and having already seen the author's documentary film, Restrepo, I expected to enjoy this book, but not be overly impressed. I was wrong. The book is much more interesting than Restrepo. Plus, the book is a perfect companion piece to the raw emotion of The Good Soldiers. The author is very perceptive about what he observes of modern American combat soldiers fighting in Muslim countries today. While he narrates the same highly dangerous and stimulating combat situations as those in the The Good Soldiers, he also provides facinating and useful commentary about the individual soldier-level activity.
    • 5/5
      Good through and through. Sebastian Junger is a very gifted writer that has taken some pretty crazy risks to get this book to us. And then there is the research too. Quite moving stuff. Staggering. I feel that I understand more about war and also understand I will never know the most important aspects of war. In total, such a great book, an important book.
    • 4/5
      Modern war as it is. A world so wholly alien to us in civilian life, but perhaps now we have a glimpse of what drives these men, and the intense way of life they endure.
    • 4/5
      The book follows the Second Platoon of Battle Company over the course of 15 months in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. It was a good read but not quite as substantive as others. That being said Junger's commitment to the project was admirable.
    • 5/5
      A respected NYT journalist spends extended period over a 15 month period with a combat unit in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, perhaps the most hotly contested area of the country. Besides presenting vivid portraits of both the frequent moments of adrenaline-fueled combat and the incredible boredom of a bunch of men stuck on a mountainside, he offers insights on military strategy and tactics.But the part of the book that I found the most fascinating was the author's insights on the group dynamics of a military unit. Never having served in the military (I was fortunate enough to have flat feet that exempted me from the draft during my physical in 1971), I appreciated gaining a deeper understanding of the bond that develops between members of a unit. It's a gritty and violent book, but that's the nature of war. And regardless of my political perspective, our nation will always have to be ready to go war when the proper circumstances arise.
    • 5/5
      With 11 years of service in the Army and two deployments, I've always had an interest in books about war, but as a veteran of the current conflicts, I've read many strategic and geopolitical accounts of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, but very few personal accounts of war, Doug Stanton's "Horse Soldiers" the one exception until now.I have not been in Afghanistan (only Iraq), but began my career and saw combat as a team leader in the Airborne Infantry. The portrayal of the life of the light infantry platoon and squad in war portrayed by Junger here could have as easily been about me and my hard chargers in Iraq in 2003. I and my brothers had contact with equal frequency though lower intensity (or accuracy?) during our OIF deployment as did the men at Restrepo, but the retelling in WAR had me reliving my own experience and desperately missing it.I have complained often of the portrayal of war as universally awful, and thought that that misconception was the biggest disconnect I feel between myself and civilians--that is, they seem to think my experience of war must have been awful and damaged me, but it's the most valued and positive experience of my life.Junger depicts the fight as it is to the Infantry soldier, and wonderfully portrays how and why we love it. He portrays the culture of the Airborne Infantry platoon accurately with all it's weirdness--the profanity, the good-natured and positive use of interpersonal violence within the team, the channeling of all human needs into the single expressive channel of aggression--things that to an outsider, and even to me looking back, would appear pathological, destructive, or simply insane, but which in that environment, that profession, that purpose, and that culture, serve specific, valuable purposes, make sense, and are not only appropriate but important.Phenomenal book. Anyone wanting to see what life is like as an infantry soldier should read this book.
    • 4/5
      As a journalist embedded among American soldiers in Afghanistan, Junger sees up close dangerous, dirty, and boring frontline conditions. He reports on men he comes to know and on the physical and psychological challenges faced. He weaves research into the story and delivers a complete account of modern outpost warfare, including insights into things like bonding and coping among isolated and scared infantrymen.
    • 4/5
      Junger spent five months embedded with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan’s Korengal valley and he does an outstanding job of relating the events that took place. This book is similar to many of the current crop of Afghanistan and Iraq memoirs except for two things. First, Junger is a writer. No matter how well a soldier writes, he is probably not a seasoned writer, which gives this book a different feel. Second, while Junger is with the troops, he is not one of them; this gives him a very different perspective. He comments on this while discussing why he never carried a weapon, “It would make you a combatant rather than an observer, and you’d lose the right to comment on the war later with any kind of objectivity.” WAR is really about more then the events in one valley in Afghanistan. Junger explores why men fight and why men grow to enjoy it. Once again, I find myself bothered by what we ask our young men to do.
    • 5/5
      A bit jumpy at times (chronology can be a bit confusing, and a more detailed map for reference would have been nice), but overall this is one book that I had a difficult time putting down. You don't have to be American (I'm Canadian) to appreciate what these men go through. Disturbing, honest, raw, emotionally charged, this book has it all. It's an uncompromising look at the real war on terror, and will leave you asking yourself "why?".
    • 5/5
      Everyone should read this book to start to appreciate what modern warfare is truly like for our soldiers. This is a well-written and gripping read by a journalist who was embedded in a platoon surviving the daily struggles of war in Afghanistan's dangerous Korengal Valley. Have you seen the documentary Restrepo? This is that story--moving and difficult to swallow, but a tale that needs to be told nonetheless. It's hard to imagine what these men have had to endure over there, but whatever your opinions on the Afghanistan War, this book will give you an unflinching idea of the disturbing and heartbreaking experiences of war in the 21st century.
    • 5/5
      A really good read from my perspective. It dicusses a unit's tour of duty in Afganistan from a journalists point of view. I liked the authors summation at the end, its honestly given me something to think about.
    • 3/5
      I probably would have liked it more if I had read it instead of listened. The author/narrator was so monotone that there were several periods of listening when I realized that I had zoned out completely and had to rewind. Or didn't bother rewinding.

      There were some very intense scenes and I got the point of the book and mostly enjoyed it. This is one of those audio books where the author shouldn't have done the reading.
    • 3/5
      You don't read this book to learn anything about Afghanistan. The focus is on a single infantry platoon on a mountain in the Korengal Valley, way too close to Pakistan. You're going to learn next to nothing about the Afghans living in the surrounding area, the overall strategy, global politics or why the hell the Pakistanis continues to be allowed to provide a safe haven for Taliban insurgents. Maybe Restrepo, the documentary Junger and videographer/photog Tim Hetherington (subsequently to die in Libya) were making at the same time as this material was gathered, tells something more.It is very unfortunate Junger didn't focus for on the bigger picture since he has been visiting Afghanistan since 1996,interviewed Massoud shortly before his assassination and says he cares deeply about the fate of the Afghan people. Instead, he borrows much of the techniques he applied in The Perfect Storm. Here is pulls in studies from military psychology to explain what the men in this platoon experience in the heat of combat, medical science to explain wounds and treatment, psychology to explain the brotherly bonds of love, the thrill of battle and killing. That last and the bonds explain why so many can't adjust to civilian life and sign up again, but begs the question re the nature of research and assistance for returning soldiers, (Anyone else recognize that the military psychiatrist who is much quoted was the father of writer Tama Janowitz?)Most of the time, the format just didn't work for me. He is in the midst of a a very well-written action sequence, a real firefight, and he stops to discourse on what's happening in the nervous system? I think he should have confined the science--pretty skimpy, come to that given the sparsity of references--to separate chapters.An aside: given how many months that Junger and Tim Hetherington spent living in this isolated base between 2007 and 2008, going on patrol and so on, Junger certainly can't be accused of an ego trip. I think he disclosed much too little about his own physical responses, fears and relations with the men. I kept wondering where he was when describing, say, an exchange of crossfire or a soldier getting shot while on patrol. The use of double and single quotes indicate whether a statement was directly heard or hearsay but I must say I stopped noticing. Even when I did notice, I still had the question, *but was he there?*Finally, great credit is due the US Army for giving permission to these two journalists to be embedded with this platoon and for not attaching any strings to their coverage. You're not going to read about any GIs burning the Koran or pissing on dead bodies and I'm sure Junger would tell us if he did know of such incidents.
    • 4/5
      - A must read for anyone interested in how American soldiers experience the current wars.- A story that could have been told only by a truly embedded reporter, who has perspective because it's not his fight, but who writes with the authority of someone who saw and felt it. - I appreciated how, unlike many other embedded reporters, the author did not make the book about himself.- I only wish the book had been organized more coherently, so that its insights and stories would have been more accessible. And for those of us willing to struggle with the convoluted narrative, an index would have been much appreciated.
    • 4/5
      This is an excellent and engaging study of the experience of modern warfare and, perhaps more interestingly, of masculinity and brotherhood. Junger draws upon a wide range of disciplines and sources to try to get to the core of what it means to be a soldier, to kill, to be brave, and even what it means to be a civilian. His reflexivity is a great strength, particularly the lines he perceives to be drawn where his journalistic objectivity would be compromised. The culture he uncovers throughout his fifteen-month embedding is, without a doubt, utterly fascinating. I do wish, however, that some of Tim Hetherington's photography could have been included.
    • 4/5
      Junger has made a name for himself with nonfiction books like The Perfect Storm and A Death in Belmont (both great books). His intimate writing style sucks his readers into the worlds he writes about and his latest book, War, is no exception. Junger spent 15-months following a single platoon during their time in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. He chronicles his time there, including the soldiers he meets, the obstacles they face and the even greater problems they have once the battle in over. The book is good, but as Junger himself notes, you can't be objective about something like this. I felt that sometimes his personal experiences and struggles distracted from those of the soldiers themselves. It was clearly an incredibly personal experience for him and I don't fault him for it, but it didn't add to the book for me. The most fascinating bits for me were Junger's discussion of the men's loyalty to each other. He talks about the bonds between them that supersede everything else. He also talks about the "good" aspects of war and the reasons why soldiers often have a hard time adjusting to civilian life. Junger's observations are keen and he cites many studies and historical examples to support his conclusions. It's a hard book to read, but a powerful one. A similar book to this one, which I enjoyed even more, is Ernie Pyle's Brave Men. If you liked War, I'd highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      For a long time, I have been fascinated by the breed of reporter/writer so willing to put everything on the line in order to experience warfare alongside American soldiers. It is only from these brave and talented men and women that the rest of us get a decent picture of what is really happening out there and what our young soldiers are enduring for months on end. Sebastian Junger is one of the best of the breed. I am already a fan of Junger's "The Perfect Storm" and "A Death in Belmont," both of which are excellently written, but I do believe that "War" is his best effort yet. Sebastian Junger spent more than fifteen months of 2007-2008 on the front lines in Afghanistan with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade. Admittedly, Junger was able to take breaks from the combat zone in the Korengal Valley more frequently than the men of Battle Company but, when he was there, he faced the same dangers, and lived under the same rudimentary conditions, as the professional soldiers around him. Junger went out on foot patrols, experienced enemy ambushes and sniper fire, and came close to dying when the Hummer he was riding in became the target of a roadside bomb. Consequently, he experienced the same emotions and trauma experienced by the men he came to know and understand so well. This is not a political book; Junger does not present or argue the reasons the United States has been involved in this war in Afghanistan for so many years. According to Junger, the men of Battle Company do not seem to care much one way or the other about the politics that placed them in the Korengal Valley. It is his observation, in fact, that behind-the-lines support personnel are generally more gung ho about the war than those taking fire on the front lines. The men of Battle Company waste no time worrying about the rightness or wrongness of their fight. Junger and his photographer, Tim Hetherington, shot something over 150 hours of video in Afghanistan, video Junger mined for exact quotes and a better understanding of what he lived through in real-life speed. His combat reportage, as would be expected, is excellent, capturing the tenseness of U.S. troops who must often expose themselves via foot patrols in order to make the enemy show himself long enough for air support and heavy weapons to be used against him. As Junger points out, however, the natural terrain of the Korengal Valley offsets many of the advantages one would expect a modern army to have over the few hundred Taliban fighters it faces. Snipers, roadside bombs, the ability of the enemy to blend in with the civilian population, and having to contend with so much high ground, often force these modern soldiers to revert to old school infantry tactics. "War" becomes especially interesting when Junger explores how the experience affects those on the front lines. The author explains how these young men handle their fear, how and why each of them is so willing to die for any other man in the platoon, and why so many of them wonder if they will be able to handle the boredom of the real world again after having experienced the rush of combat for so long. For the young men of Battle Company, the courage to fight comes more from love for their fellow soldier than from any sense of patriotism. No one wants to be the one to make a mistake that will cost another man his life, and all are willing to risk their own lives to save the lives of others. Amazingly, many of these young men "fall in love" with combat and miss it during the lulls between contact with the enemy. Some of them, in their boredom, even wish for their operating base to be attacked - and they shout in glee when it happens again. Despite the friends they lose, for some of them, war becomes a game in which they get to shoot amazing weapons and blow up things. Sadly, it is only when they return home that many of these men will pay a heavy price for what they have experienced. Rated at: 5.0
    • 3/5
      I'm clearly not meant to review this book. I have written two entries so far and each time have pressed some irrelevant key on the laptop, consigning my thoughts to cyberspace. So. I will be brief. This time! I read the book in one go and thought the writing tremendous. Close the book though and the doubts creep in. The title is well-chosen: it is just an abstract label. But this is war in a country. In another person's country. And it does not answer the question about why we/they are there at all. Evan Wright's 'Generation Kill' does the same thing. They tell surprising things about the young men who fight in these distant combat zones. But we are so close up to the action that we cannot see beyond or round it to get any idea of the context. I read today in the Guardian that Bush played on the myth of the old West, to re-awaken America's "oldest, darkest and most enduring folk memory: the fear of sudden attack by Indians". So 'War' is highly readable and impressive. The big question is on Junger's stance: is he deliberately looking the other way or was that not part of the plan?
    • 5/5
      An excellent first-hand account of the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Junger spent five months embedded with soldiers deployed in the Korengal Valley, the most dangerous place in the current wars with Afghanistan and Iraq. He maintains a neutral journalistic viewpoint, implying no opinion on the validity of the war, however his depiction of what the soldiers endure on a day to day basis as well as the losses suffered both in lives and mental health do much to raise questions about the cost-benefit for America's ongoing presence there.The only problems I had with this book: Other than a simple map in the front of the book, there are no pictures and/or illustrations. I would have loved to have photos of the area since Junger references them constantly. Too, I always appreciate having faces to put to the names of the men in the stories.Also, Junger sometimes goes into a level of detail about various missions and firefights that caused my eyes to glaze over. While fascinating, it becomes very hard to follow since it is a highly physical thing that is better seen and virtually impossible to describe. By the end, I tended to skim over details about specific action-heavy events.And lastly, I would have loved a final, follow-up chapter that documented where these soldiers are today as well as acknowledging that the US decided to pull out of the Korengal Valley early in 2010, adding further questions to why we were ever there in the first place.Overall, an excellent read that really helps bring the things these men have to endure to light.
    • 5/5
      Sebastian Junger’s War will be for the Afghanistan war what Michael Herr’s Dispatches was for the Vietnam War. By capturing the unabashed experience of a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, Junger has captured the essence of this war for this generation. He doesn’t debate politics, because the politics of it all mean very little to the men fighting. What matters is their collective survival and doing their job. Junger uses biology, psychology, and military history to put what these men are going through mentally and physically into context.Junger made five trips into the Korengal Valley over the course of a year. He writes this about the valley: The Korengal Valley is sort of the Afghanistan of Afghanistan: too remote to conquer, too poor to intimidate, too autonomous to buy off. The Soviets never made it past the mouth of the valley and the Taliban didn’t dare go in there at all.It is a sparsely populated slit of steep mountainsides and draws near Pakistan, and it was the most dangerous posting in Afghanistan. It is nicknamed the Valley of Death. The U.S. withdrew all troops from the valley a month before Junger’s book was published, stating a shift in strategy in the larger war effort.Junger follows several men more than others, but he never delves into one soldier’s character completely. They are a collective, and they operate as a whole. He finds that the best fighting men are the worst garrison soldiers. They’re troublemakers. In fact the platoon has a tradition of beating all new members, including officers. They beat guys when they go to and come back from R&R. The only way you can leave without getting beaten is to be wounded or dead. Speaking of being poor garrison soldiers, one soldier states, “Okay, I got to shine my fucking boots. Why do I care about shining my goddamn boots?” But these are the men you want with you in a firefight.The sheer physical toil of the war is almost unbelievable. The men tote 80 to 100 pound packs up and down steep slopes. The rocks shred their clothes. They carve an outpost out of mountainside in the middle of the night. The outposts are infested with fleas and tarantulas. And not least of all, they receive enemy fire on almost a daily basis. Junger states that the men reek of ammonia because they have burned all the fat from their bodies and are now burning muscle.The only thing worse than the physicality of the war is the psychological strain. One soldier compares the rush of adrenaline from a firefight to crack, and many of the mean don’t know how they will handle returning to the States. Junger writes: The attention to detail at a base like Restrepo forced a kind of clarity on absolutely everything a soldier did until I came to think of it as a kind of Zen practice: the Zen of not fucking up. It required a high mindfulness because potentially everything had consequences.Of course the war in Afghanistan has its own peculiarities, but it is still war. It shares what all wars have in common. When one of the men discusses signing back up after his tour despite all of the terror and violence he has experienced, Junger writes: War is a big and sprawling word that brings a lot of human suffering into the conversation, but combat is a different matter. Combat is the smaller game that young men fall in love with, and any solution to the human problem of war will have to take into account the psyches of these young men. For some reason there is a profound and mysterious gratification to the reciprocal agreement to protect another person with your life, and combat is virtually the only situation in which that happens regularly. These hillsides of loose shale and holly trees are where the men feel not most alive- that you can get skydiving- but the most utilized. The most necessary. The most clear and certain and purposeful. If young men could get that feeling at home, no one would ever want to go to war again, but they can’t.Sebastian Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington filmed a Sundance award-winning documentary about their experiences with Battle Company in the Korengal Valley. The film is name Restrepo, after the base carved in the mountainside. The base was named after a medic who was killed.
    • 5/5
      I've read a few books on first-hand war perspectives, and historical perspectives of war, but never have had a book relate the effects of war and battle on the minds & bodies of its participants with such honesty, compassion, and authority. I was speechless after finishing the book, because Junger did such a fantastic job of laying out the truth that once you've been a long-time participant in battle, nothing in life is ever quite the same. The extremes of emotion and physical exertion that the front-line fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan subject themselves make it difficult, if not impossible, to imagine yourself in their place--especially when reading about it from the comfort of your home. The digital book has caused garnered quite a bit of notice as well, because it's representative of what may be the next big thing in ebooks--imagine reading the narrative of a battle and then being able to see video of a .50 caliber gunner laying down fire from the same battle. Definitely the experience I would like to have, of multimedia integration within the text.Expect the accompanying documentary, Restrepo, to be just as good as Junger's "WAR".
    • 5/5
      War is the detailed account of the time Sebastian Junger spent in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan with the roughly thirty men of Battle Company. They were stationed at Restrepo, an outpost named for fallen medic Juan Sebastian Restrepo. A nasty two-hour uphill climb, no electricity or running water, doorless bathroom stalls, cold food; little more than rocks, dirt and holly bushes. Restrepo, and the Valley, are places where getting shot at or blown up is an almost daily occurrence. Junger details a myriad of battles, gunfights, ambushes, patrols and bombings. Depressing? No. The scenes are beautifully rendered, with a feel like Francisco de Goya's painting The Third of May. Poetry and drama. You feel like you're there. You feel the reverberations, sense the apprehension, hear the radio chatter, see the night sky. And you learn about the bewildering array of weapons. But for Junger, war isn't about guns. It's about the young men behind them.William Shakespeare wrote a little-known play called Coriolanus, the story of Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Roman hero turned outcast, then hero again. He was the ultimate warrior and it's said that his relationships on the battlefield trumped everything else. In analyzing the play, Jonathan V. Crewe, Prof. of Comparative Literature at Dartmouth, discussed the "erotic power" of the male bond. Now we are getting close to Junger's subject. After all, "Love" is the title he's given to the last section of the book.How in the neverending dirt and frustration, swearing, pissing, joking, fighting, sleepless cold nights and sweating hard days can there be love? Junger finds that it's a virtual necessity, blossoming from a deep sense of duty, trust and camaraderie. It's actually not complicated. It's life or death. You cover me, I'll cover you. This is an amazing group of guys doing their damnedest -- and often much more than that -- in a decidedly un-ideal situation. And they're doing it for each other, not necessarily for their county. The ultimate brotherhood. The men are unwavering in their support of one another, cultural, political and personal differences aside. Junger brings that out exquisitely, through their deadpan dialog and unapologetic actions.This is war and men die. But they don't flinch. And Junger, in his telling of it, doesn't either. He's made lasting connections with many of the soldiers he met and remains friends with them and their families, giving support whenever he can. He thinks this is the most important work of his life and I have to say I agree.
    • 5/5
      Sebastian Junger is one of the best writers of nonfiction out there today. His ability to describe with crystal clarity the ordeals of men in extreme circumstances is unsurpassed. He has the ability to put the reader into the middle of the action, seeing and feeling what his subjects are experiencing. I can still clearly visualize dramatic events that he describes in 'The Perfect Storm' even though it has been over ten years since I read it. I particularly enjoy anything that Junger as written about Afghanistan. He was on the ground with the Northern Alliance writing about this war before most Americans had even heard of Osama bin Ladin or the Taliban. 'War' does not disappoint. Junger's description of soldiers fighting an intractable enemy in this 'axle-breaking, helicopter-crashing, spirit-killing, mind-bending terrain that few military plans survive intact even for an hour' is magnificent. In 'War' we come to know the soldiers who serve, fight, and often die in the Korengal Valley. He also gives us insights into the enemy we are fighting there and the civilians who live in such isolation that some can't tell the difference between American soldiers and Russians. In their minds, invaders are invaders.Junger does a very good job of keeping any opinions he may have about the war out of his narrative. His job is to tell the story of the men of Battle Company and their tour of duty in the Korengal Valley and he does it very well. In fact, he does it so well that I felt like I was on a see-saw. In one minute he describes the valley and I really want to be there to see it. In the next minute, he describes troops under fire in a devastating ambush and I'm glad I'm on the other side if the earth. If you want a 'boots on the ground' description of life at the tip of the spear in Afghanistan, then this is the book you must read. Great job, Sebastian.
    • 4/5
      "Generation Kill" meets "Waiting for Godot" meets "Lord of the Flies". Junger offers an exciting account of a group of young men, US soldiers, who defend a hilltop in a distant valley in Afghanistan and slowly adopt feral and deviant behaviors. Far, far removed from civilization, they and their opponents do battle - to what purpose? Junger is a hawk. While he describes the utter futility of the men's actions (and sacrifice), he will not question their mission. What purpose does the occupation of an Afghan border valley serve? Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die. If Junger knew about history, the situation would have reminded him of Laos and Vietnam. Guerrillas with a safe havens across the border cannot be defeated. Junger approvingly quotes a US army study's quoting an officer talking about actions causing reactions. If the US army researchers or Junger knew their Clausewitz, they would have recognized one of his axioms (cribbed from Isaac Newton's third law). A better grounding and a more critical approach regarding his sources might have reduced his worship of violence. Observing these small group of men and their devotion to each other (which they show by beating each other up!), he concludes that it is the closely bonded group that they are fighting (and dying for). Except that this only presents one if important aspect (witnessed by Junger personally). Other aspects not mentioned are training, devotion to a charismatic leader (Alexander, Napoleon, Hitler, ,,,) or ideology. After all. these boys are engaged in the Manichaean War on Terror, fighting them over there to keep their loved ones or the uninterested at home "safe". America outsources the bleeding and suffering to the poor, the destitute, the immigrant and the ignorant. One protagonist's options are the bottle, jail or the army. Another joined the army to escape drug dealing and death in the streets. Like Wellington's scum of the earth, these modern buffalo soldiers have taken the King's shilling to do the King's bidding (mainly filling the Afghan air with lead). Whom they are actually fighting against or if there exists a possibility of winning this war, doesn't interest Junger.What interests him is observing these young men in their special biotope. Isolated on a hilltop from civilization and humanity, they develop strange behaviors, described in three parts titled "fear", "killing" and "love". Fear and killing are adequate descriptive terms. What Junger classifies as "love" includes shockingly deviant behavior. The boys on the hill develop a severe case of Lord of the Flies. What starts as beating/assaulting each other ("jumping") turns to constant threats of (simulated?) man rape. The men opt to move around only in pairs, literally covering their backs. A strange way to express their "love" for each other. This atmosphere of sexual harassment and intimidation (probably learned from the US prison culture some of these men have experienced) shows a shocking dereliction of duty and incompetence of their commanding officers and their NCOs. What is Junger's duty as a witness of such behavior? When does he start to be an accomplice? His non-analytical and uncritical writing exposes glaring command and leadership problems in the US army.Junger's description of the small unit fighting in the Korengal Valley is well written, engaging and often witty. The portraits of the men, their actions and their emotions in combat is outstanding. The writing is also a testament to the fighting capability and willingness of the Taliban who stand their ground, badly armed and trained, against the whole technological might of the US army. Only their (nearly unlimited) firepower guarantees tactical victories for the US forces.While one protagonist's story hints at the psychological cost of war, Junger never crosses the line to write an anti-war book. He celebrates these warriors without any thoughts that their comradeship is used to nefarious purposes and their learned behaviors will haunt America for decades. This inability to see the futility and wrongfulness of war (and the exceptional and deviant pathology this platoon develops) prevents the book from being more than war porn.