false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255830454m/4645750.jpg 4645750 8 <b>From the <I>New York Times</i>-bestselling author of In <I>Harm's Way</i> comes a true-life story of American soldiers overcoming great odds to achieve a stunning military victory.</b><P><I>Horse Soldiers</i> is the dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to war on horses against the Taliban. Outnumbered forty to one, they pursued the enemy across mountainous terrain and, after a series of intense battles, captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was strategically essential if they were to defeat the Taliban.<P>The bone-weary American soldiers were welcomed as liberators, and overjoyed Afghans thronged the streets. Then the action took a wholly unexpected turn. During a surrender of six hundred Taliban troops, the Horse Soldiers were ambushed. Dangerously outnumbered, they fought for their lives in the city's immense fortress, Qala-i-Janghi, or the House of War. At risk were the military gains of the entire campaign: if the soldiers perished or were captured, the effort to defeat the Taliban might be doomed.<P>As the Americans struggled to hold the fortress, they faced some of the most intense urban warfare of our time. But until now the full story of the Horse Soldiers has never been told. Doug Stanton received unprecedented cooperation from the U.S. Army's Special Forces soldiers and Special Operations helicopter pilots, as well as access to voluminous after-battle reports. In addition, he interviewed more than one hundred participants and walked every inch of the climactic battleground.<P>This exciting story is filled with unforgettable characters: brave Special Forces soldiers, tough CIA operatives, cunning Afghan warlords, anxious stateside soldiers' wives who do not know where their husbands have gone, and humble Afghan boys spying on the Taliban.<P>Deeply researched and beautifully written, Stanton's account of America's quest to liberate an oppressed people touches the mythic. The Horse Soldiers combined ancient strategies of cavalry warfare with twenty-first-century aerial bombardment technology to perform a seemingly impossible feat. Moreover, their careful effort to win the hearts of local townspeople and avoid civilian casualties proved a valuable lesson for America's ongoing efforts in Afghanistan.<P><I>Horse Soldiers</i> is a big-hearted and thrilling read, with an epic story that reaches not just across the cold mountains of Afghanistan but into the homes of small-town America, and confirms Doug Stanton as one of our country's preeminent storytellers. 3681388 2005 Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan (t) total:183|5:45|4:86|3:41|2:10|1:1| 183 713 423 66 4 0 false false Fri Sep 18 12:12:25 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 12:14:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 06:49:05 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 11:36:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed May 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 17:17:18 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 16:58:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jul 21 15:47:28 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 16:01:27 -0700 2009
How'd they do it? Riding horses shoulder-to-shoulder with the in...more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 09:45:57 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 13:54:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Jun 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 05:06:32 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 12:03:40 -0700 2009
The characters were too numerous to follow a narrative, the details too sound-byte-ish to follow the procedural.

But perhaps the worst infraction that a flash-in-the-pan, not-intended-to-be-on-bookstore-shelves-two-years-from-now book, c...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 11:38:51 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 05:25:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Oct 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 17:23:09 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 16:40:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 02:57:47 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 03:36:07 -0700 2009
After further reading, I offer this further advice: skip the ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 16:29:09 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 20:38:56 -0700 2009 What this handful of dedicated, professional, Special Forces and CIA operatives accomplished will more than likely never be repeated ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 12 13:25:43 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 13:34:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 08:21:11 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 09:30:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jul 04 08:10:58 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 08:19:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Sep 04 18:21:49 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 18:24:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 14:38:36 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 20 13:25:00 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 12:40:34 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 12:45:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 11:56:41 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 14:43:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 18:35:28 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 18:42:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 02 13:25:16 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 13:29:07 -0700 2009 Besides being factual, this is a fun read too. We are talking about the Anerican Special Forces soldiers who participated in the first cavalry charge of the 21st Century. It is also a reminder that our modern wars may require planning and excecution rather different from what our military wa...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 08:46:49 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 10:14:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4645750