<![CDATA[In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat in Iraq]]>

false <![CDATA[In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat in Iraq]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179190517m/886862.jpg 886862 8 The advent of embedded reporters in the opening days of the 2003 US war on Iraq meant a more direct and personal point of view than battlefield coverage has historically offered. Rick Atkinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for An Army at Dawn, an account of combat in North Africa during World War II, traveled with the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army from its deployment out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky through its entry into Baghdad. The result, In the Company of Soldiers, is a thoroughly engrossing look at the strategies, personalities, and struggles of waging modern warfare. Much of Atkinson's focus falls on the division's leader, the hugely competitive and charismatic Major General David Petraeus, who seems to guide his troops through Iraq by sheer force of will. Atkinson devotes most of his time to the senior commanders, but the loss of the G.I. perspective, while disappointing, is outweighed by Atkinson's access to the minds of the brass who must navigate an Iraq whose citizens were not nearly as happy as military planners had hoped and who offered resistance in ways other than what the Americans had prepared for. While plenty has been written about the American military effort in Iraq, Atkinson's perspective, combined with a direct, economical writing style, allows him to present sides to the war not often seen or considered: long periods of waiting punctuated with mad scrambles to apply gas masks, fretting over how to pack all necessary supplies into tiny kits, dealing with dust storms that can ground state of the art attack helicopters, and reading the irreverent yet shrewdly observant graffiti left by American soldiers. In the Company of Soldiers lionizes the American military officers but it neither condemns nor offers unqualified praise to the US effort in Iraq. Indeed, the disturbing omens of chaos hinted at soon after the invasion began in the spring of 2003 would come into sharper relief when the book was published a year later. --John Moe 872120 6 5 2004 In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat in Iraq total:140|5:23|4:55|3:46|2:13|1:3| 140 502 191 19 3 0 false false Thu May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jan 03 09:19:23 -0800 2009 Sat May 23 09:15:50 -0700 2009
Lots of minutiae about somewhat random things, like discussions over whether to tape or paint helico...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 11 20:12:17 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 20:38:16 -0700 2008
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It is an engrossing picture of a ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 02 12:05:03 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 13:26:13 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 16 09:47:07 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 09:59:41 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Wed Feb 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 07:34:46 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 06:21:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 true false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 27 09:31:27 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 27 09:39:17 -0800 2007 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sun Sep 28 18:48:21 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 17:01:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 27 13:30:42 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 27 13:32:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon May 14 17:55:37 -0700 2007 Mon May 14 18:01:58 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 30 18:24:50 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 30 18:31:42 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 20:39:25 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 20:46:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jul 04 13:43:50 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 13:47:11 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Mar 26 20:14:40 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 19 13:22:57 -0700 2008 3 0 true false Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 06 15:32:50 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 11 07:39:34 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Tue Oct 23 09:28:37 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 17 06:50:24 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Fri May 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 24 12:18:57 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 14:48:04 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Fri Jun 20 06:43:49 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 04:00:20 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Oct 21 20:41:09 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 21 20:42:35 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Nov 27 08:55:11 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 27 08:55:11 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=886862