This book is not what you may think it is, namely the "war is hell" theme or "we're fighting for our country" mantra. "War" is not a political book. The reasons for the war and whether it is right or wrong, the author says, is left for politicians to haggle over.

Between June 2007 and June 2008, journalist Sebastian Junger made five trips to the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan. He was "embedded" with American troops, meaning that he was "entirely dependent on the U.S. military for food, shelter, security, and transportation."

The Korengal Valley is a particularly bad place to be in terms of fighting, and the Taliban proved to be an unconventional fighting force.

For instance, the Taliban would pay a teenager $5 to go up in the hills and start shooting at an American outpost. When the Americans returned fire the teenager would put down his weapon and disappear down the back side of the hill. The Americans knew about this stunt, but they had to waste an entire afternoon and lots of manpower to make sure it was a stunt and not a beginning of a "firefight."

The Taliban would also leave weapons lying at various points in the hills. They would walk unarmed through villages - often past American soldiers - up into the hills, pick up the weapons and start shooting.

"War" focuses on the soldiers, the bond among them, and their thoughts about what they do and why they do it. As I mentioned earlier, the big picture of why we are in Afghanistan, as far as the troops are concerned, is something for the politicians to argue about. They are fighting to that they can go on living and so that their buddies can go on living.

This book shows how war changes people, for better and for worse. It has changed my preconceived ideas about our veterans, and I highly recommend it for everyone, but especially for those of you who have never seen combat.