The Good Soldiers

“Brilliant, heartbreaking, deeply true. The Good Soldiers offers the most intimate view of life and death in a twenty-first-century combat unit I have ever read. Unsparing, unflinching, and, at times, unbearable.” —Rick Atkinson, author of An Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle

“Finkel has made art out of a defining moment in history. You will be able to take this book down from the shelf years from now and say: ‘This is what happened. This is what it felt like.’” —Doug Stanton, The New York Times Book Review

With The Good Soldiers, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Finkel has produced an eternal story — not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.

It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. It became known as “the surge.” Among those called to carry it out were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.

Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home — forever changed. The chronicle of their tour is gripping, devastating, and deeply illuminating for anyone with an interest in human conflict.