Generation Kill

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
• Published by: Berkley Trade July 1, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0425224740
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0425224748
• Book Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 14.4 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Wright rode into Iraq on March 20, 2003, with a platoon of First Reconnaissance Battalion Marines—the Marine Corps' special operations unit whose motto is "Swift, Silent, Deadly." These highly trained and highly motivated First Recon Marines were the leading unit of the American-led invasion force. Wright wrote about that experience in a three-part series in Rolling Stone that was hailed for its evocative, accurate war reporting. This book, a greatly expanded version of that series, matches its accomplishment. Wright is a perceptive reporter and a facile writer. His account is a personality-driven, readable and insightful look at the Iraq War's first month from the Marine grunt's point of view. It jibes with other firsthand reports of the first phase of the Iraqi invasion (including David Zucchino's Thunder Run), showing the unsettling combination of feeble and vicious resistance put up by the Iraqi army, the Fedayeen militiamen and their Syrian allies against American forces bulldozing through towns and cities and into Baghdad. Wright paints compelling portraits of a handful of Marines, most of whom are young, street-smart and dedicated to the business of killing the enemy. As he shows them, the Marines' main problem was trying to sort out civilians from enemy fighters. Wright does not shy away from detailing what happened when the fog of war resulted in the deaths and maimings of innocent Iraqi men, women and children. Nor does he hesitate to describe intimately the few instances in which Marines were killed and wounded. Fortunately, Wright is not exposing the strengths and weaknesses of a new generation of American fighting men, as the misleadingly hyped-up title and subtitle indicate. Instead, he presents a vivid, well-drawn picture of those fighters in action on the front lines in the blitzkrieg-like opening round of the Iraq War.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The Washington Post
Straight from the depths of embeddedness comes Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War (Putnam, $24.95), Evan Wright's group portrait of a Marine Corps platoon that fought in Iraq last year. In Wright's view, this sample of the front line of the American military "would be virtually unrecognizable to their forebears in 'The Greatest Generation.' . . . These young men represent what is more or less America's first generation of disposable children. More than half of the guys in the platoon come from broken homes and were raised by absentee, single, working parents. Many are on more intimate terms with video games, reality TV shows and Internet porn than they are with their own parents. Before the 'War on Terrorism' began, not a whole lot was expected of this generation other than the hope that those in it would squeak through high school without pulling too many more mass shootings in the manner of Columbine." Near the end of Wright's stay, one member of the platoon concluded, "War doesn't change anything. . . . This place was [expletive] before we came, and it's [expletive] now. I personally don't believe we 'liberated' the Iraqis. Time will tell." And yet this same naysayer, Wright reports, has since signed up for another mission.

Soldiers of Misfortune
Copyright 2004, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Generation Kill (Hardcover) If you can only read one account of the Iraq War, this should be it. Wright spent about a month with a squad of recon Marines -- essentially the special forces of the corps -- and his account is nothing short of gripping. It is also exhausting, as Wright subjects the reader to a full range of emotion -- from joy to appalling horror to pride. Wright has a keen eye for the details that bring the stories of the war to life. The banter between the soldiers is fascinating and frequently hilarious, and is definitely a highlight of the book. No other account brings you closer to the men who slugged this thing out as they barreled across the Iraqi desert. It is useful to keep in mind that this book calls the shots as they are seen from a small group of soldiers on the frontline of the war. What this book is not is a comprehensive overview of the run-up to the war or of the overall strategy employed by the U.S. military. The soldiers often gripe about certain officers and decisions taken at the higher levels. Some of the complaints are balanced out with alternate views. Wright's account is valuable not for its even-handed treatment of every side in a particular issue, but for giving insight into how the men on the ground met and dealt with problems that cropped up during their historic mission. The book does dwell on a lot of the mishaps encountered by the soldiers. Among the headaches endured by Wright's squad: a lack of lubricating oil to keep their weapons functioning properly, muffed radio communication thanks to incompatible encryption, and general cluelessness about the true nature of their mission, which was basically to drive through enemy positions to draw fire so their position/size/strength could be estimated. As with any good reporter, Wright plays the facts pretty straight. There isn't much here that is partisan one way or the other. He doesn't shy away from showing the sheer horror of war, such as the case of the Iraqi driver who had the top of his head scooped out by a bullet, leaving braindead but technicaly alive, with a beating heart and working lungs as he sat at the wheel of his vehicle. Nor does Wright paper over Saddam's brutal regime, and there are several scenes in which cheering crowds lined the streets to joyously welcome the Marines. The book's title is outrageously sensationalistic, and while at the start Wright seems poised to cast the entire adventure as a tale of ultra-violent American youth numbed by years of Hollywood action flicks and bloody video games, that theme is quickly left behind. Indeed, it would be difficult to make generalizations about American troops based on this book. On the one hand, you have extremely intelligent and upright men that represent the best of America, such as the guys who essentially shame an officer into authorizing a helicopter evacuation for an Iraqi kid who was accidentally shot. On the other hand, there are examples of sheer incandescent idiocy, such as the guy who remarks how cool it would have been to drop the atomic bombs on Japan and kill a quarter million people. Highly recommended.