The Good Soldiers
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Good Soldiers
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mark Boyett
-
By:
-
David Finkel
About this listen
Among those listening 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.
Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad almost every grueling step of the way. What was the true story of the surge? Was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines.
Combining the action of Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale - not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.
©2009 Dave Finkel (P)2009 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Thank You for Your Service
- By: David Finkel
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 198
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 200
No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of those same men as they’ve returned home and struggled to reintegrate - both into their family lives and into American society at large.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wrenching
- By Scott on 01-03-14
By: David Finkel
-
Generation Kill
- By: Evan Wright
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,014
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,640
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,641
They were called a generation without heroes. Then they were called upon to be heroes. Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the 23 Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Politically Neutral??.....Not.
- By Brett on 11-26-12
By: Evan Wright
-
Black Hearts
- One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death
- By: Jim Frederick
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,325
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,137
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,143
This is the story of a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division's fabled 502nd Infantry Regiment - a unit known as the Black Heart Brigade. Deployed in late 2005 to Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death, a veritable meat grinder just south of Baghdad, the Black Hearts found themselves in arguably the country's most dangerous location at its most dangerous time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sadness
- By Richard on 04-02-19
By: Jim Frederick
-
Devil in the Grove
- Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
- By: Gilbert King
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,354
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,109
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,100
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the US Supreme Court when he became embroiled in a case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and to cost him his life. In 1949, Florida's orange industry was booming, and citrus barons got rich on the backs of cheap Jim Crow labor with the help of Sheriff Willis V. McCall, who ruled Lake County with murderous resolve....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the fight for civil rights
- By Jean on 01-17-14
By: Gilbert King
-
The Hardhat Riot
- Nixon, New York City, and the Dawn of the White Working-Class Revolution
- By: David Paul Kuhn
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
In May 1970, four days after Kent State, construction workers chased students through downtown Manhattan, beating scores of protesters bloody. As hardhats clashed with hippies, it soon became clear that something larger was underway - Democrats were at war with themselves. In The Hardhat Riot, David Paul Kuhn tells the fateful story of when the white working class first turned against liberalism, when Richard Nixon seized the breach, and America was forever changed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written and deeply researched
- By Paula Pant on 02-02-23
By: David Paul Kuhn
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,297
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,845
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,846
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
Thank You for Your Service
- By: David Finkel
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 198
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 200
No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of those same men as they’ve returned home and struggled to reintegrate - both into their family lives and into American society at large.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wrenching
- By Scott on 01-03-14
By: David Finkel
-
Generation Kill
- By: Evan Wright
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,014
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,640
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,641
They were called a generation without heroes. Then they were called upon to be heroes. Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the 23 Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Politically Neutral??.....Not.
- By Brett on 11-26-12
By: Evan Wright
-
Black Hearts
- One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death
- By: Jim Frederick
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,325
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,137
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,143
This is the story of a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division's fabled 502nd Infantry Regiment - a unit known as the Black Heart Brigade. Deployed in late 2005 to Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death, a veritable meat grinder just south of Baghdad, the Black Hearts found themselves in arguably the country's most dangerous location at its most dangerous time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sadness
- By Richard on 04-02-19
By: Jim Frederick
-
Devil in the Grove
- Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
- By: Gilbert King
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,354
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,109
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,100
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the US Supreme Court when he became embroiled in a case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and to cost him his life. In 1949, Florida's orange industry was booming, and citrus barons got rich on the backs of cheap Jim Crow labor with the help of Sheriff Willis V. McCall, who ruled Lake County with murderous resolve....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the fight for civil rights
- By Jean on 01-17-14
By: Gilbert King
-
The Hardhat Riot
- Nixon, New York City, and the Dawn of the White Working-Class Revolution
- By: David Paul Kuhn
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
In May 1970, four days after Kent State, construction workers chased students through downtown Manhattan, beating scores of protesters bloody. As hardhats clashed with hippies, it soon became clear that something larger was underway - Democrats were at war with themselves. In The Hardhat Riot, David Paul Kuhn tells the fateful story of when the white working class first turned against liberalism, when Richard Nixon seized the breach, and America was forever changed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written and deeply researched
- By Paula Pant on 02-02-23
By: David Paul Kuhn
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,297
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,845
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,846
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
Razor 03
- A Night Stalker’s Wars
- By: Alan C. Mack
- Narrated by: Alan C. Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 293
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 279
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 279
The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force—Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s. Their two-fold mission–Personnel Recovery (PR) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) involved flying in terrain and weather previously not thought possible. If that wasn’t enough, they pushed the flight envelope of their specially modified Chinooks to the limit and beyond.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The honesty of the author
- By Daniel on 06-10-24
By: Alan C. Mack
-
WAR
- By: Sebastian Junger
- Narrated by: Sebastian Junger
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,616
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,945
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,938
Junger turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat - the fear, the honor, and the trust among men in an extreme situation whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Why we fight re-visited
- By J on 09-20-10
By: Sebastian Junger
-
The Chosen Few
- A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan
- By: Gregg Zoroya, William H. McRaven - foreward
- Narrated by: Gregg Zoroya
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,360
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,247
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,235
A single company of US paratroopers—calling themselves the "Chosen Few"—arrived in eastern Afghanistan in late 2007 hoping to win the hearts and minds of the remote mountain people and extend the Afghan government's reach into this wilderness. Instead, they spent the next fifteen months in a desperate struggle, living under almost continuous attack, forced into a slow and grinding withdrawal, and always outnumbered by Taliban fighters descending on them from all sides.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wow! What an amazing group of men!
- By Myla on 06-22-18
By: Gregg Zoroya, and others
-
Outlaw Platoon
- Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
- By: Sean Parnell, John Bruning
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7,377
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,692
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,679
At 24 years of age, U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell was named commander of a forty-man elite infantry platoon - a unit that came to be known as the Outlaws - and was tasked with rooting out Pakistan-based insurgents from a mountain valley along Afghanistan's eastern frontier. Parnell and his men assumed they would be facing a ragtag bunch of civilians, but in May 2006 what started out as a routine patrol through the lower mountains of the Hindu Kush became a brutal ambush.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book...Everyone should listen to this book!!
- By Chris on 04-09-12
By: Sean Parnell, and others
-
The Things They Carried
- By: Tim O'Brien
- Narrated by: Bryan Cranston
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,253
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,813
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11,779
Hailed by The New York Times as "a marvel of storytelling", The Things They Carried’s portrayal of the boots-on-the-ground experience of soldiers in the Vietnam War is a landmark in war writing. Now, three-time Emmy Award winner-Bryan Cranston, star of the hit TV series Breaking Bad, delivers an electrifying performance that walks the book’s hallucinatory line between reality and fiction and highlights the emotional power of the spoken word.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Heavy Load
- By Mel on 10-28-13
By: Tim O'Brien
-
Joker One
- A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood
- By: Donovan Campbell
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 567
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 409
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 411
When Donovan Campbell's platoon deployed to Ramadi in the spring of 2004, they believed they'd be spending most of their time building schools, training police, and making friends with the citizens. But shortly after arriving, when Campbell awoke to the chilling cry of "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" echoing from minaret to minaret across the city, he knew they had an altogether different situation on their hands.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Terrible Narration Hurts Good Story
- By Chris on 01-29-10
By: Donovan Campbell
-
The Last Punisher
- A SEAL Team Three Sniper's True Account of the Battle of Ramadi
- By: Kevin Lacz, Ethan E. Rocke, Lincy Lacz
- Narrated by: Timothy Phillips
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,525
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,071
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,061
The Last Punisher is a bold, no-holds-barred first-person account of the Iraq War. With wry humor and moving testimony, Kevin Lacz tells the story of his tour in Iraq with SEAL Team Three, the warrior elite of the navy. This legendary unit, known as The Punishers, included Chris Kyle ( American Sniper), Mike Monsoor, Ryan Job, and Marc Lee. These brave men were instrumental in securing the key locations in the pivotal 2006 Battle of Ramadi, told with stunning detail in this book.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good story, poorly read
- By Dusty on 09-03-16
By: Kevin Lacz, and others
-
We March at Midnight
- A War Memoir
- By: Ray McPadden
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 435
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 386
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 385
We March at Midnight is award-winning author Ray McPadden’s chronicle of his experience as a highly decorated Ranger officer leading some of the most dangerous missions during the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars. In 2005, Ray joined the army in search of what he calls “the moment” - a chance to prove to himself and his brothers in arms that he is a true leader. His job is to establish the first outpost in the Korengal, Afghanistan’s deadliest valley, and his decisions and mistakes will have a permanent impact on the men he commands.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The honesty of it all
- By Wendy Rose on 04-14-22
By: Ray McPadden
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 11,065
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9,944
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 9,896
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
Red Platoon
- A True Story of American Valor
- By: Clinton Romesha
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Clinton Romesha
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,358
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,085
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,077
In 2009 Clinton Romesha of Red Platoon and the rest of the Black Knight Troop were preparing to shut down Command Outpost Keating, the most remote and inaccessible in a string of bases built by the US military in Nuristan and Kunar in the hope of preventing Taliban insurgents from moving freely back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three years after Keating's construction, the army was finally ready to concede what the men on the ground had known immediately: It was simply too isolated and too dangerous to defend.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must Read for Comfortable, Non-combatant Americans
- By Rum Runner on 11-21-18
By: Clinton Romesha
-
Into the Fire
- A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
- By: Dakota Meyer, Bing West
- Narrated by: Zach McLarty
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,530
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,236
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,233
In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out 100 men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, 21 year-old Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exceptional Memoir
- By Jean on 06-26-16
By: Dakota Meyer, and others
-
The Outpost
- An Untold Story of American Valor
- By: Jake Tapper
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 22 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,908
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,715
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,716
At 6:00 a.m. on the morning of October 3, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating was viciously attacked by Taliban insurgents. The 53 U.S. troops, having been stationed at the bottom of three steep mountains, were severely outmanned by nearly 400 Taliban fighters. Though the Americans ultimately prevailed, their casualties made it one of the war's deadliest battles for U.S. forces. And after more than three years in that dangerous and vulnerable valley a mere 14 miles from the Pakistan border, the U.S. abandoned and bombed the camp.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good, could have been great.
- By Ryan on 01-22-13
By: Jake Tapper
Editorial reviews
During the troop surge in Iraq in 2007, Washington Post journalist David Finkel was embedded for eight months with Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich - a determined, optimistic, inspired leader - and his unit: the 2-16 Second Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment from Fort Riley, Kansas.
The 2-16 were deployed at the time in an area of intense insurgent activity in eastern Baghdad. Finkel writes, “From the beginning I explained to [the soldiers] that my intent was to document their corner of the war, without agenda. This book, then, is that corner, unshaded.” In fact, much of the book’s success stems from the open access granted to Finkel and the soldiers’ willingness to share their stories.
Finkel casts light on virtually all aspects of the 2-16’s “corner of the war”, including unflinching descriptions of deaths, and the profoundly destructive injuries inflicted by improvised explosive devices. Finkel’s descriptions are deeply moving and in many cases profoundly disturbing. But this is war, this is what the soldiers experienced, and Finkel aims to document the sacrifices these soldiers made that enabled the surge to succeed.
The Good Soldiers, besides being a valuable and unforgettable document, honors the men of the 2-16 Second Battalion. Written as a nonfiction novel, its prose style is simple and brilliantly effective.
Relatively new to audiobook narration, actor Mark Boyett has a strong, young voice whose articulation, pace, and clarity will resonate inside a car, a hall, or your head. He easily and naturally shifts his voice from the narrator’s point of view to the words of the many people chronicled in this book. A great range of emotions is expressed in The Good Soldiers, and Boyett adeptly inhabits these characters as he gives voice to the words they express. –David Chasey
Critic reviews
Featured Article: The 20 Best Military Audiobooks from History to Fiction and Beyond
The titles that fall under the designation of military audiobooks are more varied and diverse than you might think. From firsthand combat accounts to imaginative works of fiction, these listens cover a lot of ground on both domestic and international disputes, scientific and sociological analyses, male and female perspectives, lessons from victory and loss, and more. What they have in common, though, are themes of courage, loss, and determination.
What listeners say about The Good Soldiers
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- C. Irwin
- 03-01-10
This book is amazing, but brutal
The journalist writing this book is awesome at putting this story together. A lot of the reviews talk about the repetiveness, but that was an effect the author was using to drive home particular points. I loved it and thought it was well used and totally appropriate. The narrator for this book was perfect as well. I've had good audiobooks with terrible narrators that made the listen unbearable. Not so with this book.
The subject matter is hard to digest at times. The author spares nothing and the stories he tells of the American soldiers and the Iraqi civilians caught in the crossfire is heartbreaking. The people and places are real. You can google the KIA and read their tributes in the Washington Post. It makes the war very real. We all should be paying attention whats going on in the Middle East and supporting our troops no matter how we feel about the war. This book brings that home.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
64 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Michael Moore
- 02-27-10
Not for the Fainthearted!
A searing account of the trials, wounds, and frustrations of a battalion of combat infantry soldiers posted to a dangerous region of Baghdad during the 2007 "surge." The writing is riveting: direct, factual and first-hand. The author was "embedded" with the soldiers for eight months of their 15 month tour of duty. He describes in vivid detail the injuries (14 were killed) suffered by the soldiers from hidden roadside explosives, a menace these troops faced every day. You will take from this book an unforgettable appreciation of the combat horrors our troops face in Iraq and Afghanistan. We all owe them a monumental debt of gratitude for the dangers they face and the wounds so many of them and their families have endured.
My only criticism of the book is that its focus on the frustrations, injuries and deaths suffered by these soldiers appears calculated to lead to a foreordained conclusion that the whole deployment was pointless and that the Iraqis they were trying to help were hopeless, incompetent, or hostile. There is an "Oh, by the way" tone to the relatively few mentions of the successes that were achieved during the surge: much reduced death rates among coalition troops, improved security in much of Baghdad; even functioning gas stations in the battalion's own area.
The book clearly illustrates the hard choices we face in dealing with the violent extremists in the Middle East. They are brutal and without conscience or good sense in inflicting terror, torture and destruction on any (including their neighbors) whom they see in their way. Our military response is at best a stopgap: it is necessary for self defense, but it does not build the personal ties or trust and goodwill we need in order to build lasting peace and security.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- John C
- 06-07-18
A real war story
If your looking for RAMBO or some other type of movie-ish type book. This ain’t it. Very jeering,raw and gritty. Definitely worth your time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jimmy K
- 09-13-18
Enlightening
This book gave me for the first time in my life a clear understanding of war. The effect war has on the soldiers, their families and the interpreters who risk their lives to assist. The description of the wounded soldiers , the hospitals and rehabilitation center was just so informative. I wish our countries leaders would think about the devastating effects on all who participate before committing our military forces to such horrendous circumstances.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-28-18
Good insight into war on the ground
What made the experience of listening to The Good Soldiers the most enjoyable?
Excellent writing by the author. Also read well by the narrator. Because it is an "on the ground" narrative, there is little perspective on the overall war effort and the motivation to launch "the surge". Despite this, the futility of the "war to win hearts and minds" came through the writing clearly. I am searching for the book which explains why such a noble-sounding initiative didn't work.
What did you like best about this story?
Information about the Iraq War in 2008
Have you listened to any of Mark Boyett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Who said it would be easy?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amanda Poe
- 07-26-18
Excellent
An excellent book! Drives home how much our soldiers sacrifice. Narrator puts listener with them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- em
- 08-16-18
Good read
This is an excellent book that vividly describes the horrors of combat. The author does a good job balancing the violence and politics of war. I thoroughly enjoyed how the author captured the point of view from all levels of leadership from field grade officers down to brand new privates. The book is a little repetitive. I understood the point of the repetition; to drive in specific points or to simply demonstrate the monotony of a deployment.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shelly Dee
- 06-05-18
Some Football Players Need to Read This
The stress, stench, and unimaginable horrors described on these pages gives a new understanding to the whys of PTSD. I had to listen to this in small doses -- the vision of "Bob" will be a lasting one in my mind's eye. Perhaps this should be required reading for American football players and others who choose to spit in the face of America. Stellar reporting; excellent narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ali Dadpay
- 07-02-18
Sobering and Surreal
very moving narrative, focused only on the soldiers and nothing else. some might say any story about Iraq should include the people, the fact that only few are represented here speaks volume of the alienated nature of war. The writer highlights the death and the pain soldiers encountered with little mention of any achievement. The book is good to understand the pain and the sufferings soldiers endured and nothing morem
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- DPM
- 02-28-14
Compelling, moving, disturbing
I listened to this book right after " Duty" by Robert Gates ( the latter which, without hesitation, I also recommend). Althought there have been books books and news articles and tv shows and documentaries on the two wars, Gates ( from high above) and Finkel ( down with the troops) give the listener the perspective of the danger, resolution and disillusionment of the men ( as much as any of us safe at home can begin to understand). I found the narrator excellent and fit exactly the sentiment of the book
Excellent excellent book. I recommend
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
15 people found this helpful