
Un-American
A Soldier's Reckoning of Our Longest War
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to Cart failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Please try again
Unfollow podcast failed
Please try again
LIMITED TIME OFFER
3 months free
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Buy for $20.30
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
-
Narrated by:
-
Christopher Ragland
-
By:
-
Erik Edstrom
"Eloquent, devastating . . . packed with gimlet-eyed analysis — cultural, economic, historical — of how American life came to look the way it does . . . Edstrom’s keen observational powers encompass both the physical world and social nuance." —Los Angeles Review of Books
A manifesto about America’s unchallenged war machine, from an Afghanistan veteran and new kind of military hero.
Before engaging in war, Erik Edstrom asks us to imagine three, rarely imagined scenarios: First, imagine your own death. Second, imagine war from “the other side.” Third: Imagine what might have been if the war had never been fought. Pursuing these realities through his own combat experience, Erik reaches the unavoidable conclusion about America at war. But that realization came too late—the damage had been done.
Erik Edstrom grew up in suburban Massachusetts with an idealistic desire to make an impact, ultimately leading him to the gates of West Point. Five years later, he was deployed to Afghanistan as an infantry lieutenant. Throughout his military career, he confronted atrocities, buried his friends, wrestled with depression, and struggled with an understanding that the war he fought in, and the youth he traded to prepare for it, was in contribution to a bitter truth: The War on Terror is not just a tragedy, but a crime. The deeper tragedy is that our country lacks the courage and conviction to say so.
Un-American is a hybrid of social commentary and memoir that exposes how blind support for war exacerbates the problems it’s intended to resolve, devastates the people allegedly being helped, and diverts assets from far larger threats like climate change. Un-American is a revolutionary act, offering a blueprint for redressing America’s relationship with patriotism, the military, and military spending.©2020 Erik Edstrom (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Listeners also enjoyed...




















1) An army can not win a guerilla war. They are not trained to compete on that level.
2) We would not fight to win. We would fight to fight.
I was also saddened by the number of patriotic Americans signing up to go off to fight the war on terror. This wasn't like WWII where we would be entering a normally fought war. This was different. No one would know what to expect.
When a friend first told me about this book, and the premise of the book, I was intrigued. The interview I first read with Erik Edstrom sold me. Not being a veteran, not having first hard knowledge of the details, I finally found someone who believed as I did - and they had the details!!! This book is a required read/listen for anyone that considers themselves a true American.
Erik starts with his beliefs, then he tells you his story. You need to know his story before he can unload the facts upon you -and unload them he does. Now, the story is from his perspective, but it does not make it any less factual. He then goes on to provide you with insight on how our country can truly become great again. Truly become great again and not continue to help terrorize the rest of the world.
This book is not anti-anything. The story is intended to open your eyes and to get your to think on your own without following the national pied piper. And I believe it does this.
My father, two uncles, and cousin are all veterans. My uncles in WWII, my dad at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, my cousin as a Vice Admiral and commander of the George Washington Task Force in the WOT. I can tell you that my dad, who fought for veterans rights his entire life, would appreciate this book because he lived his own version of military incompetence.
This book may not be for you. But if accumulating knowledge and having your eyes opened to injustice is part of your nature, then it is for you.
Unbelievable Must Read Book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This Veteran supports many of the points in this book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Must read/listen by every US citizen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Book is well read on audible but the reader does get a lot of the acronyms wrong typical of this type of military fare. EG. 5.56mm bullets being pronounced 5 hundred 56 mm bullets. if that bugs you it's noticeable otherwise not a problem.
Don't pass this book up the guys earned the right to say what he has to say. It's perfectly timed at the ending of the Afghan war. An excellent way to take stock of what the guy on the ground pays for our military adventurism.
USA Infantry Officer tells his story. 2000s GWOT
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Un-American: A Soldier's Reckoning of Our Longest War is a hard pill to swallow for anyone who serves, or who has served, in the Military, but it is a necessary pill for the health of our profession and the Nation. It strives valiantly to right the wrongs of so many decisions made by civilian and Military leaders over the past 20 plus years spanning four Presidencies. At the very least, the book's message pleads with us to be more aware and to question the legitimacy and morality of the conflicts we as warriors and responsible citizens are endorsing with our service and political consent. I encourage all of us honorable and dedicated citizens and service members to read this book with an open mind and a humble heart. I must warn you now that it won't be an easy task for some of you. I will admit that it was a struggle for me to put aside my personal biases and emotional reactions to get to the end. If I can do it, then anyone can.
I am a Sergeant First Class in the Army Infantry now; a far cry from the naive and impressionable Private I started out as. I have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and I have experienced firsthand the loss of my Soldiers dying. Reading Un-American definitely brought back a lot of hard memories and forced me to face them head on. As a seasoned Non-Commissioned Officer, I was initially defensive and critical of Edstrom's views at the outset of the book. It took me to the final section before a switch finally was flipped inside me, and I understood where he was coming from. He was not attacking my 11 years of faithful Military service; he was shedding a light on the shadows that haunt our country's past and plague our current foreign policy. He forces you to look head on in the mirror and ask yourself to reconcile your patriotism with your humanity. We all must conduct a moral and ethical compass check to determine if our collective azimuth is on course. This book has helped me re-zero my sights on what my duties are as a responsible leader in today's modern Army. It has inspired me to take the torch that Edstrom holds out to us all to light the way forward as citizens and responsible, servant leaders and lead in a way that honors all that have fallen in this war and protect the lives of those who are still alive with dignity and respect.
A Must Read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Some valid points-some not so valid points
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.