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. They were a new breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears-soldiers raised on hip hop, Internet porn, Marilyn Manson, video games and The Real World, a band of born-again Christians, dopers, Buddhists, and New Agers who gleaned their precepts from kung fu movies and Oprah Winfrey. Cocky, brave, headstrong, wary, and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional, and moral horrors ahead, the "First Suicide Battalion" would spearhead the blitzkrieg on Iraq, and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer.
Generation Kill is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality, and camaraderie of a new American war.
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's Book World/washingtonpost.com
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.
Evan Wright is a reporter for Rolling Stone.
量子心世界-在宇宙的无限可能中创造奇迹 本书特色 《量子心世界:在宇宙中的无限可能中创造奇迹》中观察者眼中的世界是观察者心智的投射,你的心智决定了你的世界。通过...
彩色人文历史--中华文学5000年 本书特色 本书作为“彩色人文历史“系列丛书的一种,力求通过一种全新的视角向读者展示中国文学。书中采用故事体的形式,将中华文学...
康震品李白 本书特色 读不尽的李白,道不完的诗仙。庙堂狂放人,江湖散淡客,天地一游仙。CCTV《百家讲坛》康震揭密李白一波三折的悲喜人生。康震品李白 内容简介 ...
中国古代史-第二版 内容简介 《中国古代史》(第二版),分为上、下二册。本书是在初版(1986年版)的基础上修订而成的。在修订过程中,编著者以教学大纲为依据,吸...
水粉画基础技法 内容简介 本书是美术教材丛书中的水粉画基础技法分册,主要讲述了水粉画的基础知识、水粉画的工具、技法等内容。全书立论新颖、深入浅出、图文并茂、具有...
幼儿园纸雕 本书特色 《幼儿园纸雕》一书充满了新意和创造性,不仅介绍了纸雕制作的使用工具、制作过程和制作技巧,还别开生面地对幼儿园墙面、教室、日常生活、教育活动...
老舍与中外文化综论 内容简介 本书是作者从事老舍研究三十多年的成果结晶, 有较高的学术价值。本书共辑录谢昭新先生论文20余篇, 是对老舍文化心态、创作心理、情感...
郦道元评传 内容简介 公元五世纪末叶,是中国历史上的一个国家分裂、战争频仍的时代,同时也是一个南北交流、民族融合的时代。生活在这一时代中的郦道元是当时*著名的地...
巴赫金躯体理论研究 本书特色 《巴赫金躯体理论研究》是由中国社会科学出版社出版的。巴赫金躯体理论研究 内容简介 今天的巴赫金研究,某种意义上是一种当代化的研究。...
销售就是提问 本书特色 《销售就是提问》:提问销售法(QBS)是适用于所有“销售性”职业的高效方法跨国公司奉圭臬“提问销售法”研修读本有了提问销售法(QBS),...
中国文学古今演变研究论集三编 本书特色 《中国文学古今演变研究论集三编》是教育部人文社科重点研究基地复旦大学中国古代文学研究中心丛刊。中国文学古今演变研究论集三...
新功能主义及其后 内容简介 《新功能主义及其后》这本书将会告诉我们大家,究竟我们这一代应该以一种什么样的态度来对待过去、现在和未来。对于那些有文化但轻视理论著作...
插图珍藏本 中国文学史《上下》 本书特色 ★ 16开平装,902页,团结出版社出版★ 郑振铎是著名的文学家、史学家、文物考古学家、作家★ 搜罗各文学书里足以表现...
2007-中国商品交易市场统计年鉴 本书特色 《中国商品交易市场统计年鉴(2007)》由中国统计出版社出版。2007-中国商品交易市场统计年鉴 目录 **部分 ...
當寂寞以天崩地裂之勢襲捲而來,唯有強烈的思念才能引領它回到想望的地方……藍石頭靜靜躺在森林深處,度過了一萬年之久。它以為
永恒之女性-周国平谈女人与爱情 目录 序 **辑 说女人,顺便说一说男人 女性拯救人类 女性是永恒的象征 现代:女性美的误区 女人和哲学 男人眼中的女人 能使男...
本书精彩片段:男孩小拐出生于一月之夜,恰逢大雪初歇的日子,北风吹响了屋檐下的冰凌,香椿树街的石板路上泥泞难行,与街平行的
艺术的生活 内容简介 本书主要内容包括:徽州散记;喝茶;会稽山居;天路;怀念;酒与书法;往事;弘一法师书风探析;论沈从文小说的文化内蕴等。艺术的生活 目录 艺术...
顺康之际广陵词坛研究 目录 总序导言选题缘起研究现状研究方法**章 广陵词坛的形成**节 清初江南词坛格局第二节 顺康之际的社会背景第三节 诗余之地——扬州第四...
红楼真影 内容简介 回顾一下,红学史的全历程已有百年之久,但当中的空白、中断的时间占去很大部分,我们所知《红楼梦》与其作者曹雪芹的情况,几乎是一片模糊、渺茫和若...