The Heart and the Fist

The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

By: Eric Greitens

Narrated by: Eric Greitens

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Like many young idealists, Eric Greitens wanted to make a difference. During college and afterward, he traveled to the world's trouble spots, working in refugee camps, serving the sick and the poor on four continents, from Gaza to Croatia to Mother Teresa's home in Calcutta, among others. Yet he could not prevent violence or save anyone from becoming a refugee; he could only step in afterward and try to ease the damage. So Eric joined the Navy SEALs and became an elite warrior.

In a moving and inspiring memoir, told with genuine humility, Eric offers something new in the history of military memoirs: a warrior who wanted to be strong to be good, only to discover that he had to be good to be strong. Throughout his SEAL training and deployments in Kenya, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the lessons of his humanitarian work bore fruit. The result is a lesson for us all: the heart and fist together are more powerful than either one alone.

©2011 Eric Greitens (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This tale of [Greitens's] dual military/humanitarian effort could be paired with Rye Barcott's It Happened on the Way to War." ( Library Journal)

Fascinating story, very interesting point!

The writer's a bit self-righteous, but unlike 99.99% of self-righteous people he can totally back it up! It starts out a bit slow--the first part is about his less-exciting humanitarian work, but the second part about his Navy Seal time and how much more effective it was in helping oppressed people around the world was extremely interesting.

My Hero!

I am unable to do justice to how excellent this book is... There is no way for me to ever do justice to the man Eric Greitens is.

His other book resilience I have literally bought and have given 22 copies to date, I will be passing these out now as well.

Truly awesome

I took a lot from this book and applied it to my leadership role in law enforcement.

Memoir from a modern warrior philosopher

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely, this book was entertaining, thoughtful and well written. Made me think about the role of compassion and force and how they can be used together despite their apparently opposing nature.

What does Eric Greitens bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Having the book narrated by the author really brought it to life, especially the stories about SEAL training.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Deals with heavy themes of combat, violence, hardship, etc.

A Great, and Non-Standard War Book

I loved this book. The author is the narrator, and although his voice isn't the greatest, I 5-starred the performance category because he's good enough, and it's always preferable to have the author read their own books.

This guy's perspective as a former humanitarian aid volunteer who then became a SEAL commander is very unique. His insights, derived from the unique prism of experience through which he observes things is very very interesting.

The first half of the book is about his life in general. And like all SEAL books this one seems to have the obligatory large section about BUDS, but this book is about this guy's life, instead of about something else, so it made more sense here.

I highly recommend this book.

From Oxford to Afghanistan

STORY (True) -- This is the personal memoir of a remarkable young man named Eric Greitens. He attended Oxford and excelled scholastically, and he also traveled to many poverty-stricken countries to aid children and victims of genocide or war. His impression was always the same...we're here too late, why are we handing out food when we should have stopped this from happening in the first place? He also adopted an attitude of "If not me, then who?" He reached a point in his life where he had three paths before him. He could stay and teach at Oxford, work for a Fortune 500 company making megabucks or join the Navy. He chose the latter.

A major portion of the book is Eric's going through boot camp and training to become a Navy SEAL. It's detailed and fascinating. You will spend lots of time listening to what goes on during Hell Week, which is the grueling final test which must be passed before becoming a SEAL. All I can say is Wow! After graduation, you will hear of multiple SEAL missions in which he participated, most of which were in Afghanistan trying to capture high-ranking members of terrorist groups.

The end of the book is a very short bit about the organization Eric has formed to help veterans. The book definitely sends some important messages and will leave you thinking about them.

PERFORMANCE - The author narrates his own memoir and it was good to hear Eric's voice. He does a good job, but personally I would have preferred a professional narrator.

OVERALL (Actual rating 4.5) This is a great book. I'm not rating it a 5 because I was anxious for the SEAL part to start and was less interested in his college years and humanitarian efforts. There's a little bit of profanity, but not much. Eric describes the sad conditions he finds overseas and speaks frankly about his military missions, but I didn't find anything overly gross or depressing. I'd recommend this book for guys over about age 15. Females probably won't be interested in the subject matter till they're older.

Excellent.

Would you listen to The Heart and the Fist again? Why?

I generally do not re-read or re-listen to books, but there are certain sections in The Heart and the Fist that I would repeat to remember specific details more clearly.

What did you like best about this story?

Eric Greitens' account of his life, his thought processes, and his determination to "walk the walk" so to speak are the best parts of this book, which is really the entire story itself. It is rare to hear about someone who will study and write his opinions about such heavy topics who then decides that if he writes about it he must be willing to do it. Additionally, I really like audiobooks that are read by the author as you get the true emphasis on the important parts of the story. Of the many military memoirs I have read, this is at the top of my list of favorites.

Have you listened to any of Eric Greitens’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I have not. However, I would read and/or listen to another book by this author.

The best book on audible!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love this book, Eric is an amazing person and has a great story to tell. Since the story is personal an sometimes emotional it enhances the story telling having the author narrate.

Eric's story shows us that there's so much important work to be done in the world and that service to others is the path to an interesting and joyful life. This book is so good, download it now.

What about Eric Greitens’s performance did you like?

The stories are his personal experiences which adds something. Plus his voice is easy going and easy to listen to. His reading was great.

Any additional comments?

So good, Download it!

Inspirational!

Would you listen to The Heart and the Fist again? Why?

Yes, this book is a strong reminder of our responsibility to be of service to others

What other book might you compare The Heart and the Fist to and why?

Although there are some differences I would recommend "On Call in Hell" or "Paradise General"

Any additional comments?

This book is really interesting, often suspenseful, and difficult to put down but the overall message is one that applies to everyone and is very inspirational. This is a book that everyone needs to read/listen too!

Amazing

Usually I read leadership and business development books. I'm not really one for autobiographies or stories of people's lives. But this one was fantastic. So many great takeaways and he fantastic example of taking each life experience and turning it into a coachable skill