The Good Soldiers

By: David Finkel

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it "the surge". "Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences," he told a skeptical nation.

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.

Critic reviews

100 Notable Books of 2009 (The New York Times)

Best Books of 2009 (Publishers Weekly)

Best Nonfiction of 2009 (The Boston Globe)

Best Reads of 2009 (Slate.com)

Best Books of 2009: Nonfiction (Christian Science Monitor)

"Finkel's keen firsthand reportage, its grit and impact only heightened by the literary polish of his prose, gives us one of the best accounts yet of the American experience in Iraq." ( Publishers Weekly)

"A superb account of the burdens soldiers bear." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Worth it

This is one damn good book. I was the spouse of one the 2-16 soldiers during the Surge and I have heard and seen a lot but I never saw it quite like the book depicts it. Thank you David Finkel for putting the truth out there.

10 Stars

You will cry/sob laugh and have more feeling in your heart that you knew possible

Accuracy

A well written accurate telling if a battalion of infantry in one area of Iraq. What they endured. What they felt. What they did it did not accomplish.

Great book! Wonderfully descriptive!

I really enjoyed the descriptive style used. The reader is well selected for his style and cadence. Great match! Great book!

I'm left with love and anger.

If I were sitting with the auther, David Finkel, I'd thank him, deeply grateful for the gift of this story. I believe i've spent the last 11 hours with the 216th Battilion, the "Rangers"... But really, it wasn't 11 hours, it was 15 months of active duty...or the 24 months this story encompases. Had I not read David's book, I'd be empty of an important part of so many "Good Soldiers". Again, thank you, David Finkel, for this gift.

The good soldiers

Great book. Once the Iraq war is a subject for university history students it will be required reading.

Well Written

I absolutely loved this book. The story of the 2-16th captured me and in many instances touched my heart.

SAD but true

I liked the book for its real storyline but thought it to be too sad for my liking.
There is alot of feeling and not enough action for me.

Great book on a tragic war

An excellent book on America's twenty first century Vietnam. The reader is excellent as well. Every American needs to read/listen to this book so we can all understand just what we are asking of our young men when we put them in harm's way.

Phenomenal

Very interesting perspectives and a great story told very well. God bless our troops and our fallen brothers.