First published 2015
In Sangin, Afghanistan's most lethal district, fifty Marines from 3rd Platoon face an invisible enemy that strikes without warning. Battalion 3/5 has already suffered more casualties than any other unit in the Afghan war. The Secretary of Defense offers to pull them out, but the Marines push forward instead. Each day they patrol two and a half miles through territory where every step might trigger an IED. The enemy appears like ghosts, attacks, then vanishes. Half the platoon won't make it home intact. When leaders fall, others step up to replace them. Francis West embedded with these Marines and used their handwritten logs to tell their story. The book examines what bonds these warriors together under impossible conditions and critiques the failed strategy that put them in harm's way. This is combat seen through the eyes of the men who fought it, revealing both their courage and the flawed leadership that demanded they act as nation builders while fighting for survival.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, action, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: leadership, survival
Setting: Sangin, Afghanistan
Period: Afghan War
336 pages · Paperback · Random House Publishing Group
Content warnings: death, violence