by Jake Tapper
First published 2012
Jake Tapper reconstructs the deadly assault on Combat Outpost Keating that began at dawn on October 3, 2009. His investigation reveals how 53 American soldiers found themselves trapped at the base of three mountains, facing nearly 400 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's remote Nuristan province. Tapper traces the outpost's troubled history over more than three years, positioned just 14 miles from Pakistan in an indefensible valley. He exposes the strategic failures that led to this vulnerable placement and examines the Pentagon's eventual conclusion that the base served no military purpose. The book chronicles both the heroism of soldiers under fire and the command decisions in Washington that put them at risk. Tapper's reporting captures a war marked by shifting objectives and the human cost of tactical confusion.
Genres: war, military-fiction, action, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: heroism, human-cost
Setting: Afghanistan, Nuristan Province, Pakistan
Period: 2009
673 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, war