First published 2009
Captain Craig Mullaney leads his infantry platoon through the mountains of Afghanistan when Al Qaeda fighters open fire on Losano Ridge. The radio crackles with devastating news: one of his soldiers is dead. Mullaney's path to this moment began at West Point, continued through the brutal trials of Ranger School, and took an unexpected detour to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. His working-class background seemed worlds apart from the academic halls of Oxford, yet those experiences would prove vital in combat leadership. Now all his preparation faces the ultimate test. Can his education prepare him for the split-second decisions that determine life and death? The firefight forces Mullaney to confront whether years of training can truly ready someone for war's harsh realities. Later, back in the United States, he teaches future Navy and Marine officers at the Naval Academy, carrying the weight of his battlefield knowledge as he prepares the next generation for their own trials.
Genres: biography, military-fiction, adventure, academic
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: Afghanistan, Oxford, United States, West Point
Period: 21st-century
400 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press HC, The