The Good Soldiers
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mark Boyett
-
By:
-
David Finkel
About this listen
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.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Thank You for Your Service
- By: David Finkel
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of those same men as they’ve returned home and struggled to reintegrate - both into their family lives and into American society at large.
-
-
Wrenching
- By Scott on 01-03-14
By: David Finkel
-
Generation Kill
- By: Evan Wright
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were called a generation without heroes. Then they were called upon to be heroes. Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the 23 Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam.
-
-
Politically Neutral??.....Not.
- By Brett on 11-26-12
By: Evan Wright
-
Black Hearts
- One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death
- By: Jim Frederick
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division's fabled 502nd Infantry Regiment - a unit known as the Black Heart Brigade. Deployed in late 2005 to Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death, a veritable meat grinder just south of Baghdad, the Black Hearts found themselves in arguably the country's most dangerous location at its most dangerous time.
-
-
Sadness
- By Richard on 04-02-19
By: Jim Frederick
-
Devil in the Grove
- Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
- By: Gilbert King
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the US Supreme Court when he became embroiled in a case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and to cost him his life. In 1949, Florida's orange industry was booming, and citrus barons got rich on the backs of cheap Jim Crow labor with the help of Sheriff Willis V. McCall, who ruled Lake County with murderous resolve....
-
-
the fight for civil rights
- By Jean on 01-17-14
By: Gilbert King
-
The Hardhat Riot
- Nixon, New York City, and the Dawn of the White Working-Class Revolution
- By: David Paul Kuhn
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In May 1970, four days after Kent State, construction workers chased students through downtown Manhattan, beating scores of protesters bloody. As hardhats clashed with hippies, it soon became clear that something larger was underway - Democrats were at war with themselves. In The Hardhat Riot, David Paul Kuhn tells the fateful story of when the white working class first turned against liberalism, when Richard Nixon seized the breach, and America was forever changed.
-
-
Beautifully written and deeply researched
- By Paula Pant on 02-02-23
By: David Paul Kuhn
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
Thank You for Your Service
- By: David Finkel
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of those same men as they’ve returned home and struggled to reintegrate - both into their family lives and into American society at large.
-
-
Wrenching
- By Scott on 01-03-14
By: David Finkel
-
Generation Kill
- By: Evan Wright
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were called a generation without heroes. Then they were called upon to be heroes. Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the 23 Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam.
-
-
Politically Neutral??.....Not.
- By Brett on 11-26-12
By: Evan Wright
-
Black Hearts
- One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death
- By: Jim Frederick
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division's fabled 502nd Infantry Regiment - a unit known as the Black Heart Brigade. Deployed in late 2005 to Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death, a veritable meat grinder just south of Baghdad, the Black Hearts found themselves in arguably the country's most dangerous location at its most dangerous time.
-
-
Sadness
- By Richard on 04-02-19
By: Jim Frederick
-
Devil in the Grove
- Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
- By: Gilbert King
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the US Supreme Court when he became embroiled in a case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and to cost him his life. In 1949, Florida's orange industry was booming, and citrus barons got rich on the backs of cheap Jim Crow labor with the help of Sheriff Willis V. McCall, who ruled Lake County with murderous resolve....
-
-
the fight for civil rights
- By Jean on 01-17-14
By: Gilbert King
-
The Hardhat Riot
- Nixon, New York City, and the Dawn of the White Working-Class Revolution
- By: David Paul Kuhn
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In May 1970, four days after Kent State, construction workers chased students through downtown Manhattan, beating scores of protesters bloody. As hardhats clashed with hippies, it soon became clear that something larger was underway - Democrats were at war with themselves. In The Hardhat Riot, David Paul Kuhn tells the fateful story of when the white working class first turned against liberalism, when Richard Nixon seized the breach, and America was forever changed.
-
-
Beautifully written and deeply researched
- By Paula Pant on 02-02-23
By: David Paul Kuhn
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
Razor 03
- A Night Stalker’s Wars
- By: Alan C. Mack
- Narrated by: Alan C. Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force—Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s. Their two-fold mission–Personnel Recovery (PR) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) involved flying in terrain and weather previously not thought possible. If that wasn’t enough, they pushed the flight envelope of their specially modified Chinooks to the limit and beyond.
-
-
The honesty of the author
- By Daniel on 06-10-24
By: Alan C. Mack
-
WAR
- By: Sebastian Junger
- Narrated by: Sebastian Junger
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Junger turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat - the fear, the honor, and the trust among men in an extreme situation whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.
-
-
Why we fight re-visited
- By J on 09-20-10
By: Sebastian Junger
-
The Chosen Few
- A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan
- By: Gregg Zoroya, William H. McRaven - foreward
- Narrated by: Gregg Zoroya
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A single company of US paratroopers—calling themselves the "Chosen Few"—arrived in eastern Afghanistan in late 2007 hoping to win the hearts and minds of the remote mountain people and extend the Afghan government's reach into this wilderness. Instead, they spent the next fifteen months in a desperate struggle, living under almost continuous attack, forced into a slow and grinding withdrawal, and always outnumbered by Taliban fighters descending on them from all sides.
-
-
Wow! What an amazing group of men!
- By Myla on 06-22-18
By: Gregg Zoroya, and others
-
Outlaw Platoon
- Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
- By: Sean Parnell, John Bruning
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 24 years of age, U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell was named commander of a forty-man elite infantry platoon - a unit that came to be known as the Outlaws - and was tasked with rooting out Pakistan-based insurgents from a mountain valley along Afghanistan's eastern frontier. Parnell and his men assumed they would be facing a ragtag bunch of civilians, but in May 2006 what started out as a routine patrol through the lower mountains of the Hindu Kush became a brutal ambush.
-
-
Great book...Everyone should listen to this book!!
- By Chris on 04-09-12
By: Sean Parnell, and others
-
The Things They Carried
- By: Tim O'Brien
- Narrated by: Bryan Cranston
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by The New York Times as "a marvel of storytelling", The Things They Carried’s portrayal of the boots-on-the-ground experience of soldiers in the Vietnam War is a landmark in war writing. Now, three-time Emmy Award winner-Bryan Cranston, star of the hit TV series Breaking Bad, delivers an electrifying performance that walks the book’s hallucinatory line between reality and fiction and highlights the emotional power of the spoken word.
-
-
Heavy Load
- By Mel on 10-28-13
By: Tim O'Brien
-
Joker One
- A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood
- By: Donovan Campbell
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Donovan Campbell's platoon deployed to Ramadi in the spring of 2004, they believed they'd be spending most of their time building schools, training police, and making friends with the citizens. But shortly after arriving, when Campbell awoke to the chilling cry of "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" echoing from minaret to minaret across the city, he knew they had an altogether different situation on their hands.
-
-
Terrible Narration Hurts Good Story
- By Chris on 01-29-10
By: Donovan Campbell
-
The Last Punisher
- A SEAL Team Three Sniper's True Account of the Battle of Ramadi
- By: Kevin Lacz, Ethan E. Rocke, Lincy Lacz
- Narrated by: Timothy Phillips
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Last Punisher is a bold, no-holds-barred first-person account of the Iraq War. With wry humor and moving testimony, Kevin Lacz tells the story of his tour in Iraq with SEAL Team Three, the warrior elite of the navy. This legendary unit, known as The Punishers, included Chris Kyle ( American Sniper), Mike Monsoor, Ryan Job, and Marc Lee. These brave men were instrumental in securing the key locations in the pivotal 2006 Battle of Ramadi, told with stunning detail in this book.
-
-
Good story, poorly read
- By Dusty on 09-03-16
By: Kevin Lacz, and others
-
We March at Midnight
- A War Memoir
- By: Ray McPadden
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We March at Midnight is award-winning author Ray McPadden’s chronicle of his experience as a highly decorated Ranger officer leading some of the most dangerous missions during the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars. In 2005, Ray joined the army in search of what he calls “the moment” - a chance to prove to himself and his brothers in arms that he is a true leader. His job is to establish the first outpost in the Korengal, Afghanistan’s deadliest valley, and his decisions and mistakes will have a permanent impact on the men he commands.
-
-
The honesty of it all
- By Wendy Rose on 04-14-22
By: Ray McPadden
-
With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
-
Red Platoon
- A True Story of American Valor
- By: Clinton Romesha
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Clinton Romesha
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2009 Clinton Romesha of Red Platoon and the rest of the Black Knight Troop were preparing to shut down Command Outpost Keating, the most remote and inaccessible in a string of bases built by the US military in Nuristan and Kunar in the hope of preventing Taliban insurgents from moving freely back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three years after Keating's construction, the army was finally ready to concede what the men on the ground had known immediately: It was simply too isolated and too dangerous to defend.
-
-
Must Read for Comfortable, Non-combatant Americans
- By Rum Runner on 11-21-18
By: Clinton Romesha
-
Into the Fire
- A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
- By: Dakota Meyer, Bing West
- Narrated by: Zach McLarty
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out 100 men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, 21 year-old Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades.
-
-
Exceptional Memoir
- By Jean on 06-26-16
By: Dakota Meyer, and others
-
The Outpost
- An Untold Story of American Valor
- By: Jake Tapper
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 22 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 6:00 a.m. on the morning of October 3, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating was viciously attacked by Taliban insurgents. The 53 U.S. troops, having been stationed at the bottom of three steep mountains, were severely outmanned by nearly 400 Taliban fighters. Though the Americans ultimately prevailed, their casualties made it one of the war's deadliest battles for U.S. forces. And after more than three years in that dangerous and vulnerable valley a mere 14 miles from the Pakistan border, the U.S. abandoned and bombed the camp.
-
-
Good, could have been great.
- By Ryan on 01-22-13
By: Jake Tapper
Editorial reviews
During the troop surge in Iraq in 2007, Washington Post journalist David Finkel was embedded for eight months with Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich - a determined, optimistic, inspired leader - and his unit: the 2-16 Second Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment from Fort Riley, Kansas.
The 2-16 were deployed at the time in an area of intense insurgent activity in eastern Baghdad. Finkel writes, “From the beginning I explained to [the soldiers] that my intent was to document their corner of the war, without agenda. This book, then, is that corner, unshaded.” In fact, much of the book’s success stems from the open access granted to Finkel and the soldiers’ willingness to share their stories.
Finkel casts light on virtually all aspects of the 2-16’s “corner of the war”, including unflinching descriptions of deaths, and the profoundly destructive injuries inflicted by improvised explosive devices. Finkel’s descriptions are deeply moving and in many cases profoundly disturbing. But this is war, this is what the soldiers experienced, and Finkel aims to document the sacrifices these soldiers made that enabled the surge to succeed.
The Good Soldiers, besides being a valuable and unforgettable document, honors the men of the 2-16 Second Battalion. Written as a nonfiction novel, its prose style is simple and brilliantly effective.
Relatively new to audiobook narration, actor Mark Boyett has a strong, young voice whose articulation, pace, and clarity will resonate inside a car, a hall, or your head. He easily and naturally shifts his voice from the narrator’s point of view to the words of the many people chronicled in this book. A great range of emotions is expressed in The Good Soldiers, and Boyett adeptly inhabits these characters as he gives voice to the words they express. –David Chasey
Critic reviews
Featured Article: The 20 Best Military Audiobooks from History to Fiction and Beyond
The titles that fall under the designation of military audiobooks are more varied and diverse than you might think. From firsthand combat accounts to imaginative works of fiction, these listens cover a lot of ground on both domestic and international disputes, scientific and sociological analyses, male and female perspectives, lessons from victory and loss, and more. What they have in common, though, are themes of courage, loss, and determination.
Related to this topic
-
The Long Road Home
- A Story of War and Family
- By: Martha Raddatz
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 2004, soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division were on a routine patrol in Sadr City, Iraq, when they came under surprise attack. Eight Americans would be killed and more than 70 wounded. Back home, as news of the attack began filtering in, the families of these same men feared the worst. This intimate portrait of the close-knit community of families Stateside, the unsung heroes of the military, distinguishes The Long Road Home from other stories of modern warfare.
-
-
Narrator spoils this one
- By Four Bears on 12-09-07
By: Martha Raddatz
-
The Odyssey of Echo Company
- The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War
- By: Doug Stanton
- Narrated by: CJ Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful work of literary military history from the New York Times best-selling author of In Harm's Way and Horse Soldiers - the harrowing and redemptive account of an American army platoon fighting for survival during the Vietnam War.
-
-
Great look into what a Nam solder endured.
- By Tony on 12-13-17
By: Doug Stanton
-
The Ragged Edge
- A US Marine’s Account of Leading the Iraqi Army Fifth Battalion
- By: Michael Zacchea, Ted Kemp
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a time when the United States debates how deeply to involve itself in Iraq and Syria, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Zacchea, USMC (Ret.), holds a unique vantage point on our still-ongoing war. Deployed to Iraq in March 2004, his team's mission was to build, train, and lead in combat the first Iraqi army battalion trained by the US military. Zacchea tells a deeply personal and powerful story while shedding light on the dangerous pitfalls of training foreign troops to fight murderous insurgents.
-
-
Lessons on cultural values
- By lorraine on 04-05-24
By: Michael Zacchea, and others
-
The Forever War
- By: Dexter Filkins
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, we witness the chain of events that began with the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, continued with the attacks of 9/11, and moved on to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Forever War allows us a visceral understanding of today's battlefields and of the experiences of the people on the ground, warriors and innocents alike. It is a brilliant, fearless work, not just about America's wars after 9/11, but ultimately about the nature of war itself.
-
-
A memorable "read"
- By TCinDC on 02-16-09
By: Dexter Filkins
-
Thank You for Your Service
- By: David Finkel
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of those same men as they’ve returned home and struggled to reintegrate - both into their family lives and into American society at large.
-
-
Wrenching
- By Scott on 01-03-14
By: David Finkel
-
Where Cowards Go to Die
- By: Benjamin Sledge
- Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While serving a portion of his time under the Special Operations Command, Benjamin Sledge fought to keep his humanity amid the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But war never leaves its participants unscathed. In Where Cowards Go to Die, Sledge reveals an unflinchingly honest portrait of war that few dare to tell.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening
- By Matthew Orlandi on 07-29-22
By: Benjamin Sledge
-
The Long Road Home
- A Story of War and Family
- By: Martha Raddatz
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 2004, soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division were on a routine patrol in Sadr City, Iraq, when they came under surprise attack. Eight Americans would be killed and more than 70 wounded. Back home, as news of the attack began filtering in, the families of these same men feared the worst. This intimate portrait of the close-knit community of families Stateside, the unsung heroes of the military, distinguishes The Long Road Home from other stories of modern warfare.
-
-
Narrator spoils this one
- By Four Bears on 12-09-07
By: Martha Raddatz
-
The Odyssey of Echo Company
- The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War
- By: Doug Stanton
- Narrated by: CJ Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful work of literary military history from the New York Times best-selling author of In Harm's Way and Horse Soldiers - the harrowing and redemptive account of an American army platoon fighting for survival during the Vietnam War.
-
-
Great look into what a Nam solder endured.
- By Tony on 12-13-17
By: Doug Stanton
-
The Ragged Edge
- A US Marine’s Account of Leading the Iraqi Army Fifth Battalion
- By: Michael Zacchea, Ted Kemp
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a time when the United States debates how deeply to involve itself in Iraq and Syria, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Zacchea, USMC (Ret.), holds a unique vantage point on our still-ongoing war. Deployed to Iraq in March 2004, his team's mission was to build, train, and lead in combat the first Iraqi army battalion trained by the US military. Zacchea tells a deeply personal and powerful story while shedding light on the dangerous pitfalls of training foreign troops to fight murderous insurgents.
-
-
Lessons on cultural values
- By lorraine on 04-05-24
By: Michael Zacchea, and others
-
The Forever War
- By: Dexter Filkins
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, we witness the chain of events that began with the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, continued with the attacks of 9/11, and moved on to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Forever War allows us a visceral understanding of today's battlefields and of the experiences of the people on the ground, warriors and innocents alike. It is a brilliant, fearless work, not just about America's wars after 9/11, but ultimately about the nature of war itself.
-
-
A memorable "read"
- By TCinDC on 02-16-09
By: Dexter Filkins
-
Thank You for Your Service
- By: David Finkel
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of those same men as they’ve returned home and struggled to reintegrate - both into their family lives and into American society at large.
-
-
Wrenching
- By Scott on 01-03-14
By: David Finkel
-
Where Cowards Go to Die
- By: Benjamin Sledge
- Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While serving a portion of his time under the Special Operations Command, Benjamin Sledge fought to keep his humanity amid the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But war never leaves its participants unscathed. In Where Cowards Go to Die, Sledge reveals an unflinchingly honest portrait of war that few dare to tell.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening
- By Matthew Orlandi on 07-29-22
By: Benjamin Sledge
-
Echo in Ramadi
- The Firsthand Story of U.S. Marines in Iraq's Deadliest City
- By: Scott A. Huesing
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the winter of 2006 through the spring of 2007, 250 marines from Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment, fought daily in the dangerous, dense city streets of Ramadi, Iraq, during the Multi-National Forces Surge ordered by President George W. Bush. The marines' mission: to kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces. Their experience: like being in hell. Now Major Scott A. Huesing, the commander who led Echo Company through Ramadi, takes listeners back to the streets of Ramadi in a visceral, gripping portrayal of modern urban combat.
-
-
Combat is Combat
- By Calvin Guthrie on 05-21-18
By: Scott A. Huesing
-
Tough as They Come
- By: Travis Mills, Marcus Brotherton, Gary Sinise - foreword
- Narrated by: Travis Mills
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thousands of soldiers die every year to defend their country. United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was sure that he would become another statistic when, during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was caught in an IED blast four days before his 25th birthday. Against the odds, he lived, but at a severe cost - Travis became one of only five soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to survive a quadruple amputation.
-
-
So-so
- By Rachael Shook on 02-16-19
By: Travis Mills, and others
-
Dispatches
- By: Michael Herr
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From its terrifying opening to its final eloquent words, Dispatches makes us see, in unforgettable and unflinching detail, the chaos and fervor of the war and the surreal insanity of life in that singular combat zone. Michael Herr’s unsparing, unorthodox retellings of the day-to-day events in Vietnam take on the force of poetry, rendering clarity from one of the most incomprehensible and nightmarish events of our time.
-
-
All of the reviews are correct.
- By Mark Thoreson on 01-18-22
By: Michael Herr
-
The Gift of Valor
- A War Story
- By: Michael M. Phillips
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every day ordinary young Americans are fighting and dying in Iraq, with the same bravery, honor, and sense of duty that have distinguished American troops throughout history. One of these is Jason Dunham, a 22-year-old Marine corporal from the one-stoplight town of Scio, New York, whose stunning story reporter Michael M. Phillips discovered while he was embedded with a Marine infantry battalion in the Iraqi desert.
-
-
Semper Fi
- By James on 07-31-05
-
Trident
- The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader
- By: Jason Redman, John Bruning
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Decorated Navy SEAL Lieutenant Jason Redman served his country courageously and with distinction in Colombia, Peru, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where he commanded mobility and assault forces. But his journey was not without its supreme challenges. He was critically wounded in 2007 when he was struck by machine-gun fire at point blank range. During his intense recovery period, Redman posted a sign on his door, warning all who entered not to "feel sorry for [his] wounds."
-
-
SEALS and Leadership
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 06-20-14
By: Jason Redman, and others
-
All the Ways We Kill and Die
- An Elegy for a Fallen Comrade, and the Hunt for His Killer
- By: Brian Castner
- Narrated by: Brian Castner
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The EOD - explosive ordnance disposal - community is tight-knit, and when one of their own is hurt, an alarm goes out. When Brian Castner, an Iraq War vet, learns that his friend and EOD brother Matt has been killed by an IED in Afghanistan, he goes to console Matt's widow, but he also begins a personal investigation. Is the bomb maker who killed Matt the same man American forces have been hunting since Iraq, known as the Engineer?
-
-
It was an eye opening book.
- By Travis Garrett on 10-09-17
By: Brian Castner
-
Violence of Action
- The Untold Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror
- By: Charles Faint, Marty Skovlund Jr., Leo Jenkins
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden, Paul Boehmer, Emily Durante
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Violence of Action is much more than the true, first-person accounts of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Global War on Terror. Within this audio are the heartfelt, firsthand accounts from and about the men who lived, fought, and died for their country, their regiment, and each other. Objective Rhino, Haditha Dam, recovering Jessica Lynch, the hunt for Zarqawi, the recovery of Extortion 17, and everything in between...
-
-
Great Book
- By shane on 06-18-15
By: Charles Faint, and others
-
Two Wars
- One Hero's Fight on Two Fronts: Abroad and Within
- By: Nate Self
- Narrated by: Nate Self
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time, Army Ranger hero Nate Self tells his story. Self recounts the Roberts Ridge Rescue mission, the ferocious battles in Afghanistan, and the lone war of attrition that Nate Self has waged against post-traumatic stress disorder. This audio will become a go-to work for understanding the long-term effects of the war on terror. Thousands of families are fighting this battle, and Nate Self opens up his whole life - tragedies, successes, failures, and a struggle with suicidal thoughts - to share the facts.
-
-
Story of a Young Warrior
- By Becky Lea on 09-15-24
By: Nate Self
-
City of Death
- Humanitarian Warriors in the Battle of Mosul
- By: Ephraim Mattos, Scott McEwen
- Narrated by: Ephraim Mattos
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the true story of Ephraim Mattos, a former US Navy SEAL, and what he witnessed while volunteering as a frontline combat medic during the historic battle to retake Mosul from ISIS - the deadliest urban combat the world has seen since WWII.
-
-
An inspirational tour de force
- By TN760USER on 10-25-18
By: Ephraim Mattos, and others
-
Operation Pineapple Express
- By: Scott Mann
- Narrated by: Lt. Col. Scott Mann
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 2021, an urgent call was placed from a Special Forces operator serving overseas. The message was clear: Get Nezam out of Afghanistan now. Nezam was part of the Afghan National Army’s first group of American-trained commandos; he passed through Fort Bragg’s legendary Q course and served alongside the US Special Forces for over a decade. But Afghanistan’s government and army were on the edge of collapse, and Nezam was receiving threatening texts from the Taliban.
-
-
amazing, uplifting, heart wrenching
- By Lisa L. Weinley on 09-13-22
By: Scott Mann
-
Pumpkinflowers
- A Soldier's Story
- By: Matti Friedman
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Using humor, pop culture, and even musical references, Michael Friedman re-creates the wartime experience in a narrative that is part memoir, part journalism, part military history. The years in question were pivotal ones, seeing the perfection of a type of warfare that would eventually be exported to Afghanistan and Iraq and has come to seem like the only kind of warfare in existence - wars in which there is never any clear victory, but not quite enough lives are lost to rally the country against it.
-
-
Israeli Defense Fighter’s Story of War in Lebanon
- By Debbie on 05-02-19
By: Matti Friedman
-
I Lost My Love in Baghdad
- A Modern War Story
- By: Michael Hastings
- Narrated by: Michael Hastings
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age 25, Michael Hastings arrived in Baghdad to cover the war in Iraq for Newsweek. He had at his disposal a little Hemingway romanticism and all the apparatus of a 21st-century reporter: cell phones, high-speed Internet access, digital video cameras, fixers, drivers, guards, and translators.
-
-
Sad story...
- By kathryn on 01-01-09
By: Michael Hastings
What listeners say about The Good Soldiers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- C. Irwin
- 03-01-10
This book is amazing, but brutal
The journalist writing this book is awesome at putting this story together. A lot of the reviews talk about the repetiveness, but that was an effect the author was using to drive home particular points. I loved it and thought it was well used and totally appropriate. The narrator for this book was perfect as well. I've had good audiobooks with terrible narrators that made the listen unbearable. Not so with this book.
The subject matter is hard to digest at times. The author spares nothing and the stories he tells of the American soldiers and the Iraqi civilians caught in the crossfire is heartbreaking. The people and places are real. You can google the KIA and read their tributes in the Washington Post. It makes the war very real. We all should be paying attention whats going on in the Middle East and supporting our troops no matter how we feel about the war. This book brings that home.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
64 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Michael Moore
- 02-27-10
Not for the Fainthearted!
A searing account of the trials, wounds, and frustrations of a battalion of combat infantry soldiers posted to a dangerous region of Baghdad during the 2007 "surge." The writing is riveting: direct, factual and first-hand. The author was "embedded" with the soldiers for eight months of their 15 month tour of duty. He describes in vivid detail the injuries (14 were killed) suffered by the soldiers from hidden roadside explosives, a menace these troops faced every day. You will take from this book an unforgettable appreciation of the combat horrors our troops face in Iraq and Afghanistan. We all owe them a monumental debt of gratitude for the dangers they face and the wounds so many of them and their families have endured.
My only criticism of the book is that its focus on the frustrations, injuries and deaths suffered by these soldiers appears calculated to lead to a foreordained conclusion that the whole deployment was pointless and that the Iraqis they were trying to help were hopeless, incompetent, or hostile. There is an "Oh, by the way" tone to the relatively few mentions of the successes that were achieved during the surge: much reduced death rates among coalition troops, improved security in much of Baghdad; even functioning gas stations in the battalion's own area.
The book clearly illustrates the hard choices we face in dealing with the violent extremists in the Middle East. They are brutal and without conscience or good sense in inflicting terror, torture and destruction on any (including their neighbors) whom they see in their way. Our military response is at best a stopgap: it is necessary for self defense, but it does not build the personal ties or trust and goodwill we need in order to build lasting peace and security.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John C
- 06-07-18
A real war story
If your looking for RAMBO or some other type of movie-ish type book. This ain’t it. Very jeering,raw and gritty. Definitely worth your time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jimmy K
- 09-13-18
Enlightening
This book gave me for the first time in my life a clear understanding of war. The effect war has on the soldiers, their families and the interpreters who risk their lives to assist. The description of the wounded soldiers , the hospitals and rehabilitation center was just so informative. I wish our countries leaders would think about the devastating effects on all who participate before committing our military forces to such horrendous circumstances.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-28-18
Good insight into war on the ground
What made the experience of listening to The Good Soldiers the most enjoyable?
Excellent writing by the author. Also read well by the narrator. Because it is an "on the ground" narrative, there is little perspective on the overall war effort and the motivation to launch "the surge". Despite this, the futility of the "war to win hearts and minds" came through the writing clearly. I am searching for the book which explains why such a noble-sounding initiative didn't work.
What did you like best about this story?
Information about the Iraq War in 2008
Have you listened to any of Mark Boyett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Who said it would be easy?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amanda Poe
- 07-26-18
Excellent
An excellent book! Drives home how much our soldiers sacrifice. Narrator puts listener with them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- em
- 08-16-18
Good read
This is an excellent book that vividly describes the horrors of combat. The author does a good job balancing the violence and politics of war. I thoroughly enjoyed how the author captured the point of view from all levels of leadership from field grade officers down to brand new privates. The book is a little repetitive. I understood the point of the repetition; to drive in specific points or to simply demonstrate the monotony of a deployment.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shelly Dee
- 06-05-18
Some Football Players Need to Read This
The stress, stench, and unimaginable horrors described on these pages gives a new understanding to the whys of PTSD. I had to listen to this in small doses -- the vision of "Bob" will be a lasting one in my mind's eye. Perhaps this should be required reading for American football players and others who choose to spit in the face of America. Stellar reporting; excellent narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ali Dadpay
- 07-02-18
Sobering and Surreal
very moving narrative, focused only on the soldiers and nothing else. some might say any story about Iraq should include the people, the fact that only few are represented here speaks volume of the alienated nature of war. The writer highlights the death and the pain soldiers encountered with little mention of any achievement. The book is good to understand the pain and the sufferings soldiers endured and nothing morem
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DPM
- 02-28-14
Compelling, moving, disturbing
I listened to this book right after " Duty" by Robert Gates ( the latter which, without hesitation, I also recommend). Althought there have been books books and news articles and tv shows and documentaries on the two wars, Gates ( from high above) and Finkel ( down with the troops) give the listener the perspective of the danger, resolution and disillusionment of the men ( as much as any of us safe at home can begin to understand). I found the narrator excellent and fit exactly the sentiment of the book
Excellent excellent book. I recommend
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
15 people found this helpful