War

Over fifteen months, Sebastian Junger followed a singleplatoon based at a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan.His objective was both simple and ambitious: to conveywhat soldiers experience—what war actually feels like.

In these pages, he gives insight into the truths of combat:the fear, the honour and the trust among men. He describesthings that few civilians will ever witness or go through—theendless, body-numbing anticipation of battle; the adrenaline-fueledconfusion of being ambushed; the unquestioned andautomatic risks soldiers take in combat situations to protecttheir brothers. Junger shows what it means to fight, to serveand to face down mortal danger on a constant basis.

Throughout, War illuminates the lives of the men whofight for us—how they live; what they see and learn and feel.Junger draws on biology, psychology and military history to explainthe decisions soldiers make and to put their ordeals intocontext. In the vivid prose for which he has become known,he relates the physical toil, the suffocating heat, the sounds ofgunfire and the agony of loss.