That
call is a good analogy to the book as a whole - of getting reporting
from the scene, showing real though under-reported progress, and
showing real signs of a promising conclusion as a reward for my
patience.
After
finally getting this book a few weeks ago, I can say it was worth
the wait. I got the signed version with a COA inside the front
cover. It is in beautiful shape, well packaged as was the last
book I got from Richard Vigilante Press.
The printing sure looks nice, and I can imagine this book holding up for a
long time even if I left it on my coffee table for others to enjoy...which
it may if I'm feeling generous. Or not, because I don't need any spills or
stains or tears on my nice new book! Again, I'm no expert on books or printing,
but this book reeks of quality not just of content but because it is a well-made
book physically, and I don't expect the binding to fall apart any time this
century.
I have
been reading Michael Yon's dispatches for YEARS now, since he started
getting buzz from blogs. His writing is not poetry, but it's perfectly
good and perfectly suited for the subject matter. It conveys the
message easily and with appropriate verbosity. Some matters can't
be summed up easily, and others can. He details, with an insiders
knowledge, many aspects of war and suffering and frustration and
boredom that few others are able to.
He is able to gain the trust of the military people and even the Iraqi people
he travels through Iraq with because he is willing to walk with them straight
into mortal combat to get the story and get the photographs and convey an unadulterated
message to the rest of us who can't be there to see firsthand how things are
unfolding. Most of the stories he published in the heat of the Iraq war were
the ones ignored or completely missed by the mainstream media and their reporters
who rarely left the hotel.
Some of his photos have probably even been seen by many Americans, but the
vast majority will be seen for the first time by people reading or thumbing
through this book. Due to the quality and importance of the photographs and
Yon's knowledge and ability to report directly from the thick of the fight,
this book will simply NOT be replicated by anyone else any time soon, or ever,
with regards to the Iraq war.
There's just no way because no one else was there like him, with access to
what he had access to. And this is no partisan cheerleading war book, either.
Yon's opinion is his opinion, and it is shaped by his access to and experience
with the things he is talking about, including war policy. His travels and
reports from Iraq (and other combat zones) have put him in contradiction to
US military leaders, and he does not bow to any pressure to change his reports
or bite his tongue.
Yon
is the wartime reporter we need in every war, but we unfortunately
don't have any more thanks to what I suspect may be a general lack
of courage among our politicized journalists these days, and a
partisanship in the media that views war through a simplistic lens
that filters out substance. The fact that Yon is a rare breed means
this book is one-of-a-kind.
Product Description
In
March 2004, two of Michael Yon’s longtime friends were killed
in the war in Iraq. Others in active duty and serving in harm’s
way, reached out to him with their perspectives on what was happening
in Iraq.
Their stories did not line up with reports from mainstream media. In December
2004, Yon landed in Baghdad to see reality for himself. He soon understood that
the truth of this war was far too complex to be captured in a daily body count
or a thirty-second sound bite. Committed to finding the truth, he stayed for
most of the next three years.
This book assembles nearly 250 dramatic photographs, many never before published,
and selections from Yon’s most compelling battlefield dispatches from his
time embedded with U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq during 2005-2008. This hybrid
war journal and stunning photography book vividly illustrates how the war in
Iraq was ultimately won—not with technology or overwhelming force, but
with courage, persistence, and American values.
Available
Now: Buy
It Here!
Reviewed
By: R. Romano