Rating: 
Summary: Offensively Shallow
Review: This book is basically a joke. Zinsmeister can't tell a story to save his life. It got plenty of gushing reviews from people that were in or supported the war, mostly because he spends so much time telling them that they're right. If you take out the filler where he's babbling about bravery and righteousness, there's nothing left. He obviously was in some hairy situations but none of that comes across in the book. At one point they spend like half a day patching up some shrapnelled Iraqi kid and his description is barely a page with no friggin' details! No color! Conservative and boring shouldn't have to go hand in hand but here they do like clockwork. Zinsmeister must not have played any team sports in high school because another quarter of the book is devoted to his awe at the camaraderie among the troops. The way they joke around and rib on each other is just amazing and hilarious!!!! The author is so hard up for this war and its soldiers and you know he's dying to get a gun and go running through the streets of Baghdad spewing lead but he can't. This book has two things: a weak account of thirty days in the sand and a sad portrait of an impotent, armchair, Ivy League warmonger. Save your money and wait for a real soldier to come back and tell his tale. There's a reason why there are 40 used copies of this selling for $5.
Rating: 
Summary: make this a movie!
Review: This is a fabulous book. I love the way it gets you right into the action, and gives you a true feeling for what a soldier goes thru in a battle. The pacing and dialogue are spellbinding, and often hilarious. You really understand the kind of men (and a few women) who defend America, and why and how they do it.I also understand better the context of this war, and the reasons we are in it. At first I wondered why the story starts (and ends) in the U.S. before quickly moving to the middle east, but looking back that seems like a beautiful way to tell the story and make the point of what the war is all about. One wonderful thing about this book is the pictures. They are not only very gritty and interesting, but beautifully shot. It is so nice to see the faces of the characters we meet, and some of the high tech equipment, and of course the combat shots. They are much better photographs than in the other Iraq books I browsed before buying this one. I was going to give this book to my husband for his birthday next month (it's a fantastic "guy" book), but after reading it I decided he's going to have to wait. I'm giving it first, right away, to our teenage son. For any red-blooded young man, this book will be a thrill, a revelation, and (I hope) a real positive eye-opener as to what young males can accomplish when
they dedicate themselves to a high cause. Dear Hollywood: Would somebody please make a movie of this book?
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: This is a great read. He captures the spirit of the troops and has a great sense of humor. Through his eys, you learn how the paratroopers feel and act and fight. He takes you onto the ground with them.
Rating: 
Summary: Vets Beware, the title is deceptive.
Review: This is not really a book for anyone who knows anything about the military, and wants to get a grunts eye view of the early phase of the Iraq war. This book was written just before, during and immediatly after the invasion, "Major Combat," phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. That would be fine if the book was about military operations or the soldiers themselves. Unfortunately this book is 75% about the author,(editor of a small conservative magazine) his world outside Kuwait/Iraq, his (conservative) politics, and the (liberal) press. To make matters worse,his unrestrained "See I told you it would be a cakewalk, all you naysayers before the war are proven fools!" political views are embarrassingly outdated. Written at a time when U.S. forces had suffered 196 KIA, the author took the position, literally for the last fifty pages of the book, that the war was over as soon as he left Iraq. This book is only good for people studying modern American politics, not war or warriors. The Paratroopers of the 82nd deserve a better book. Save your time and your money.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: This was highly recommended to me by some pilots and soldiers I know who actually served in Iraq, so I decided to try it. Now I see why they like it. A dynamic read. Rich in information. Tremendously interesting and inspiring. And, they tell me, accurate. So now I'm passing on the recommendation to others. I'll also be giving this book as a gift. Especially to people who think Americans have become nothing but self-absorbed couch potatoes, wimps, etc. Meet some bold and brave souls.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! A rare gem.
Review: Wow, this book is a rarity. I love action-filled war novels. But I also love serious histories and current affairs books. I just finished this book and can say it combines the best of both worlds. As racing, tense, thrilling, and vivid as a Clancy or Mark Bowden story. (And when describing life with the troop surprisingly funny, and at times very moving and emotional.) But at the same time a deeply serious, wise, careful description and analysis of the Iraq war. You want to know what real combat, war zones, and fighting men are like? Here's your book. You ARE THERE. And that's before you even get to the incredible photos. The downside: I wish it was longer. I got hooked and had it read in a day. I'm giving this one for Christmas.
Rating:
Summary: Little Action, Lots of Platitudes.
Review: Zinsmeister has a great attitude, and had a fantastic experience. He emphasis on the character and manliness of the soldiers he met was laudatory. However, he spent far too much time telling us how much he admired these guys and not enough saying what they were doing. And then the last quarter of the book is simple philosophizing and politicizing for my tastes. I agree with all his sentiments, but I was hoping for more about the war and less about that. I got the impression that he ran out of things to say that were worth while and needed to pad the book so it would be a bit thicker. It's a quick read, I finished it in a day with a lot of breaks and only an hour here and there. I suspect Zinzmeister kept his best writing for the periodical that sent him out there. Or I hope so anyway, because the anecdotes he shared here really only fill one or two short chapters, or magazine articles. If you're expecting a thorough look at the war reveiwing what the 82nd Airborne were doing and when they were doing it, and how it all related to other units, you won't find it here. I'm hoping a more thorough account will be found elsewhere. Don't waste your time on this half-hearted attempt.
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