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Rating: 
Summary: Only the Facts
Review: Chris Hedges gives us a straight-forward book about what it is like to be a soldier. It is arranged like a FAQ, in a question-and-answer format. The beauty of this book is it's simplicity and it's objectivity. Hedges doesn't try to convince anyone to join the military nor does he protest against the military. He just provides facts, and the readers can chose to use the facts as they please. For example, will you rush to join the army infantry after finding out that you have a 1 in 5 chance of getting seriously injured if you go into combat? He also goes into psychological problems that soldiers may develop such as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. You'll also find out what will happen to you if you are wounded or killed. Some people may say that this information will just scare off recruits, but don't you think we should tell the men and women who defend our country the truth? Why should we lie to those we claim to honor? If you know someone who is thinking of enlisting, buy them a copy of this book before they do so that they will have more than a recruiter's promises to base their decision upon.
Rating: 
Summary: Biased and not completely accurate
Review: Despite the fact that this book claims to present only the facts and stay away from ideology and propaganda, Mr. Hedges' personal views on the issues still manage to seep through and taint the content of the book as Mr. Hedges allows his opinion to be presented as fact.The book also contains several errors regarding information concerning the military (I am not familiar enough with the other sections to discuss their accuracy) that could have been easily corrected had Mr. Hedges consulted with a member of the military. For example in one place Mr. Hedges states the the Coast Guard is not a part of the military except during war. In reality, all Coastguardsmen are considered military personel at all times and are subject to the UCMJ during both war and peace. The Coast Guard is only part of the Department of Defense during wartime. He also states that there are no positions enlisted can sign up for to avoid being sent into combat. This is not true: an enlisted person who selects the rate of yeoman (essentially a military secretary) has absolutely no chance of being sent to the front line. Mr. Hedges does present many outstanding facts regarding war, however they are difficult to verify as there is minimal citation for the many figures that he uses to prove his points.
Rating: 
Summary: The guts of no glory...
Review: Hedges is of devout faith and a brilliant classically trained mind. Exactly the kind of person we need commenting on war. However a mind as good as his needs to offer to us some kind of real politik advice as to how to win this war. And win future wars without violence. I am dismayed that he, in the media rounds, reduces his war experience to point-scoring against the various virulent fascisms of the age rather than "thinking-out" peace. Despite all the horror,if the inbuilt assumption that war is inevitible is sneaking around, war will win. Who has the courage to defeat war? Are we too meek to seek that? These are our wars not god's. What is the point in waging a media war on top of this war? Isn't it just another "war-porn" cop-out for both lefties and righties? I realise that this book may be the least appropriate forum for my point given it is "straight-up". But Hedges real-politik silence is too loud, and risks turning his exigetical skills, into merely a reverse form of war idolotary - to be awake against war, but unarmed to resist it.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing but the truth
Review: I almost fell over in disbelief when I read the Publishers Weekly review (see above) for this book. Either the reviewer has an ax to grind against the book's author, or else he/she is just completely misguided, living in some strange academic tower somewhere. In discussing casualties, wounds, and combat trauma, the reviewer says: "...such experiences have become less common in America's high-tech, casualty-averse military." Sentences like this prove to me (a two-time war-zone US Army vet) how much this book IS needed. Who does the reviewer think is on the battlefield? Robots? No. Humans. Human soldiers and human civilians and when humans step on land mines or get shot they scream, they bleed, and they die. Hedges has held true to his prologue: this book is skewed neither to the left or right politically; it just tells it like it is, almost always from direct quotes from US Army manuals and medical texts. This book is about the truth, the truth of warfare. It makes no commentary, but it also pulls no punches. Again, I'm a veteran, and proud to be one. If I had to do it again, I would join the service again, even if it meant a return to war for me. I think it's important to say that, because people are criticising this book for being anti-American. Ridiculous. This book is about the truth, the truth of the war experience. Not the Hollywood airbrushed "Army of One" ads the Pentagon runs on TV. The USA has an all-volunteer military, something we should be proud of. In my mind, every potential "volunteer" should read this book before they join. They may still join (like I said, I would have), but at least they'll be going with open eyes. Highly recommended for all humans to read: soldiers and civilians alike.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing but the truth
Review: I started flipping through this in a bookstore and was blown away. I took it home and read it cover to cover and was engaged the whole way through. Very little of it was information I had seen before, and almost all of it fell somewhere on the spectrum between interesting and shocking. I have been recommending it strongly to friends and am writing my first AMZN recommendation to do it here. At first I thought the Q&A format would make it hard to get into, but it ended up making it easier. There's not an explicit narrative but the questions are broken up into chapters, and within the chapters they follow a simple logic. The next question is usually the next question you'd ask if you were having a conversation with someone who had all the answers. I have to disagree with the official review from Publisher's Weekly, on two counts. One, the author's point is that while the Pentagon would have you believe that war has changed, the fact is that the soldier on the ground is still firing bullets at the enemy and having bullets fired at him. Believing that a high-tech war is fundamentally different or "easier" is demeaning to those who fight and win wars today the way they have always been fought and won: on the ground. The second point is the suggestion that this is a book "for soldiers." This abrogates the responsibility of every American to understand what our government asks of these young men and women when it sends them off to fight. At the very least, anyone who votes or pays taxes in America is complicit in the decision to go to war, and everyone should understand what military men and women go through. To say to a soldier "this book is for you; I don't need to know this" is again to insult his or her experience. In my book there was a slip mentioning a website, where the authors plan to list new questions submitted by readers. I know I can't give out that URL here. But I have my fingers crossed that everyday Americans will start thinking of questions they have about our growing military, and pursuing the answers.
Rating:
Summary: The title gets it right - read this book!
Review: I started flipping through this in a bookstore and was blown away. I took it home and read it cover to cover and was engaged the whole way through. Very little of it was information I had seen before, and almost all of it fell somewhere on the spectrum between interesting and shocking. I have been recommending it strongly to friends and am writing my first AMZN recommendation to do it here. At first I thought the Q&A format would make it hard to get into, but it ended up making it easier. There's not an explicit narrative but the questions are broken up into chapters, and within the chapters they follow a simple logic. The next question is usually the next question you'd ask if you were having a conversation with someone who had all the answers. I have to disagree with the official review from Publisher's Weekly, on two counts. One, the author's point is that while the Pentagon would have you believe that war has changed, the fact is that the soldier on the ground is still firing bullets at the enemy and having bullets fired at him. Believing that a high-tech war is fundamentally different or "easier" is demeaning to those who fight and win wars today the way they have always been fought and won: on the ground. The second point is the suggestion that this is a book "for soldiers." This abrogates the responsibility of every American to understand what our government asks of these young men and women when it sends them off to fight. At the very least, anyone who votes or pays taxes in America is complicit in the decision to go to war, and everyone should understand what military men and women go through. To say to a soldier "this book is for you; I don't need to know this" is again to insult his or her experience. In my book there was a slip mentioning a website, where the authors plan to list new questions submitted by readers. I know I can't give out that URL here. But I have my fingers crossed that everyday Americans will start thinking of questions they have about our growing military, and pursuing the answers.
Rating:
Summary: The Baltimore Catechism of War
Review: I'm beginning to get the feeling Chris Hedges' books are Confession, and Act of Contrition rolled into one; and I think he's doing a good thing. I gave a stellar review to his first book, "War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning," and sent it to a young man graduating from high school in the hope it would help counter the effects of the jingoism we've been inundated with since 9/11. This second book would make a great companion piece, but in my situation, and thank goodness, it's not necessary. This is a book that should be required reading for any prospective service person. Mr. Hedges has gone way out of his way to be factual, and objective, and let the facts speak. Its purposefully under-heated style reminded me of nothing else but the Baltimore Catechism, albeit minus the dogma. If I had the wherewithal I'd supply every guidance counselor in the US with a few copies, and if I were the Secretary of any service branch I'd give a copy to every potential recruit; however, I neither have, nor am. I do wonder as to the books potential efficacy in guiding someone away from the service - not Mr. Hedges' stated purpose by the way. Eighteen year olds are immortal - I was - as well as, "young, dumb, and full of cum" - I was. Weren't you? And certainly not prone to being guided by facts - especially when our recruiting efforts are so sexy. Anthony Swofford in "Jarhead," writes about Marine recruits watching war movies - even those considered to be "anti-war" movies - and tells us that our anti-war movies are just the opposite to the troops. I can just hear a couple of prospective recruits reading about death's unraveling - "Cool..."
Rating:
Summary: The Baltimore Catechism of War
Review: I'm beginning to get the feeling Chris Hedges' books are Confession, and Act of Contrition rolled into one; and I think he's doing a good thing. I gave a stellar review to his first book, "War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning," and sent it to a young man graduating from high school in the hope it would help counter the effects of the jingoism we've been inundated with since 9/11. This second book would make a great companion piece, but in my situation, and thank goodness, it's not necessary. This is a book that should be required reading for any prospective service person. Mr. Hedges has gone way out of his way to be factual, and objective, and let the facts speak. Its purposefully under-heated style reminded me of nothing else but the Baltimore Catechism, albeit minus the dogma. If I had the wherewithal I'd supply every guidance counselor in the US with a few copies, and if I were the Secretary of any service branch I'd give a copy to every potential recruit; however, I neither have, nor am. I do wonder as to the books potential efficacy in guiding someone away from the service - not Mr. Hedges' stated purpose by the way. Eighteen year olds are immortal - I was - as well as, "young, dumb, and full of cum" - I was. Weren't you? And certainly not prone to being guided by facts - especially when our recruiting efforts are so sexy. Anthony Swofford in "Jarhead," writes about Marine recruits watching war movies - even those considered to be "anti-war" movies - and tells us that our anti-war movies are just the opposite to the troops. I can just hear a couple of prospective recruits reading about death's unraveling - "Cool..."
Rating: 
Summary: Accessibility is a force that gives us higher book sales
Review: In 2002, Chris Hedges wrote the highly acclaimed WIAFTGUM, a beautifully written book that explored the powerful pull of aggression on the body politic. A subtle work that deftly combined psychology, philosophy, history, and political science, WIAFTGUM was a critical success and, I suspect, a decent seller for a first-time author. (I know that CH is an accomplished reporter, but a first book is a first book -- Bob Woodward he isn't, yet.) One good book deserves another, so CH has returned with a marketable sophomore effort, WEPSKAW. Its Q-and-A format allows for quick absorption of surprising information -- I never would have imagined how many military pregnancies end in abortion, nor that the Army designed its RMEs to keep soldiers constipated. (You're welcome.) Sadly, most of the data is liable to be forgotten as quickly as a college freshman forgets the details from History 101. (Pop quiz, hot shot: How much did the Korean War cost in 2003 dollars? Do you remember? Well do ya, punk??) You might even get as much of a 'Huh -- I never knew that' reaction reading the book the second time around. More of a drawback is that, long about the third chapter or so, you start to feel like you're reading the longest 'Harper's Index' known to man. (Amount requested for rebuilding Iraq: $87 billion. Amount requested for Head Start: Twenty-five cents. Yeah, I get it.) You respect the hours of research put into the project, but you were already sold on page 40; the rest is overkill. The deadpan delivery, initially effective, gradually becomes facile. You can almost see the staffers at Adbusters overlaying the sober paragraphs about land mines onto photos of bloody Afghans. Once again, I think I get what you're saying -- now put down the sledgehammer. I'm surprised to see reviewers taking CH to task for 'lying' about the book's not having any agenda. I don't think CH ever claimed not to have an agenda in writing the book; he only said that he would make his case calmly, clearly, and constantly supported by the facts. That "subversive" agenda, by the way, is simply to note that war is a serious business, and should not be entered into lightly. You'd think that would go without saying... until you remember that the Oval Office has been manned by two draft-dodgers in a row now, with the current occupant blithely telling senators to "F**k Saddam -- we're taking him out." A sober counterweight and a sense of perspective? Bring 'em on!
Rating:
Summary: The Title Says It All
Review: This slim manual is certainly a bitter pill, but it's medicine that Americans, and especially American government officials, would be well served to hold their nose and swallow down. From the possible results of a bullet wound in different areas of the body, to the (scandalously low) payscale of soldiers, to the facts about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, to the debunking of the apocryphal story of Vietnam soldiers being spat upon by protesters, Hedges makes his report in a manner which is concise, clinical, and astonishingly objective. In an age of media reporting that sees nothing wrong with broadcasting combat footage with a canned soundtrack, this is a book which reminds us of the very real horrors of war, and the very real risks our soldiers face in a combat situation.
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