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Generation Kill | 
 enlarge | Author: Evan Wright
Publisher: Corgi Books
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £3.20
You Save: £3.79 (54%)
New (26) Used (8) from £2.42
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 8044
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 359
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0552151890
Dewey Decimal Number: 950
EAN: 9780552151894
ASIN: 0552151890
Publication Date: April 11, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Also Available In:
| • | Hardcover - Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War | | • | Paperback - Generation Kill | | • | Paperback - Generation Kill | | • | Paperback - Generation Kill | | • | Audio CD - Generation Kill | | • | Audio CD - Generation Kill | | • | Audio CD - Generation Kill | | • | Library Binding - Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War | | • | Hardcover - Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War | | • | Paperback - Generation Kill | | • | Paperback - Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Generation Inept September 8, 2008
David Mcdonald (UK)
After watching the mini series on DVD I ordered this book with no small amount of trepidation, the actual series was fantastic, I was totally enthralled by the characters and the often life threatening situations they found themselves in, so when I ordered the book I hoped it would live up to the series... It did and them some, the level of detail, the realism you could almost taste the ineptitude of the Marine commanders, I found it incredulous that even in a war as hi-Tec as the one portrayed they were forced to endure some officers who were blatantly mad, this is a book I would strongly recommend to anyone with an interest in the American marines or warfare in general, it's one thing to be killed by the enemy it's entirely another to be killed by your own commander because he's an idiot.
 Solid reportage but the same old tune. March 3, 2008
Charles Vasey (London, England)
Evan Wright embeds with the lightly-equipped (and Humvee mounted) First Recon whose job is to lead the US invasion to Baghdad. The men are the usual mixture of saints and sinners (often at the same time) for whom the USMC feels a vocation. They are shooting civilians one moment and trying to save them the next. Wright is excellent at sketching the boredom of soldiering, the sudden jag of combat, and the long recovery from the combat high. If there is a villain in the piece of non-judgemental reporting it is the officers a number of whom (disguised by nicknames)are roundly criticised by the men and by the author. First Recon is an elite formation and its performance makes for an interesting contrast with "Ambush Alley".
An Inside look at 1st Recon November 26, 2007
M. A. Ramos (Florida USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A journalist embedded with a marine reconnaissance platoon during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 explains how this generation of soldiers differs from their predecessors. Describes cases of collateral damage and the deaths of comrades as American troops entered Baghdad. As others have pointed out he gets most of it right, but seems to want to spin that all officers are dumb and marines are angry. This spin he places on these two points are not the norm. This book contains violence and very strong language.
A new classic November 16, 2006
apressello (Warsaw, Poland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rolling Stone contributing editor Evan Wright gets himself embedded --riding in the lead Humvee -- with Bravo Company of the US Marines' First Recon Batallion as they smash their way from the Kuwait border to Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The result is probably the best war reporting we're likely to see from that phase of the conflict.
Some of the things that set this book apart is Wright's proximity to the fighting - recklessly close - in addition to his use of First Recon's unofficial nicknames for certain officers, which allows Wright to expose their misjudgements or downright incompetence in some cases.
The battle plan is to put the doctrine of "maneuver warfare" into practice, with First Recon leading the charge straight into and through enemy positions, destroying any resistance and then moving on without bothering to secure the area. The idea is to move quickly and wrong foot the defending forces and in this the plan is a stunning success.
Not that the Marines of First Recon have any idea what the plan is. Wright chronicles a story of chronic equipment failures, constantly changing orders and stimulant-fueled extreme violence. Just make sure you're clean shaven when you enter Bagdhad. There is no plan for what happens after that.
A good compliment to this book is "The March Up" by Bing West and Major General Ray L. Smith, which tells the story of the entire 1st Marine Division's invasion of Iraq and capture of Baghdad from the point of view of a senior career Marine officer.
Keep in mind that both of these books are about the invasion of Iraq. There are hints of the coming chaos of the occupation, but both books end with the capture of Baghdad. Highly recommended.
A Yankee take on Generation Kill August 6, 2006
Matthew U. Janssen (L.A.)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'm an American studying in England and Amazon-UK has become my new local book store.
My thoughts on the book aside (and below) I am most dramatically struck by the hostility evinced in these reviews. The reviews are redolent with barely constrained anger over--what, perceived slights from WW2?--and perverse delight in the "revelation" that the American military is manned by.....fallible humans. Surely the mystique the American military attempts to cultivate--as do the militaries of all nations--has not been accepted as gospel by these reviewers? Are the failings of the American military so delicious a discovery? For shame.
Wright's book is first rate reporting, and excellent literature. It depicts a reality of war that any thinking person must be willing to face; namely that wars are orgies of violence with only the thinnest veneer of civility overlaid. Those who consider this to a be a new or particularly American phenomenon are allowing themselves to indulge too much in self-gratifying fanatasy. Young men, fighting an unseen and unknowable enemy, developing tactics on the fly, struggling to balance terrible conflicting compulsions: the result is ugly. And Wright does not flinch from or justify the ugliness. Some readers may have been less interested in the salacious aspects of his reporting--certainly their reviews do not remark upon it: namely the decency of individual men and the efforts to do what good can be done within the maelstrom of war.
Not a history, not a polemic, not a apologia--simply a superb witness to what is both a modern and timeless reality. An excellent book!
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