Sebastian Junger — War

4th estates. 2010, hardcover with dust jacket, good copy. They were known as "The Rock." For one year, in 2007-2008, Sebastian Junger accompanied a single platoon of thirty men from the storied 2nd battalion of the U.S. Army, as they fought their way through a remote valley in Eastern Afghanistan. Over the course of five trips, Junger was in more firefights than he can count, men he knew were killed or wounded, and he himself was almost killed. His relationship with these soldiers grew so close that they considered him part of the platoon, and he enjoyed an access and a candidness that few, if any, journalists ever attain. WAR is a narrative about combat: the fear of dying, the trauma of killing and the love between platoon-mates who would rather die than let each other down.