- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Truman Talley Books (Sep 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312326637
- ISBN-13: 978-0312326630
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,412,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Karl Zinsmeister's splendid report from within the maelstrom of combat demonstrates how the public can benefit when America's superb military is closely observed by a superb reporter."
--George F. Will, news columnist
"The finest, most objective piece of war journalism I've read since Ernie Pyle in World War II. Tells the story after talking to all grades of soldiers. No one else took the time to tell the full story."-Lt. Col. Burton Poole, USAF, Retired
"The most powerfully real 'war experience' I will probably ever have. I applaud its insight, voluminous factual information, the personal stories collected from many soldiers, and especially the discoveries about the power of love in extreme life-and-death situations. Karl Zinsmeister has done an invaluable service to America in getting to the heart and soul of this war."-Mary Lavato, A Soldier's Mother
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--George F. Will, news columnist
"The finest, most objective piece of war journalism I've read since Ernie Pyle in World War II. Tells the story after talking to all grades of soldiers. No one else took the time to tell the full story."-Lt. Col. Burton Poole, USAF, Retired
"The most powerfully real 'war experience' I will probably ever have. I applaud its insight, voluminous factual information, the personal stories collected from many soldiers, and especially the discoveries about the power of love in extreme life-and-death situations. Karl Zinsmeister has done an invaluable service to America in getting to the heart and soul of this war."-Mary Lavato, A Soldier's Mother
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
"Boots on the Ground" is a riveting account of the war in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division as it convoys north from Kuwait to Iraq's Tallil Air Base en route to night-and-day battles within the major city of Samawah and its nearby bridges across the Euphrates. Karl Zinsmeister, a frontline reporter who traveled with the 82nd, brilliantly conveys the careful planning and technical wizardry that go into today's warfare, even local firefights, and he brings to life the constant air-ground interactions that are the great innovation of modern precision combat. What exactly does it feel like to travel with a spirited body of fighting men? To come under fire? To cope with the battlefield stresses of sleep-deprivation, and field rations for weeks on end? Readers of this vivid day-to-day diary are left with not only a flashing sequence of strong mental images, but also a notion of the sounds and smells and physical sensations that make modern military action unforgettable.
Ultimately, "Boots on the Ground" is a human story: a moving portrayal of the powerful bonds of affection, trust, fear, and dedication that bind real soldiers involved in battle. This is a true-life tale of superbly trained men in extraordinary circumstances, packed with concrete detail, often surpassing fiction for sheer drama.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Ultimately, "Boots on the Ground" is a human story: a moving portrayal of the powerful bonds of affection, trust, fear, and dedication that bind real soldiers involved in battle. This is a true-life tale of superbly trained men in extraordinary circumstances, packed with concrete detail, often surpassing fiction for sheer drama.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
MADISON COUNTY, NEW YORK, MARCH 1-In four days, I have just confirmed with the Pentagon, I will depart for Kuwait. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
MADISON COUNTY, NEW YORK, MARCH 1-In four days, I have just confirmed with the Pentagon, I will depart for Kuwait. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Karl Zinsmeister is the first embedded reporter (or "embed") with Coalition forces to write an account of Gulf War II. Zinsmeister spent about a month with various elements of the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq. As such, his book will enter the military historiography of the conflict as a second-hand account of the fighting.
That said, Boots on the Ground seems to be a collection of various vignettes or articles that Zinsmeister wrote for periodicals back in America. After a background about the international situation, Zinsmeister provides minimal context to the conflict as a whole. That is fine--he was reporting from the tip of the spear, as they say, but far too often Zinsmeister is only a distant observer of events. Unlike Fox News Channel's Greg Kelly, Zinsmeister was not amongst paratroopers during actual combat; he spent a large amount of time at forward arming and refueling points of the 82nd's (air) cavalry squadron. Of course, nowhere in a war zone is totally safe, but a FARP is far more safer than say, riding on the back of a Bradley armored fighting vehicle.
Instead of a "month" with the 82nd Airborne, the various tales that Zinsmeister recounts seem more like what a traveller would have wrote had they somehow dropped in on the war for a day or two. This of course is not fair to Zinsmeister's length of stay but that is how the book comes off.
Zinsmeister write about how on his flight back to America he raced to type out all the things he had seen. Yet the book he produced is very thin indeed with a large introduction and a closing section that relate to history and future perspective.
They say if you want it fast, then quality suffers. Unless Zinsmeister really was not amongst the "boots on the ground," I think he should have waited to flesh out his account.
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book apart from being out of date is very biased.It attacks so-called left wing liberals and predicts a rosy future for Iraq after the invasion.In hindsight not a very accurate prediction,the left wingers look much more right in retrospect.This book is a series of sanitised vignettes where all the soldiers work in total harmony snafus hardly ever happen.Cant understand what went wrong,perhaps the Iraqis should have been given copies.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
40 reviews
42 of 49 people found the following review helpful
I was there
20 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover
I'm squad leader assigned to Company D 3-325. I was there all the the way from Camp Champion, through the prep for the jump in the airport and the last minute scrub. My Anti-Armor platoon was attached to A troop 1-17 Cav for the move to Talil and to A 2-325 for the push into Samawah proper. I was shot through the left hand while we were trying to seize the bridges over the Euphrates.
This book does my men a great justice. I kept a journal out there and this book mirrors my experiences. I'm extremely thankful that our story has been told, and heard. All the men who were there and who still patrol Bagdahd are MY heros. I've never served with a finer group of paratroopers than my platoon. This book serves as a journal for all the men of 2nd Brigade.
This book does my men a great justice. I kept a journal out there and this book mirrors my experiences. I'm extremely thankful that our story has been told, and heard. All the men who were there and who still patrol Bagdahd are MY heros. I've never served with a finer group of paratroopers than my platoon. This book serves as a journal for all the men of 2nd Brigade.
27 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Wow! A rare gem.
11 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover
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.
24 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Invaded my dreams
18 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover
A lot of the war journalism I've read is much too heavy on "I" "I" "me" "me" and discussion of what the journalist is thinking, feeling, wanting. The tremendous strength of this book is that you really get inside the lives of the soldiers. It's about them, and brings them to life in a full and amazing way.
I met a huge range of characters: medics, special forces soldiers, a medal-winning sniper, men who get shot, pilots, generals, Iraqis, civilians caught in the crossfire. Crisp and simple and unadorned portraits you won't forget.
I thought I was sick of Iraq War discussions, but I heard this author on the radio and he sounded interesting. He is. I'm super-glad I got the book. This is a very different, very fresh perspective on the war, and a type of "up-close-and-personal" reporting on combat you rarely get. I found it gripping.
P.S. I'm really not sure what book the reviewer who described this story as lacking action read. It sure wasn't the one I read. The action in this book has invaded my dreams.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
