I read a lot of military history and find this fascinating and hard to categorize. The true focus of the book is to explain what War and specifically combat is like at an individual and team basis. as such this could have been about any war, any unit vs. Afghanistan and the US Army. however don't take that to mean it's a military style memoir like so many others out there, Sebastian Junger is a gifted journalist interested in capturing the reality of modern war and it's effects on young men deeply involved in contact and that gives him a much more objective viewpoint in describing not only what is happening but what it does to the men involved. based on that you can understand that War therefore is not about the tactics, history or any broader perspective but intimately about capturing the experience of it. it's honest, far more so than any military memoir. as a sidebar it also shows how embedding has changed the nature of military journalism and captures some interesting side notes of the Afghan war. makes for excellent reading to understand how war feels, day in and day out but don't expect any wider context. but what it does it does very very well.

Not your typical I was there book. It's organized into three parts: fear, killing, and love. Truly and superbly chronicles the ordeal of men under fire. This book reminded me a lot of "Born to Run" in that the author takes the reader down some very interesting side paths on the psychology, sociology, philosophy, and anthropology of courage, killing, and group cohesion to name a few. It tells the story of a Medal of Honor recipient, who at the time this book was published, had not yet been awarded the honor-Sgt Giunta. It tells the stories of a lot of individual soldiers in this platoon that Junger commuted to and from during the course of their deployment. Junger is truly a journalist with big ones. He's out front with the troops. He never picked up a weapon but he was blown up in an IED convoy, walked point with the fire team he bunked with, and endured numerous close calls. He confesses his own fears and anxieties in the book. If you want to know how combat changes people and why some men just keep going back for more tours, read this book.

I really didn't think about the war in Afghanistan very much. This book has changed that. It is specifically about the fight in the Korengal valley, which is where most of the fighting is going on. It really brought the war into perspective. Whatever anyone's feelings on the war, this is a very good read and puts a little bit of humanity on those Americans who are deep in the fight. It is well written and engaging. I would recommend it to anyone.

This book earns its title. More sociological/primate study than history or war report and one of the most engrossing books I've read in my life.

I really enjoyed Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm" but this effort, "War" fell short in terms of readability and retaining my interest. I think Mr. Junger captured the tone of a combat outpost as well as the effects such a deployment have on our Soldiers.

While clearly not his intent, I think that sharing his opinions of our tactics and our strategy would have made the book more valuable. What lessons has he learned? What would he do differently or not at all? Even trivial observations / opinions would have added more meat to the story (i.e. HESCO barriers are really good or they're really lame or....)

If you go into the book with lowered expectations or at least expecting that the book has a very narrow focus, then you'll be happier with it than I.

It took me a month finish because I had to frequently walk away.

I've read a few books on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This was the best. It tells the story from the soldier's point of view in Korengal Valley, one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan. I recommend this to get a small idea of what the life of a soldier really is like.

riveting brought to light a lot i've never considered about the people and the tactics of fighting on the front line

Not much to say about this great book, just pick it up and give it a chance.

Great reportage and some amazing critical analysis of "objectivity" in war reporting.