Nightcap at Dawn: American Soldiers' Counterinsurgency in Iraq

Description

A "truly extraordinary" collection of emails by US soldiers in Iraq, offering a firsthand account on the defining conflict of our time (Christopher Hitchens, author of Mortality). What does it mean to fight an enemy that hides amid—and even targets—a civilian population? That is the question US soldiers found themselves facing in the warzone of Iraq. This startling volume brings together candid emails written by a group of enlisted soldiers, sharing their observations, experiences, and unvarnished opinions on fighting an insurgency. This originally self-published volume transports readers from war-torn alleys and city streets to the homes of long-suffering Iraqi civilians, and from the soldiers' concrete bunkers to the military's "majestic" army base. As thoughtful as it is compelling, Nightcap at Dawn is "[written] in the most vivid firsthand manner. These recollections, pooled experiences, and shared sacrifices constitute the most authentic account yet produced of the Iraq battle" (Christopher Hitchens). "Sgt. J.B. Walker, the 'author' of this absorbing, dramatically vivid chronicle, is a pen-named collective effort by American soldiers fighting in Iraq. . . . A bracing cooperative effort taking readers as close to war as humanly possible." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)