Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and The New Face of American War [Hardcover]

Evan Wright (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 17, 2004

In the tradition of Black Hawk Down and Jarhead comes a searing portrait of young men fighting a modern-day war.

A powerhouse work of nonfiction, Generation Kill expands on Evan Wright's acclaimed three-part series that appeared in Rolling Stone during the summer of 2003. His narrative follows the twenty-three marines of First Recon who spearheaded the blitzkrieg on Iraq. This elite unit, nicknamed "First Suicide Battalion," searched out enemy fighters by racing ahead of American battle forces and literally driving into suspected ambush points.

Evan Wright lived on the front lines with this platoon from the opening hours of combat, to the fall of Baghdad, through the start of the guerrilla war. He was welcomed into their ranks, and from this bird's-eye perspective he tells the unsettling story of young men trained by their country to be ruthless killers. He chronicles the triumphs and horrors-physical, moral, emotional, and spiritual-that these marines endured while achieving victory in a war many questioned before it began. Wright's book is a timely account of war; even more important, it is a timeless description of the human drama taking place on today's battlefields. Written with brutal honesty, raw intensity, and startling intimacy, Generation Kill is destined to become a classic and take its place in the canon of the most captivating and authentic works of war literature.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wright rode into Iraq on March 20, 2003, with a platoon of First Reconnaissance Battalion Marines—the Marine Corps' special operations unit whose motto is "Swift, Silent, Deadly." These highly trained and highly motivated First Recon Marines were the leading unit of the American-led invasion force. Wright wrote about that experience in a three-part series in Rolling Stone that was hailed for its evocative, accurate war reporting. This book, a greatly expanded version of that series, matches its accomplishment. Wright is a perceptive reporter and a facile writer. His account is a personality-driven, readable and insightful look at the Iraq War's first month from the Marine grunt's point of view. It jibes with other firsthand reports of the first phase of the Iraqi invasion (including David Zucchino's Thunder Run), showing the unsettling combination of feeble and vicious resistance put up by the Iraqi army, the Fedayeen militiamen and their Syrian allies against American forces bulldozing through towns and cities and into Baghdad. Wright paints compelling portraits of a handful of Marines, most of whom are young, street-smart and dedicated to the business of killing the enemy. As he shows them, the Marines' main problem was trying to sort out civilians from enemy fighters. Wright does not shy away from detailing what happened when the fog of war resulted in the deaths and maimings of innocent Iraqi men, women and children. Nor does he hesitate to describe intimately the few instances in which Marines were killed and wounded. Fortunately, Wright is not exposing the strengths and weaknesses of a new generation of American fighting men, as the misleadingly hyped-up title and subtitle indicate. Instead, he presents a vivid, well-drawn picture of those fighters in action on the front lines in the blitzkrieg-like opening round of the Iraq War.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Its timeliness notwithstanding, this chronicle of an American reconnaissance platoon's mission to spearhead the invasion of Iraq is not one of those hastily thrown together "instant books." The author was the only journalist to travel with First Recon. He joined the platoon in March 2003 and traveled with its soldiers into combat missions (including the assault on Baghdad in April). His book is not about the war itself but about one group of men who fought in it. Today's American soldiers, Wright says, are young men who are "on more intimate terms with the culture of the video games, reality TV shows and Internet porn than they are with their own families." (One 19-year-old corporal compares driving into an ambush to a Grand Theft Auto video game: "It was fucking cool.") Wright also explores how today's pop-culture-driven soldiers differ from those who fought more than three decades ago in Vietnam. A perceptive, often troubling examination of soldiers' view of war, peace, and combat. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (June 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399151931
• ISBN-13: 978-0399151934
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (248 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Evan Wright is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine. He spent two months living with a platoon of Marine reconnaissance soldiers during the war in Iraq.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

301 of 308 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 80% Accurate, 20% Interpretation August 5, 2004

By November Echo Four Romeo

Format:Hardcover

This book covers what we at 1st Recon called "The Best Spring Break Ever". Wright does an outstanding job accurately portraying the personalities of the operators of Bravo company. As a member of Charlie and H&S company I can verify that he is fairly accurate in his recalling of most events our Battalion faced. The only thing I found inaccurate is that he portrays many Officers to be incompetent. In reality there was a few morons in charge, but the vast majority were fairly good guys. This is fairly standard throughout the military. Also he took a lot of the things we said out of context and interpreted it to make us sound angry all the time(except Tim B., he really is angry all the time). All in all this book is 80%fact 20%spin. Regardless, it captures the general feelings and experiences that we in 1st Recon lived through.
-November Echo four Romeo
S.S.D.

141 of 144 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No Boyscouts Here June 24, 2004

By Antonio J Espera

Format:Hardcover

I'm glad to read a story about the Marines that is uncensored - with the high expectations of the American people set by the greatest generation that ever lived I found it impossible to live up to Steven Spielberg's version of "Band of Brothers". Being a Marine in 1st Recon Bn, Evan Wright's interpretation of our daily lives and experiences are extremely accurate. While reading the book almost a year later I had forgotten some of the details of my own experiences that Wright brought back to life. It was almost like I was living through the war again. Simply put, if you want to know what it is like to be a Marine during this campaign there is no better book at this time. It seems to me that Evan Wright was influenced by nothing but the experiences and the personalities that he absorbed during the war. No one is over exaggerated.

169 of 179 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The one embed account you should read December 15, 2004

By M. S. Hillis VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you can only read one account of the Iraq War, this should be it. Wright spent about a month with a squad of recon Marines -- essentially the special forces of the corps -- and his account is nothing short of gripping.

It is also exhausting, as Wright subjects the reader to a full range of emotion -- from joy to appalling horror to pride. Wright has a keen eye for the details that bring the stories of the war to life. The banter between the soldiers is fascinating and frequently hilarious, and is definitely a highlight of the book. No other account brings you closer to the men who slugged this thing out as they barreled across the Iraqi desert.

It is useful to keep in mind that this book calls the shots as they are seen from a small group of soldiers on the frontline of the war. What this book is not is a comprehensive overview of the run-up to the war or of the overall strategy employed by the U.S. military. The soldiers often gripe about certain officers and decisions taken at the higher levels. Some of the complaints are balanced out with alternate views. Wright's account is valuable not for its even-handed treatment of every side in a particular issue, but for giving insight into how the men on the ground met and dealt with problems that cropped up during their historic mission.

The book does dwell on a lot of the mishaps encountered by the soldiers. Among the headaches endured by Wright's squad: a lack of lubricating oil to keep their weapons functioning properly, muffed radio communication thanks to incompatible encryption, and general cluelessness about the true nature of their mission, which was basically to drive through enemy positions to draw fire so their position/size/strength could be estimated....

As with any good reporter, Wright plays the facts pretty straight. There isn't much here that is partisan one way or the other. He doesn't shy away from showing the sheer horror of war, such as the case of the Iraqi driver who had the top of his head scooped out by a bullet, leaving braindead but technicaly alive, with a beating heart and working lungs as he sat at the wheel of his vehicle. Nor does Wright paper over Saddam's brutal regime, and there are several scenes in which cheering crowds lined the streets to joyously welcome the Marines.

The book's title is outrageously sensationalistic, and while at the start Wright seems poised to cast the entire adventure as a tale of ultra-violent American youth numbed by years of Hollywood action flicks and bloody video games, that theme is quickly left behind.

Indeed, it would be difficult to make generalizations about American troops based on this book. On the one hand, you have extremely intelligent and upright men that represent the best of America, such as the guys who essentially shame an officer into authorizing a helicopter evacuation for an Iraqi kid who was accidentally shot. On the other hand, there are examples of sheer incandescent idiocy, such as the guy who remarks how cool it would have been to drop the atomic bombs on Japan and kill a quarter million people.

Highly recommended. Read more ›

109 of 120 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Reading For Both Sides of the Political Spectrum September 8, 2004

By A. Ross HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Whether you were for or against Gulf War II, this is essential reading about it. Rolling Stone writer Wright was embedded with an elite U.S. Marine reconnaissance unit that was often at the "tip of the point of the spear" during the invasion of Iraq. He spent approximately two months with them, riding shotgun in a Humvee as they were used as ambush-bait in the push north. The result is brilliant front-lines reportage that's at turns harrowing, hilarious, shocking, and chaoticóreflecting the reality of combat at its most basic level. The book's title is provocative, designed to sell rather than describe the contents. And yet, Wright does have something to say about the new generation of American soldiers sent to fight in Iraq: "These young men represent what is more or less America's first generation of disposable children. More than half of the guys in the platoon come from broken homes and were raised by absentee, single, working parents. Many are on more intimate terms with video games, reality TV shows and Internet porn than they are with their own parents."

Based on that excerpt, one might expect Wright to go on to provide a litany of the unit's worst excesses and examples of Marine Corps machismo and arrogance. Thankfully, he instead is interested in the men and not stereotypes, and manages to gain acceptance among them. Some have critiqued the book for thisóessentially saying that because Wright became tight with these Marines, he couldn't be objective about their actions. While it would be absurd to suggest that Wright operated under total objectivity, as a critique, it doesn't hold up. Most of the book is Wright just writing about what he sees happen and recounts the feelings the men share with him about their experiences.... And it's not as if he sugarcoats his two months with themóplenty of screwups and bad mojo make their way into the pages.

Those with illusions about high tech modern warfare will read in astonishment as duststorms blind all electronic reconnaissance, guns break down for lack of lubricant, thermal imagers aren't available due to battery shortages, and radios from different units can't communicate due to incompatible encryption keys. Alas, the bad news doesn't end there, the unit Wright rides with is sent into tactical situations they're unprepared for, in vehicles they have little experience in, replying on some weapons they've hardly ever trained on, and later on, supported by a reservist unit of DEA and LAPD officers who are total cowboys.

On the plus side, Wright is scrupulous in detailing how attentive the soldiers are to the rules of engagement, and goes to great lengths to explain how the fog of war operates and can lead to civilian casualties. And when civilians are killed due to lapses of discipline, Wright doesn't have to point it out, the Marines he's rides with do it for him. What's perhaps the most surprising thing about the book is how upset some of the Marines get by the scenes they witness. And then again, he does recount the excitement some of the soldiers felt at unleashing spectacular acts of destruction. Another criticism of the book is that he vilifies "all" the officers, usually by recounting the griping of the men under them. The truth is that there are two officers in particular ("Captain America" and "Encino Man") who do come across as dangerously incompetent, and Wright's account makes it very clear why the enlisted men lost all confidence in their leadership. Indeed if one reads between the lines, there's a critique of how the military lets middle-grade officers sit behind desks for ten years and then expects them to perform on the battlefield when they have morphed into mangers.

One could go on and on about the other aspects of the war Wright writes about with clarity: how the chain of command works (or doesn't), the addictive adrenaline rush of being shot at, how the soldiers kept themselves hepped up on ephedra, the deep cynicism many Marines have for the war, and how ultimately, "The invasion all comes down to a bunch of extremely tense young men in their late teens and twenties with their finders on the triggers of rifles and machine guns." Perhaps the most telling thing about the book is that the soldiers he was embedded with have stood by his warts and all account as being truthfulóat least one has even posted his support on Amazon. Wright recounts how one Marine writes constantly to his wife, saying"If something happens to me, I want my wife to know the truth. If they say we fought valiantly here, I want her to know we fought retarded." For those who don't have relatives at the front lines, Wright's book is the first-hand account we should be reading in order to get a true picture of the cost and consequences of going to war. Read more ›