Customer Reviews

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Mr Stanton has created a fascinating narrative of the exploits of the US Special Forces in what was prewar Afghanistan.
The book title refers to the fact that our US SF needed to mount horses in order to stay with the Northern Alliance tribesmen they were helping to drive out the Taliban. Many of them had never before been on a horse. Really tough duty, especially on makeshift wooden saddles. The SF people are introduced by name, and you are given their bios, leading to the reader becoming intimate with all of them. A most interesting approach to telling the story.
I highly recommend this book.

I was given this book by a friend, so I looked at it and immediately - sat down, started reading and finished it almost one sitting. Horse Soldiers is the impressive story of the US Special Forces team sent into Afghanistan after 9/11 to capture Mazar-I-Sharif. So the first action against terrorists of the 21st century winds up conducted on horse back, more accurately a cavalry charge much like Mosby's raiders during the Civil War. There is action, pathos and even a bit of humor as a group of Special Forces men who had only, for the most part ridden horses in summer camp ride into battle. There was so much that was captivating, I found myself stopping to read passages out loud to my husband.
If I was still teaching current history this would be on the reading list, and I know it would be well received. I will be surprised to not see this book become a movie, its tale is gripping and fascinating. The men in this story will make you proud of our service men, their bravery, courage and at the same time you will be intrigued and awed by the skill and methods of our modern military.
As one who grew up in the army and have always been near those whose hearts and souls are given to protect us - this is a stunning account that reaches the best of a story teller's writing, except this is true and will make those who read it, aware of, and thankful for the skill and bravery that is written of in this book .

Horse Soldiers will take readers from the freezing interior of a high tech Chinook helicopter flying higher than it safely can through the mountains of Afghanistan delivering soldiers to desert gun fights fought on horse back harkening America's old west. It's a modern day Odessy written with a journalist's penchant for detail and Homer's gift for telling a warrior's story.

In the end it is also the harrowing tale of how a small group of American Special Forces and the CIA working with Afghan soldiers managed to defeat the Taliban in one of the world's remotest battlefields.

It's not a book about politics. Stanton sets out to tell what happened, how it happened and who it happened to. He does this with startling attention to detail and a an objective overview of U.S. Military actions.

At one point American bombers can't seem to hit a target whether the bombs are guided by Global Positioning System coordinates or LASERs. Near the end of the book they drop a bomb on some of their own men.

But it is Stanton's ability to weave a story that brings the book alive and takes readers to places they would rather not be to hear things they would rather not hear and to see things they would rather not see and to smell things they would rather not smell.

The story is told in a narrative fashion sometimes switching between Afghan battle and a spouse battling her emotions about whether her husband will come back home. And, although this switching back and forth fills in interesting background, it's a technique more akin to screen writing than book writing. It makes it harder for readers to keep track of what's happening to whom.

There are unusual moments as when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld actually calls and asks why the soldiers aren't making enough progress and one of Special Forces officers writes a reply that Rumsfeld reads from during a press conference describing the miserable conditions and bravery of the Afghan fighters.

Stanton writes about the complexity of flying a helicopter under extreme conditions; cold, wind and extreme altitude like this: "You had essentially flown to the dead end of a physics equation."

Stanton relied on more than 100 books, articles and web sites and an equal number of interviews in writing this well documented book. He also traveled to Afghanistan to flesh out details and to see the fort where one of the major battles took place.

The book appeals to general readers seeking a good story well told as well as to those with an interest in history and the military. It also is a testament to the effectiveness of soldier-philiosphers who can outthink their enemies and think with their allies before they start shooting.

The story of 5th Group and the Northern Alliance is outstanding, but being a 20+ year veteran of Special Forces I was greatly disappointed in the research. After reading that Roger's Rangers fought against the British in the Revolutionary War as opposed to fighting with the British against the French in the French and Indian War I was amazed at such a historical error. Claiming Special Forces committed the majority of attrocities in Vietnam is just false. The story is good, the writing mediocre, and the research horrible.

Doug Stanton's new book "The Horse Soldiers" is an engrossing read. Stanton not only vividly brings the reader right into the middle of the firefights and paradoxical scenes of U.S. Special Forces soldiers calling in smart bomb airstrikes from horseback, but also the tender, heart-wrenching personal stories of their wives awaiting their safe return. The success of this small group of men in Afghanistan immediately after 9/11, should be the model for future U.S. involvement in these types of actions. He gives these "Quiet Professionals" their due and rightful place as modern heroes, not only of military action and sacrifice, but as diplomats who think first and shoot only as a last resort. "The Horse Soldiers" should be issued to every Cabinet member of the Obama Administration as required reading for understanding the complexities of one the world's oldest political focal points and a blueprint on how to curtail the Taliban's reemergence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Doug Stanton was born in the Reed City Public Library. In fact I have heard him say this. Of course at the time it was the Reed City Hospital, but it still makes a great opening line for a review of Doug's newest book, HORSE SOLDIERS, recently released by Scribner. Because Stanton writes like he was born to it. Here is history that reads like the best fiction of the action-adventure type.

Now a resident of Traverse City where he grew up, Doug is a product of the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Iowa Writer's Workshop. His first book, IN HARM'S WAY (2001), was an international bestseller. After reading HORSE SOLDIERS, I strongly suspect it will enjoy similar success.

The subtitle of Stanton's new book may be problematic for some. It reads: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan. And, in a nutshell, it's a good description of the book's content. Because the soldiers described in these pages are indeed extraordinary people who deserve to be recognized. The problem for some more politically oriented readers, however, will be the word "victory." They will argue that the U.S. has not achieved victory in Afghanistan and probably never will.

But this is not a book about politics. This is a book about ordinary people, military men and officers, who have trained hard and dedicated their lives to safeguarding the security of our nation, both here and abroad. They are not political people. They were given a mission, and they carried it out to the best of their abilities, despite extreme hardships and unbelievably primitive conditions. They suffered hunger, thirst, cold, exhaustion, sickness and wounds incurred in battle. Against what appeared to be insurmountable odds, these Special Forces soldiers and Special Ops pilots (and a few CIA paramilitaries) persevered and were indeed successful in carrying out their mission, the taking of the town of Mazar-e-Sharif from the Taliban forces. Working in concert with the combined forces of several Afghan warlords of the Northern Alliance, the SF teams lived in caves or in the open, and ate what their Afghan allies ate - often little or nothing. They traveled on horseback, even though many of them had never been on a horse before. This initially prompted some rather comical scenes reminiscent of episodes from F Troop. But despite the too-small wooden saddles, too-short stirrups, and bleeding sores, they quickly adapted. And once mounted, these few dozen courageous soldiers became the first Americans of the twenty-first century to participate in a cavalry charge, racing up and down ridges against vastly superior Taliban forces as they marched steadily north to their objective of Mazar-e-Sharif. In a strange combination of spaghetti western and Star Wars, the Americans, packing radios, GPS devices and laser sights, called in gunships and pinpointed bomb strikes to put the fear of Allah into their numerically superior black-turbaned enemies.

The story told here covers no more than a couple of months' time shortly after the 9/11 bombings of New York. But, sticking to the style that earned him such success in his first book, Stanton fleshes out the narrative with personal details on all the principals involved, having interviewed the men, their friends, families and superior officers. He was able to do this by gaining unprecedented access to the lives of soldiers who are ordinarily very silent about their activities. Stanton logged literally thousands of miles of travel in the six years he spent researching his story, not just here in the U.S., but also in Afghanistan, where he interviewed some of the warlords involved in the operation, as well as various citizens and shopkeepers of Mazar-e-Sharif, the town liberated from the Taliban in November 2001. You will meet men - and their families - from Alabama, Kentucky, Minnesota, West Virginia, California, Kansas, Texas and Michigan. Any one of them could be your neighbor.

The story reaches a horrific climax in the closing chapters when several hundred Taliban prisoners being held in the ancient mud fortress of Qala-i-Janghi rise up and attack their Northern Alliance jailers, and the SF soldiers are caught in the middle of the ensuing siege and resulting bloodbath.

I am sure HORSE SOLDIERS will have its detractors, people who will argue that invading Afghanistan was not the proper response to the 9/11 attacks. And I would not completely disagree with them. And perhaps neither would Doug Stanton, judging by his epilogue critique of the war as it has been waged since 2001. Stanton's intent, however, was not to justify the war, but to honor the men who followed orders and prepared the way, at great cost to them and to their families. In this he has succeeded admirably.

Here is how Stanton explains his motives, at least in part, for writing this book about a period of just a few weeks which may one day be no more than a blip on history's radar -

"... I wanted to know what it was like to wake in the predawn hours on a tree-lined street in the middle of America and leave for war ... Children's toys fill the cracked driveways of the neighbors' houses up and down the street ... This was the face I wanted to see ... the face of that man, in those private hours."

Stanton found that man - those men - who left for war, and he is Everyman. Yet he is unique, apart. And we owe him.

- Tim Bazzett is the author of the Cold War memoir, Soldier Boy: At Play in the ASA. He lives in Reed City, MI.

I thought "Horse Soldiers" was well done in terms of historical content. The author also was able to use what he learned to give readers a solid place to stand in viewing future events in the South Asian conflict. This guy can write. Reads like an adventure novel. I would recommend without reservation.

The book could have been half as long or contained twice as much information about the actual activities in Afghanistan. In my opinion, the author included too much information about what went on before the soldiers arrived into Afghanistan and about their families back home. He may have been trying to help the readers get to know the soldiers but it didn't help me much. I was interested in the details about what the soldiers actually did. There were also some errors such as who fought the British or fought alongside the British, how high you can go in elevation before you need oxygen, etc that made me doubt the accuracy of the rest of the story. It was a great "feel-good" story for those of us who love the Army and its Special Forces though. The book also inspired me to learn more about Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A well written story of men who know fear and how to contain it. To enter a combat zone with few people, connect with a group you know very little about, in a land of lost wars takes some very special and different people. Winning the battles by subordinating personal interest, fears and very little logistics support speaks volumes about the character and training of America's finest. I am humbled by the deeds of these men our nation's behalf. A compelling story that should be a required read in every high school in America.

Doug Stanton, Author
Horse Soldiers
Scribner, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., ISBN 13-978-1-4165-8051-5
Non-Fiction-Real Life Drama/Thriller/Military/War
360 pages
June 2009 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Doug Stanton, author of Horse Soldiers, has written one other book In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and penned numerous articles for Esquire, Sports Afield, Outside, and Men's Journal. He has been well received thus far and it is my feeling that this newest work will receive the same, or even better, accolades.

Horse Soldiers is a true story about our Special Forces, Green Beret, embedded CIA operatives, and other special military/paramilitary elite who were the first to descend upon Afghanistan after 9/11 in search of Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban. At this time, our forces were greeted by the local Afghani's as liberators and friends. The inhospitable terrain and unpredictable weather conditions these soldiers endured, the death and destruction they witnessed daily, and the generosity of the local people, was for many of these elite men a first on foreign soil. These impressions and memories form the basis for the investigative profiles depicted in Horse Soldiers.

Doug Stanton conducts personal interviews with some of the survivors, and their families back home, attached to this dubious and dangerous detail. The insight and detailed perspectives these men provided in country were astonishing. The unlikely friendships struck up between Afghani war lords, local peasants, and some of these elite men during their deployment in country are heartwarming. The trust and goodwill they built in the local communities during this assignment will serve as foundation for future diplomacy that will help eventually rebuild this war-torn country, as well as, provide a certain level of confidence for the people of Afghanistan to mount their own stand in fighting the wickedness and destructive nature of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

I've never visited a war and only watched it from the comfort and safety of America. Therefore, I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for these brave people to watch their friends and comrades sustain serious injuries or be killed, or to see the daily death toll of innocents and loyal supporters in the towns and villages rise, or to come face to face with thousands of people (jihadists) who only want to "kill the infidel". The fear they must have held inside while executing these incredibly brave and selfless maneuvers while hoping to come out alive, even against horrendous odds, can be like nothing we, here at home, can ever know. Horse Soldiers provides a poignant recount of what these men in service felt at regular intervals during this special and secretive assignment.

For a moving and unforgettable account of these first harrowing months in the war in Afghanistan, after 9/11, Horse Soldiers is a must read. I will forewarn you that these accounts are graphic and tragic. However, each page will reinforce your understanding of the destructive and divisive side of war, as well as, the undying bonds and commitments these men have for their fellow fighters and the people they are challenged to help or salvage from the ravages of Al Qaeda abroad.

Horse Soldiers should be considered a written tribute to the bravery, dedication, and courage of those elite fighting men under fire. Thank you, brave men, for your service and unwavering commitment toward making the world a safer place for ALL people! And thank you Doug Stanton for retelling their stories!