Customer Reviews

The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education

5 star:		(170)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The Unforgiving Minute is a spectacularly written, extremely accurate depiction of the life of a US Army Officer involved in the Global War on Terror. As a member of the West Point class of 2000, I've shared many experiences with Craig. These include not only our time at West Point, but also time that I spent at the same locations in Afghanistan a year after Craig. His accuracy and presentation are astounding, and the challenges he faces are real.

Beginning with his time as a cadet, Craig takes us through his 4 years at West Point, his time in Ranger school, and his attendance at Oxford as a Rhode's Scholar. He takes us on a journey of developing relationships with his soldiers, and then testing and growing those relationships on the battlefields of Afghanistan. The struggles that he details are something that all Army leaders deal with, but few can put to paper as well as Craig has.

In addition to all that, this book is a love story and a story of family hardships. This book is truly a page turner that I recommend to anyone. "The Unforgiving Minute" is an instant classic that I will read over and over again.

This is the life story of West Point graduate... Rhodes Scholar... Afghanistan veteran... Craig Mullaney... who also believe it or not... wound up teaching at the Naval Academy. The author takes you from his childhood which included great admiration for his hard working Father, to an in depth look at life for a plebe at the hallowed grounds of West Point. It's invigorating for the reader as Craig describes the demanding goals that are set so high for our future leaders... both physically... and academically. The smallest detail is never small enough to be overlooked. A tiny... seemingly insignificant detail now... can save a life on the battlefield. One of the most enjoyable parts of this literary journey are the quotations that are peppered throughout the story. They range from Plato: "ONLY THE DEAD HAD SEEN THE END OF WAR." to "WHO SEEKS PEACE MUST PREPARE FOR WAR."

After West Point Craig wins a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, and in my opinion this is the one part of the book that loses a little traction. After completing his Oxford education the author enters Ranger School... and during this portion of his training it is literally impossible not to be in absolute awe of these future leaders of America. As an honorably discharged Viet Nam era veteran, I am amazed at the capability to push both the body... and the mind... past any logically accepted limits... and to have the inner strength and fortitude... to push both of them together in harmony. Another laudable character trait constantly displayed by the author throughout this story... is the fact that he... openly shares his fears... doubts... and uncertainties... with the reader. A sterling example of this is when he asks a war veteran: "HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW YOU'LL HANDLE COMBAT?" "YOU WON'T HE RESPONDED. YOU'LL NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU'RE THERE." "WHAT YOU KNOW FOR CERTAIN IS THAT IT WILL BE CHAOTIC AND LOUD, AND YOU'LL BE READY TO PISS IN YOUR BOOTS. YOU'LL BE MORE SCARED OF LETTING DOWN YOUR MEN THAN ANYTHING THE ENEMY'S GONNA DO TO YOU. AND THEN YOU'LL LEAD FROM INSTINCT AND JUDGMENT. THAT'S THE PRICE OF A SALUTE."

Craig adeptly summarizes his lessons learned from his military and Oxford education when he said: "Where the military academy had taught me how to answer questions, Oxford taught me what to ask." As Craig is deployed to Afghanistan the following words of wisdom echo in his head: "BE POLITE. BE PROFESSIONAL. BE PREPARED TO KILL EVERYONE YOU MEET."

In Afghanistan every bit of Craig's education and training comes in to play as he becomes a leader of men in combat. This tale of a young man with military aspirations takes you full circle from the classroom to specialized training to war and back to the classroom... as an Army man... training young Navy plebes. When the author's younger brother graduates West Point... Craig battles with his inner demons... as to what he should tell him. I say... simply give him this book to read.

Mr Mullaney is clearly a bright man and a good writer, and if you want a glowing review, read the overwhelming number of 5-star reviews above. I had high expectation for this book, but I came away disappointed. I enjoyed the description of life at West Point, the years at Oxford less so, and his experiences in Afghanistan almost seemed an afterthought. Where he lost me however, was in his treatment of his father and the father of one of his soldiers. Early in the book he describes how hard his father worked and the sacrifices he made to support his large family. After Mullaney's returns from Oxford, his father and mother divorce, and Mullaney confronts his father expecting an apology and an explanation. His father's explanation is basically "that sometimes people grow apart". Mullaney's response? "My father drew close to give me a hug, but I turned my back to him." And that's how it remains. Later, when he's in Afghanistan, his father writes him asking how he's doing, however "There wasn't a word of contrition in the letter." He writes a short response and "I answered none of his questions but gave him an ultimatum instead: No communication would be possible without a full explanation and an apology". He then tore up the letter his father had sent and burned the scraps. THIS is how you treat the man who worked like a dog his whole life for you? Is this the response of Mr West-Point-grad, Rhodes scholar or a petulant teenager? Later, one of Mullaney's men is killed in a firefight and he spends many pages dealing with his feeling that he has failed to "protect" his men. He even gets a gracious letter from the father of the slain soldier but he "can't muster the courage" to respond. Over a year after his return to the states he visits the gravesite of that soldier and drives right past the fire station where the soldier's father works. Might that man have appreciated a visit from his son's platoon leader? Mullaney doesn't even seem to consider the notion. What would a real leader do? He is able to forgive himself for the death of one of his soldiers, but he can't forgive his own father? His apparent profound lack of self-awareness makes his intellectual pretentions seem shallow. For me, the author's narcissism overshadowed the good qualities of the book.

I live in Berkeley, CA, and like most of the population here, am as far to the left politically as it is possible to get. I have always had a negative view of the military in general and in particular, of the kind of person who would volunteer for it. It has seemed to me to be the sort of thing men (and to a lesser extent women) do who want to have power over others, and who need to feel superior to others. Needless to say, news from Abu Ghraib did nothing to change my perception of this.

Mullaney's story, however, has changed my mind. His sense of integrity, honor, and humility, along with others he served with, comes across so clearly in his writing, that I have had to re-evaluate my beliefs about military culture. He is the kind of person I would actually trust to carry a gun, and to represent the U.S. in other countries. I can only assume that he would not love the army so much unless it was filled with other people holding values similar to his. He wrote in the Author''s Note that he hoped his book would help America better understand its military. He has done that for me, and I believe many like me will feel the same.

I recommend this book to every American--to those who love the military, and especially to those who think they hate it.

Mullaney's book is moderately well-written but fails to deliver. I salute his service, but as an Iraq war vet, I am very disappointed by his lack of leadership, and I am equally disappointed with the book. As such, it is probably good that Mullaney decided to leave the Army when his contract was up.

The author boasts his blue-collar, Irish-Catholic upbringing, but as and adult he completely disrepsects and literally turns his back on his hard-working father, whom he can't bring himself to forgive for his parent's divorce. When writing about one of his men who was killed in combat, Mullaney devotes several pages focused on his feelings, which is fine as one of the book's themes, but it leaves the (correct) impression that Mullaney is way too into himself to be a good military leader. For example, in true narcissistic fashion, he couldn't even bring himself to respond to a touching letter written by the dead soldier's dad. What kind of leadership is that? Then, after his return from Afghanistan, he visits the dead soldier's grave, but can't overcome his own self-absorbed emotions to pay a visit to the kid's dad. Maybe he has a problem with father figures. Ironically, in the end, Mullaney "forgives" himself for the death of a soldier, but never forgives his own dad for the divorce.

I'm sure Mullaney is a bright guy, but what comes across is a very shallow intellectualism. Two stars is the most I can recommend. Save your money.

Craig Mullaney is very courageous in opening up a window to his past to let us follow along on his journey through some very personal struggles. Craig was also my brothers' (SSG Chris McGurk) platoon leader. I have to be honest, I was initially drawn to this book for the part on the deployment to Afghanistan. I wanted to really know what happened to him and his men on that terrible day on Losano Ridge. I'm in the military myself but I'm not in a position to even understand what those guys went through. Craig's recollection of the events made me felt like I was looking over my brother's shoulder during the fight for their lives. I had to put the book down a few times when I realized how close Chris came to losing his life.

I told myself I would read the entire book and I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed following Craig as he began his career and education from West Point and Oxford through his training at the Armys' Ranger and Airborne schools. It was interesting to follow him along during his transformation from civilian to Army officer. This is a great book for people to gain a perspective on what it is like for those who answer the call to duty to serve ones' country. I thank Craig again for sharing his story and I'm glad that he was my brothers' platoon leader when it counted the most.

I read this very compelling book based on many discussions of the author on the West Point parents web site and Annapolis web site. Everything that can be said about the book and the author has been said in these reviews. I graduated form Annapolis 40 years ago and have a son who is a recent graduate of West Point-presently an infantry officer in Ranger school. The education of this officer at West Point and Oxford was excellent. I was and am totally impressed with the quality of the instruction and instructors at the Point. For four years I talked to as many of the staff there as I could and I was unable to find a less that exemplary member of the instruction team. This was not the impression we had of West Point when I attended Annapolis.

I finished this excellent book with some reservations. Out of ten years, the author spent maybe 18 months actually doing what he was trained to do-lead men in combat. He acquitted himself wonderfully during the combat period. The officer training now does a good job of encouraging the young officers to use the enlisted talent instead of abusing that talent.

After his return to the states, I could not help but wonder what the point of the deployment was and what is the point for my son. to deploy? As it was during the Viet Nam era of my service, the point was to get home alive.

And (this is a part of my guilt of only serving 5.5 years after graduation) we do not have any discussion about why the author left the Army when he might have had a significant career. His mentor John Nagle did the same. Why are these potential leaders with vision getting out?

Over all I loved the book and his writing style. His ability to describe his emotions and experience during those early officer years brought back pleasant memories. I am envious that he was able to translate that experience to paper-something many of us would like to do.

Conflicted Ambivalence.
A better title for Captain Mullaney's The Unforgiving Minute would be Professor Mullaney the Intellectual goes to War. Although well written and intellectual to the max, I found the story wanting in the gut issues concerning the gritty realism of combat. As a 3 time combat veteran and retired AF pilot, I simply could not relate to much of the fluff in Captain Mullaney's work. He touches all the right bases but does so with self-absorbed narcissism that I found wanting. His West Point education has been told before with much more passion. His Oxford experiences were interesting but left me scratching my head as to relevance. His Army Airborne and Ranger training were excellently told and very engaging as to his military education. Altogether the first half of the book pertained to Captain Mullaney's soldierly education and was mediocre at best. There are many better books on this subject.

I salute Captain Mullaney for his service. His narrative pertaining to his combat experiences had a certain softness to it that bothered me. Combat is the ultimate human experience that if not personally engaged in can only be vicariously tasted from afar. Captain Mullaney tries hard to describe his combat time but again there was a softness that weakened its impact. Maybe it's the times we live in where exposing one's soul and feelings for others to read about is the new warrior ethic. Combat is very personal and extremely complex. Words can never do it justice. Yet some authors like William Manchester, E.B. Sledge, Stephen Ambrose, and Robert Leckie accomplished that difficult task. Captain Mullaney did not. He spent way too much time second guessing himself and emotionally berating himself. If all military commanders/leaders did that the war would be lost in a sea of tears and self-recrimination. Combat by its very nature is extremely chaotic where mistakes are made and people die; not through failed leadership but by the vagaries of the tumultuous situation. Get a grip Captain Mullaney, you did your very best, it was not your fault that you lost a man. In war soldiers die.

By the end of the book I had more questions than answers. Did the author's education prepare him for combat? Why did Captain Mullaney leave the military? What is he doing now? Did he ever reunite with his father?
I liked the book overall even with its glaring flaws. This is why I have conflicted ambivalence about The Unforgiving Minute. It is very well written and shows the author's intellectualism, but it simply fails to deliver on its overall thesis of "A Soldier's Education." At times I felt I was reading a Soldier's "Love Story" with Craig Mullaney playing the part of Ryan O'Neal. What did Captain Mullaney learn from all his experiences? What is his message? I almost get the impression by the final pages that maybe Captain Mullaney was not cut out for a soldier's life. Don't get me wrong, he is one bright, tough, dedicated man, but something of the warrior ethic is missing. Only he knows what that is.

Difficult to recommend as a hardback. Get it from the library or wait for the paperback. For a better understanding of this subject see Peter Blaber's The Mission, The Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander, or The Nightingale's Song by Robert Timber. In my humble opinion Captain Mullaney missed the mark.

Grabs you starting out, but then it peters out into self-absorbed over-literary navel-gazing. Badly needs an editor to cut out the fluff--too many descriptions of meals and wine and pubs and useless detail. More quotes (yes, Mullaney is well-read) than insights. Can't hold a candle to Brendan Phibbs or E.B. Sledge or Bill Manchester or "Generation Kill." I plowed thru to the end hoping it would perk up, but never did. The platoon leaders on Omaha Beach or Khe Sanh would find little resonance with Mullaney.

I never thought a memoir could be so many things at the same time. All at once this book is informative, insightful, fascinating, stirring, humbling, inspiring, touching, exciting, thoughtful, and sad. Craig Mullaney is an exceptional person who appears to have lived a lifetime (or more) of experiences in an amazingly short amount of time.

This is not simply a book filled with a recitation of one man's adventures. Every word is purposeful. Every story is a lesson. The combination of raw emotion and the author's deep intellect and humility makes this narrative powerful and authoritative. It is the kind of book you won't stop thinking about after you finish it.

In short, I simply cannot say enough positive things about The Unforgiving Minute. I feel privileged to have had an opportunity to read Mullaney's story and grateful that he took the time to tell it.