Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War (Hardcover)

by Ashley Gilbertson (Author), Dexter Filkins (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This collection of photographs and commentary presents a relentlessly tragic vision of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, where freelance and later New York Times photographer Gilbertson began working even before the U.S. invasion. Based in Iraqi Kurdistan, he missed much early fighting when Turkey refused passage to U.S. troops. Entering the northern city of Mosul, he was outraged to see newly liberated citizens engaged in an orgy of looting, quickly joined by the Kurdish troops whom he accompanied. Gilbertson's camera records chaos descending as the Kurds and Arabs (longtime enemies) sectioned off their neighborhoods and began arming themselves, even before Baghdad fell. In dozens of striking battle scenes, American soldiers go about their business with courage and discipline but show little affection for Iraq's civilians and positive contempt for its army. While plenty of dead and injured Iraqis are pictured, no dead Americans appear (because fellow soldiers forbid photographs), though captions in half a dozen name those later killed. The author rarely passes up the chance to record blood stains, ruined homes, flames and explosions as well as the sad stories behind them. Not yet 30, Gilbertson has clearly studied James Nachtwey, Robert Capa and David Douglas Duncan; this impressive book shows he has absorbed their lessons. (Nov. 1)
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Review
"This collection of photographs and commentary presents a relentlessly tragic vision of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, where freelance and later New York Times photographer Gilbertson began working even before the U.S. invasion. . . . The author rarely passes up the chance to record blood stains, ruined homes, flames and explosions as well as the sad stories behind them. Not yet 30, Gilbertson has clearly studied James Nachtwey, Robert Capa, and David Douglas Duncan; this impressive book shows he has absorbed their lessons."-Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )

"Remarkable. An Australian freelancer in his twenties, [Gilbertson] went to northern Iraq before the war and has been going back ever since, mostly on contract for the Times. His new book, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot collects Gilbertson''s four years of work in Iraq, with an introduction by his Times colleague Dexter Filkins, and a colloquial, self-revealing text beautifully written by the photographer himself. The pictures chart the descent of Iraq from the initial post-invasion euphoria into the extreme violence of the battles for Karbala, Samarra, and Falluja. They also show a young photojournalist, who ''wasn''t interested in covering combat,'' learning his craft, proving his mettle, forcing himself into situations that nearly destroy him morally as well as physically, and finally discovering, amid the inferno of Falluja in November, 2004, the strange tenderness that characterizes the very greatest war photography. Gilbertson''s pictures from the battle of Falluja . . . perform the opposite function of the war pornography that Abu Ghraib and Zarqawi gave the world: they give back their subjects the humanity that the war is taking away."-George Packer, New Yorker (George Packer New Yorker Online )

"Gilbertson's book . . . will break your heart while it opens your eyes. [His] photographs show violence and blood and desperation and panic; he captures American soldiers as they do their best in an impossibly complex situation, as well as the Iraqis who are caught in the crossfire."-Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune (Julia Keller Chicago Tribune )

"In Whiskey Tango Foxtrot we see that Gilbertson has much more to say-visually and verbally. Along with his images, the book includes harrowing first-person accounts and lengthy personal reflection on the unintended consequences of war. Refreshingly, Gilbertson doesn't shy away from his own culpability; in fact he explores it, and the book is all the better for this honesty. With any luck, the more personal, artistic, unvarnished approach to Iraq represented [here] will push more conflict coverage in that direction. And if we're really lucky, maybe publishers will realize that the earlier they print this kind of work, the more likely it is to influence public opinion rather than just reiterating it."-American Photo (American Photo )

"For more than a century, combat photographers have helped us to appreciate the full measure of our troops'' battlefield service. Ashley Gilbertson . . . who has been embedded with American combat troops in Iraq for most of the four and a half years since the American invasion, is part of that noble tradition."-Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago Sun-Times )

"The American venture in Iraq has summoned the whole range of human experience, from the hopes and hubris of the invasion''s first days to the dark and uncertain place the country is today. Ashley Gilbertson, a freelance photographer for the New York Times, has followed the war in Iraq from its beginning through its most singular moments. In his new book, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, published by the University of Chicago Press, he has compiled the best of those images, freezing the war''s most intense and dramatic moments, from the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 to the democratic elections of December 2005."-New York Times (New York Times )

"A stunning new book. . . Thankfully, we have writers and photographers like Gilbertson, now working primarily on contract for the New York Times, who have not given up on the idea of real reporting. The photographs in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot convey a clear-eyed fidelity to the facts. . . The lurid and the ludicrous share equal space, often to dizzying effect. . . This is the kind of reporting we so desperately need: free of false bravura, free of agenda, free of inflated urgency. . . For this reason, the book belongs less with other histories of the war than on the same shelf with Hemingway''s A Farewell to Arms and Vonnegut''s Slaughterhouse-Five. This is not trumped-up news coming live from Iraq but the straight story with harrowing snapshots of the American soul. When future generations look back and wonder where we went wrong, where we failed ourselves and them, it will not be hours of television and radio broadcasts that they pore over. It will be a select few texts, and Gilbertson''s book deserves to be one of them. He has accepted his charge and climbed the cliff-top. He has told the truth and does not balk."-Ted Genoways, Mother Jones (Ted Genoways Mother Jones )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226293254
• ISBN-13: 978-0226293257
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #370,609 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and Haunting, October 15, 2007

By	pjc210 "Philip" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Some of the best war photography I've seen. Although it will leave you reeling, this book is probably the only beautiful thing to come out of this war so far. It's nearly impossible to imagine not only being there as Gilbertson was, but that he seemed to risk his life to get each shot -- each one perfect, and all too real.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars War like it is., November 10, 2007

By	Paul W. Leicht "bookshark1970" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mr. Gilbertson is a talented photohrapher. His shots are well composed and very artistic while natural. His work reminds me of Robert Capa. His images are raw and tell the truth of what war in Iraq is like. From someone who was there and saw the war up close and graphically as seen in this fine book (I was a Marine combat photojournalist from 2002-2006 and served in Iraq from 2004-2005) I can only strongly recommend getting your hands on this book if you have any desire to view a glimpse of the REAL war, not the distilled media nonsense found on CNN or most major networks. A close friend of mine, and fellow Marine camera hound, Joel Chaverri served alongside Gilbertson in Fallujah in November 2004 (Chaverri also has some strong images of his own). They both experienced intense street combat and Gilbertson's photos are an important contribution to the photographic history of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This book was also a fine pill of catharsis as it brought back my own repressed memories from Ramadi, Hit, Al Qaim, and Ar Rutbah. My highest recommendation, buy it and you will be better for it.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth, November 2, 2007

By	Karna Castellon (Pacifica, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It certainly does not portray the lighter side but rather gives a gritty look and the real stories, real tragedy, and real life of this war. This book is not for people who can't handle the truth.