Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Patrick Robinson (Contributor)
Key Phrases: swim buddy, Hell Week, Hindu Kush, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post

If you're looking for a true story that showcases both American heroism and Afghani humanity, Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (Little, Brown, $24.99), written with Patrick Robinson, may be the book for you. In June of 2005, Luttrell led a four-man team of Navy SEALs into the mountains of Afghanistan on a mission to kill a Taliban leader thought to be allied with Osama bin Laden. On foot, the team encountered two adult men and a teenage boy. A debate broke out as to whether the SEALs should summarily execute the trio to keep them from alerting the Taliban. Luttrell himself was called upon to make the decision. He was torn between considerations of morality and his survival instinct, and he points out that "any government that thinks war is somehow fair and subject to rules like a baseball game probably should not get into one. Because nothing's fair in war, and occasionally the wrong people do get killed."

Luttrell opted to spare the Afghanis' lives. About an hour later, the Taliban launched an attack that claimed nearly a hundred of their own men but also the lives of all the SEALs except Luttrell, who was left wounded.

Not long after that, the Taliban shot down an American rescue helicopter, killing all 16 men on board. Luttrell is sure that the three Afghanis he let go turned around and betrayed the SEALs.

But if nothing is fair in war, neither is anything foreordained. Luttrell was found by other Afghanis, one of whom claimed to be his village's doctor. Once again, Luttrell had to rely on his instincts. "There was something about him," Luttrell writes. "By now I'd seen a whole lot of Taliban warriors, and he looked nothing like any of them. There was no arrogance, no hatred in his eyes." Luttrell trusted the man and his colleagues, who took him back to their village, where the law of hospitality -- "strictly nonnegotiable" -- took hold. "They were committed to defend me against the Taliban," Luttrell writes, "until there was no one left alive."

The law held, and Luttrell survived, returned home and received the Navy Cross for combat heroism from President Bush.

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Product Description

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive.


This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers.


A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich , moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 390 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (June 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316067598
• ISBN-13: 978-0316067591
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,057 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,662 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #7 in	Books > History > Asia > Afghanistan
  #12 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Military & Spies
  #15 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

280 of 327 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Unimaginable, June 12, 2007

By	Jengo "Jengo" (LONDON) - See all my reviews

This book takes you inside the Navy SEALs training program in Coronado. You are with Marcus Luttrell throughout BUD/S and Hell Week. You fly with him and his teammates in a C-130 to the Hindu Kush, where the hunt begins for bin Laden's right-hand man. But then it all goes terribly wrong, up there in the mountains of Afghanistan.

This book, written by Patrick Robinson, reads like a fast-paced thriller, told in Marcus's understated voice. It is a rivetting, important, sad story of lost friends, valor, courage and the intricacies of modern war. It is an important book, destined to become an American classic.

86 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "HELL WEEK IS WAR.. AND WAR IS HELL!!", July 9, 2007

By	Rick Shaq Goldstein "Rick Shaq Goldstein" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Right before I bought this book, I heard all the promotional "buzz" and "word of mouth" associated with it. When I started reading it, after the first 60-70 pages, which were kind of boring, I was saying to myself, "woe, were they really talking about this book, it's kind of boring!" Then we got to Navy Seal training. Ladies and Gentlemen, (Future readers.) I recommend you fasten your seat belts, fasten your chest harness, and it probably is good advice, to put a pillow behind your neck to protect you from whiplash! This story, then rockets non-stop for the next 320 pages. I'm a U.S. Veteran, and I thought my basic training was pretty tough. But after reading this book, I realize, I probably wasn't in basic training, I was on some kind of holiday, and instead of cussing out my drill instructor every night, I should have been sending him candy and flowers. Basic Seal training is tough, but they're just getting warmed up with some basics, such as: "they just bound our ankles together and then bound our wrists together behind our backs and shoved us into the deep end (Of the pool). This caused a certain amount of panic, but our instructions were clear: Take a huge gulp of air and drop to the bottom of the pool in the standing position. Hold it there for at least a minute, bob up for new air, then drop back down for another minute, or more if you could." All along the way, the instructors are declaring that most of the potential Seals won't be here at graduation, they'll either be thrown out, or quit. (Note: Only 30 of the original 180 made it!) A number of these highly motivated seamen dropped out during basic Seal training, and now.. And now... we get to "HELL WEEK"! I will attempt to briefly summarize "Hell Week" for you. What these cream of the crop, young American men, are put through, is hard to fathom. It is past inhumane. I'm surprised some politically correct ACLU representative isn't present, suing the Navy, but this is the only way to train the "best of the best"! And it's this training, that probably saved Marcus's life, in his ordeal in Afghanistan. 0500. "Give me 20 pushups! Go run into the freezing ocean in combat boots and fatigues. Get out of the ocean and roll around in the sand. (This will be referred to from here on out as getting "wet and sandy"!) Give me 20 more pushups. Now go on a multi-mile run down the beach, in soft or wet sand, with a million sand particles in your combat boots, and stuck in every crevice of your body, thereby acting like the most abrasive sand paper you'll ever have administered to your body. Oh you want to eat breakfast, well jump back in the freezing ocean, get out of the ocean, roll around in the sand (Getting "wet and sandy") run the couple of miles back (all in an accepted maximum time, or you're out of the Seals!) Give me 20 pushups! Now you can eat. Now pickup a log the size of a telephone pole. Run into the same aforementioned ocean (While still carrying the log!) Come out of the ocean. Get "wet and sandy". Give me 20 pushups. Do it again. Now pick up a boat and run down the beach. Put the boat in the water, turn it over and fill it with water, bring it back to shore. Get "wet and sandy"! Give me 20 pushups. Now get in the boat with your teammates and row backwards through the waves. Then turn around and paddle backwards through the waves. Hit the beach and get "wet and sandy"! Now I'll fast forward to diving drills in the pool. Wearing full diving gear, with heavy air tanks, jump in the pool, but your feet cannot touch bottom. If they touch bottom you're out of the Seals! To keep you company under water, there are friendly Seal instructors, pulling your masks off, pushing down on your back, and other assorted friendly, efforts to assist you in drowning. But here's my favorite from this exercise. An instructor will rip your air hose off and tie it in a knot. You have to reach over your back, since you can't see the hose, and try to untie the knot without drowning. If you can't make it, you're kicked out of the Seals. There are so many more tortuous tasks, that literally go beyond human endurance. These young men, are dedicated, and committed to the United States of America, and go where people don't want to go, and do what must be done! My favorite quote from this book, that will live with me forever, was by the infamous instructor Reno, during training: "THE BODY CAN TAKE DAMN NEAR ANYTHING. IT'S THE MIND THAT NEEDS TRAINING!" I could go on and on, about this book, and I haven't even gotten to the indescribable battle for "Murphy's Ridge". Even though, to some people, the battle, and the deaths of Marcus's teammates, and Marcus's survival, is probably the most discussed part of this book. I will never forget, the dedication, desire, guts, pride, and total, (And I mean total!) commitment, and their stretching the envelope of human endurance, by these amazing young American's! As a U.S. veteran, I salute, and remain in unending awe, of these unique, gifted, dedicated, American heroes! "God Bless America!"

138 of 165 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop reading reviews...Buy the book!, June 21, 2007

By	T. Wood (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Apparently some people are upset because Luttrell has an opinion and some attitude. I'll let you in on a little known secret...one does not survive any severe challenge without strong opinions and attitude. It is part of the man, therefore a required part of "his" story. Even if you still have your John Kerry bumper sticker still super-glued to your car and you truly believe in the vast right-wing conspiracy, you should buy this book for what it is, an amazing (and true) story and a great read. Stop pushing the liberal or conservative agenda for awhile and just be an appreciative American. Luttrell is the real deal.