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Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda Reprint Edition

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Sean Naylor (Author)
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Sean Naylor (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 260 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0425207871
ISBN-10: 0425207870
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (March 7, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0425207870
  • ISBN-13: 978-0425207871
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (260 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsBest Insight into the current American wars
By QR6 on January 21, 2006
Format: Hardcover
Not a Good Day to Die is a must read for anyone who wants to understand what we should really be focusing on to change in our current military if we want to stay relevant in a future that will almost certainly be marked by uncertainty. I am a Reserve Officer who just returned from Iraq and I couldn't believe how many of the lessons I had highlighted in Naylor's book, were still relevant on the ground in Iraq. My son sent me a blog from an unknown author who I would love to thank because he sums up what I believe to be the seminal lesson from Not a Good Day to Die, and the key point we should focus on to improve our military in the future.

A brief discussion about the decisionmaking structure of U.S. land forces. The most remarkable examination of this topic is Sean Naylor's recent book on Operation Anaconda, an American effort in 2002 to trap and destroy a force of hundreds of al Qaeda warriors in a valley in Afghanistan. Naylor's book, Not a Good Day to Die, is far too detailed to come close to summarizing here. But two themes reappear throughout Naylor's narrative.

First, the American military has grown higher headquarters like weeds in rich soil. Meetings over Operation Anaconda, a single operation planned for three days and thought to be aimed against 200 enemy, involved absurd numbers of competing organizations -- and, therefore, competing operational styles and agendas. Here's a typical laundry list for a single meeting: "Representatives from K-Bar, the CIA, Task Force 11, CFLCC, the Coalition and Joint Civil-Military Operations Task Force, and Task Force Rakkasan had been invited." And this list is hardly a complete reflection of all the different headquarters involved in Anaconda.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsSuperb
By A reader on March 1, 2005
Format: Hardcover
Mr. Naylor is a reporter with Army Times who has covered the military for many years. He displays an insider's understanding as to how military organizations plan and fight. This book is unique in the degree to which the author was able to get the participants to be interviewed; there are a great many details here you won't find anywhere else. He does a great job on the account of Anaconda, a large raid into a mountain stronghold in southeast Afghanistan, conducted in early 2002.

The author covers the planning for Anaconda, the infighting among different organizations, and the significant impact the Secretary of Defense's office had as the numbers of conventional forces were limited due to political considerations. Special operators, generals, infantrymen, apache gunship pilots, all have their voices heard. What happens when plans fall apart and soldiers have to pick up the pieces? It's all in here.

This is the best account of the Army post 9/11 that has been written, and it is highly unlikely you'll find one better anytime soon. A must read. If you have any interest in the military or national security, pick this up.
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3.0 out of 5 starsStarted off slow but finished strong
By Gordon Ewasiuk on March 26, 2006
Format: Paperback
The book is broken into four sections: the leadup to the operation, the first contact, the ranger battle, then conclusion. The first section is about 180 pages and is a bit of snoozer. The author explains, what appears to be, every single aspect behind every decision made prior to Anaconda. He goes into excruciating detail about the "office politics" between the various military groups. At one point, it starts sounded like a soap opera as various loyalities and internal factions are explained. It was bad enough for me to skim a few pages. It feels like the author had to fill some pages and pad the book.

One thing that stuck out was how LONG the prep work for the operation took. The book starts off "in the first weeks of January." The operation kicked off on 2 March. That seems like a long time to this untrained observer.

I did like hearing about the local Delta operator and how he planned and ran the three recce teams. He was bold and daring.

Things start picking up during the second section, "Reaction to Contact." As the first troopers hit the ground, the author reeled me in with vivid details of landscape, battles, and the troopers. The insider report of the friendly-fire incidents boiled my blood. When the author talks about the Afghan trucks driving across the mountainside in the dark and WITHOUT lights, I was shocked. Descriptions of the landscape are detailed. At one point, I lost track of all the different units moving around.

The third section is the climax. It deals with the battle on Takur Ghar. That was the payoff. Once I reached that section, I couldn't put the book down. When the SEAL commander sent the first helo to an LZ on TOP of the mountain, I was stunned.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsAdhocacy Hell
By F. Butler on March 17, 2005
Format: Hardcover
Not a Good Day to Die is clearly the equal to the likes of Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers...Once and Young, and Thunder Run. The book is simply one of the finest accounts of modern combat that has ever been written. With that being said however, it is difficult, in a short narrative, to describe all of the troubling aspects about Operation Anaconda. The book illustrates, only too clearly, the fallacy of the term "unity of command" that the services bandy about and the consequences that result when there was, in fact, no "unity of command" in Afghanistan at least where Anaconda was concerned. Not a Good Day... depicts the failure to understand, despite the marvels of modern technology, that even a subset of ground battle cannot be run from thousands of miles away by an Air Force general officer who doesn't understand what is transpiring on the battlefield, even the nature of ground combat, and who will not listen to the people on the ground who do understand what is taking place. Equally as troubling was the apparent prohibition by Rumsfeld and Franks prohibiting, in an attempt to reduce the size of the American footprint, the Army from employing the fire support needed by the infantry - a constraint not placed on Al Qaida. Troubling also was the ad-hoc nature with which the Army slapped together disparate units while attempting to achieve a certain level of manning and the desire to put an Afghan face on the battle. Also shown is that while there is clearly a role for precision guided munitions such as the JDAM they are not a replacement for integral fire support nor will close air support always be available when needed - as was the case of the AC-130 gunships which were not permitted, according to Air Force directives during Anaconda, to fly support missions in daylight.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsMust Read!

What an awesome book! Really puts into perspective the red tape the military places on its warriors.

Published 1 month ago by Lewis W Tartt IV
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

GREAT READ!!!

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer
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A good book

Published 3 months ago by gustavo
5.0 out of 5 starsA great read

Anyone who enjoys reading about combat operations will find this book fantastic. This book is well written and hard to put down.

Published 4 months ago by Happygoddess
4.0 out of 5 starsinteresting and informative - I like to know what our troops are/have...

interesting and informative - I like to know what our troops are/have facing - can pray more specifically for them

Published 6 months ago by Kathie Crosbie
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great book! Really gives an insight into the complexities of today's battlefield tactics and intelligence planning.

Published 7 months ago by B MARTIN
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Amazing how we still make errors in warfare!
How egos cause death

Published 8 months ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsTook awhile but worth it...

I read the other reviews and saw whew the booked stalled for awhile before it got good. I think the author did a great job laying out all of the details before Operation Anaconda... Read more

Published 9 months ago by T. Cox
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

An excellent read!

Published 9 months ago by Amos
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

GREAT ITEM.

Published 9 months ago by A. Myagkiy

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