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ISBN: 9781415957820
From the front lines of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, a searing, unforgettable audiobook that captures the human essence of the greatest conflict of our time. Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, the prize-winning New York Times correspondent, we witness the remarkable chain of events that began with the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, continued with the attacks of 9/11, and moved on to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Filkins’s narrative moves across a vast and various landscape of amazing characters and astonishing scenes: a public amputation performed by the Taliban, children frolicking in minefields, skies streaked white by the contrails of B-52’s, a night’s sleep in the rubble of Ground Zero. We venture into a torture chamber run by Saddam Hussein. We go into the homes of suicide bombers, meet Iraqi insurgents, and an American captain who loses a quarter of his men in eight days. The Forever War allows us a visceral understanding of today’s battlefields and of the experiences of the people on the ground, warriors and innocents alike. It is a brilliant, fearless work, not just about America’s wars after 9/11, but ultimately about the nature of war itself.
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Summary
Summary
A New York Times bestseller
Winner of the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction
Winner of the 2008 Cornelius Ryan Award
Winner of the 2009 Colby Award
A 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Current Interest
A 2008 New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book of the Year
New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books for Nonfiction, 2008
A 2008 USA Today Best Book for Nonfiction
A 2009 Time Magazine Top 10 Book for Nonfiction
A 2008 Washington Post Best Book for Nonfiction
A 2008 Los Angeles Times Best Book for Nonfiction
A 2008 Guardian Best Book of the Year for Nonfiction
A 2008 Boston Globe Book of the Year for Nonfiction
Selected for the October 2008 Indie Next List
A 2008 ALA Notable Book for Nonfiction
Filkins’s narrative moves across a vast and various landscape of amazing characters and astonishing scenes: a public amputation performed by the Taliban, children frolicking in minefields, skies streaked white by the contrails of B-52’s, a night’s sleep in the rubble of Ground Zero. We venture into a torture chamber run by Saddam Hussein. We go into the homes of suicide bombers, meet Iraqi insurgents, and an American captain who loses a quarter of his men in eight days.
The Forever War allows us a visceral understanding of today’s battlefields and of the experiences of the people on the ground, warriors and innocents alike. It is a brilliant, fearless work, not just about America’s wars after 9/11, but ultimately about the nature of war itself.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
“The
Forever War…achieves a gripping, raw immediacy.” —Boston Globe
“Splendid.” —Washington Post Book World
“Not since Michael Herr in Dispatches…has a reporter written as vividly about combat as
Filkins does from Afghanistan and Iraq.” —USA Today
“Thanks to one reporter’s heroic act of witness
and brilliant recitation of what he saw, we can see the war as it is, and for
ourselves.” —Los Angeles Times
“Wonderfully written and carefully researched…Filkins’s
meticulous attention to detail and his bravery…[are] evident on every page…The Forever War…serves as a powerful
lesson in what it takes to cover the complexities of war…[Dexter Filkins] has
put himself in the middle of this madness to deliver a stunning and illuminating
story.” —Christian Science Monitor
“Stunning…This unforgettable narrative
represents…a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of
this awful war’s history.” —New York Times Book Review
“Dexter Filkins’s The Forever War is the best piece of war journalism I’ve ever read.
He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and
heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we
see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by
comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages
to be a thing of towering beauty.” —Guardian
“Unflinching…Filkins confronts the absurdity of
war head-on…This is a page-turner, and one of the most astounding books yet
written about the war in Iraq.” —Time
“Dexter Filkins’s The Forever War, brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic
accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a
classic.” —Vanity Fair
“Dexter Filkins…is well on his way to becoming
the preeminent war reporter of this tumultuous era…His understated prose offers
a stiletto-sharp account of places he’s gone and people he’s met.” —Seattle Post Intelligencer
“A kaleidoscope of images and intensity…It is
written in finely honed bursts of vibrant color that capture the peculiar
culture of the war…It is a raw and riveting account…His honesty in portraying
the war implicitly exposes the hollowness of the platitudes used in Washington
to defend it.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
“Rich with details both grotesque and sublime…The Forever War is a masterpiece of
nuance.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“The definitive—and heartbreakingly humanizing—report
from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan…The Forever War [is] about all wars, everywhere—and a book that
will be read fifty years from now.” —GQ
“Extraordinary…If what Michael Herr brought back
from Vietnam in Dispatches was a sort
of Jackson Pollock—streaks of blood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard
rock and harder drugs—The Forever War
is like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of
pure color with black holes and open wounds.” —Harper’s
“Dexter Filkins is one of war writings’ modern
marvels, a writer of tremendous gifts and appropriate grit to go where others
will not.” —Associated Press
Gut-wrenching and touching . . .Mr. Filkins’s stories are those of a writer willing to endure hardship, danger and anguish to paint an accurate picture of war for the American public . . . His prose is as blunt as it is powerful. —Lee H. Hamilton, The New York Times
“Rich with details both grotesque and sublime . . . The Forever War is a masterpiece of nuance. —Matthew B. Stannard, The San Francisco Chronicle
“Splendid . . . it shines as a work of literature, illuminating the human cost of war. —Bing West, The Washington Post
“Brilliant . . . The Forever War . . . deserves to be ranked as a classic . . . and is likely to be regarded as the definitive account of how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were experienced by those who actually waged them . . . Thanks to one reporter’s heroic act of witness and brilliant recitation of what he saw, we can see the war–as it is, and for ourselves. —Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times
“Filkins . . . is a courageous reporter and an original writer . . . The narrative holds together through the power of his writing . . . The Forever War is an astonishingly good book. —Evan Wright, LA Weekly
“A kaleidoscope of images and intensity . . . It is written in finely honed bursts of vibrant color that capture the peculiar culture of the war . . . It is a raw and riveting account . . . his honesty in portraying the war implicitly exposes the hollowness of the platitudes used in Washington to defend it. —Chris Hedges, Philadelphia Inquirer
“[Filkins is] the real deal, a reporter’s reporter . . . his brave and stunning new book . . . pulses with prose so lean–whipsawing between brutality and beauty–that it takes your breath away. —Paul Grondahl, Times Union
“Phenomenal . . . The Forever War makes the war in Iraq so real, so haunting, that you’ll want to sleep with the book next to your bed and read it in every spare moment until the last page. It does what a great book about war, loss, politics, and sacrifice should–it moves, shocks, entertains, educates, and inspires. The Forever War is peerless–a classic. —Genvieve Long, The Epoch Times
“[Filkins is] an almost absurdly brave war correspondent . . . his brilliant, sad, unique book . . . may be the most readable book about Iraq. It’s certainly one of the most artful. . . We’re the better for it. —Hilary Frey, The New York Observer
“A chilling and ethereal narrative of loss and the promise of loss. —Jim Chiavelli, The Boston Globe
“Wonderfully written and carefully researched . . . Filkins’s meticulous attention to detail and his bravery . . . [are] evident on every page . . . The Forever War . . . serves as a powerful lesson in what it takes to cover the complexities of war . . . [Dexter Filkins] has put himself in the middle of this madness to deliver a stunning and illuminating story. —Chuck Leddy, Christian Science Monitor
“Dexter Filkins . . . is well on his way to becoming the preeminent war reporter of this tumultuous era . . . His understated prose offers a stiletto-sharp account of places he’s gone and people he’s met. —John Marshall, Seattle Post Intelligencer
“Addictive . . . [Filkins is] a master of the moment, of the concrete, of texture; where others try to explain, he wants you to know what being there feels like . . . I couldn’t put this book down. —Craig Seligman, Bloomberg
Splendid. —Washington Post Book World Best Nonfiction of 2008
Filkins’s meticulously constructed vignettes . . . illuminate and humanize the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. —Los Angeles Times Favorite Books 2008
The Forever War . . . achieves a gripping, raw immediacy. —The Boston Globe’s Year’s Best Books
Not since Michael Herr in Dispatches . . . has a reporter written as vividly about combat as Filkins does from Afghanistan and Iraq. —USA Today 10 Best Books of 2008
The gaping wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan have produced a torrent of words, but no single volume so far has the precision and power of The Forever War . . . Filkins’ set pieces have the absolute clarity of lightning flashes that burn away the fog of war. —Time Best Nonfiction Books of 2008
Harrowingly detailed . . . Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the ‘war on terror.’ —The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2008
Dexter Filkins's The Forever War is the best piece of war journalism I've ever read. He paints a portrait of war that is so nuanced, so filled with absurdities and heartbreak and unexpected heroes and villains, that it makes most of what we see and hear about Iraq and Afghanistan seem shrill and two-dimensional by comparison. And yet, as tragic as the events he describes are, the book manages to be a thing of towering beauty. —Dave Eggers, Guardian Best Books of the Year"The Forever War is already a classic–it has the timeless feel of all great war literature. Dexter Filkins’s combination of courage and sensitivity is so rare that books like his come along only once every major war. This one is ours.
“Dexter Filkins is the preeminent war correspondent of my generation, fearless, compassionate, and brutally honest. The Forever War is his astonishing story. It is one of the best books about war that I have ever read. It will stay with me forever. —Jeffrey Goldberg, author of Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide
“The definitive–and heartbreakingly humanizing–report from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan . . . The Forever War [is] about all wars, everywhere–and a book that will be read fifty years from now. —Andrew Corsello, GQ
“Dexter Filkins is one of war writings’ modern marvels, a writer of tremendous gifts and appropriate grit to go where others will not. —Henry C. Jackson, Associated Press
“Extraordinary . . . if what Michael Herr brought back from Vietnam in Dispatches was a sort of Jackson Pollock–streaks of blood, trickles of dread, splattershot of hard rock and harder drugs–The Forever War is like a pointillist Seurat, a neo-Impressionist juxtaposition of spots of pure color with black holes and open wounds. —John Leonard, Harper’s
“Dexter Filkins’s The Forever War, brutally intimate, compassionate, often poetic accounts of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, is destined to become a classic. —Vanity Fair
Dexter Filkins has seen the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan; he has stood in the ruins of the World Trade Center; he has been in the heat of battle in Iraq; indeed, no one else has been closer to the action than this courageous and thoughtful observer. This is a sensational book in the best sense. —Lawrence Wright, author of The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 "Stunning...it is not facetious to speak of work like that of Dexter Filkins as defining the 'culture' of a war...This unforgettable narrative [represents]...a haunting spiritual witness that will make this volume a part of this awful war's history.
“The best war reportage you are apt to read in a lifetime. —Joseph C. Goulden, The Washington Times“Unflinching . . . Filkins confronts the absurdity of war head-on . . . This is a page-turner, and one of the most astounding books yet written about the war in Iraq . . . Filkins doesn’t lecture, he just reports, in great and perfect detail.
Author
Author Bio: Dexter Filkins
Dexter Filkins, a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001. Before that, he worked for the Los Angeles Times, where he was chief of the paper’s New Delhi bureau, and for the Miami Herald. In 2009, he was part of a team of Times reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize for covering Afghanistan and Pakistan. He lives in New York City.
Titles by Author
Details
Details
| Available Formats : | Digital Download |
| Runtime: | 11.64 |
| Audience: | Adult |
| Language: | English |
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