I think this is an amazing book - Mr. Kaplan takes us into the lives of the (mostly) men of the military on the front lines; looks behind the history and the whys and what-fors of our presence all around the world. Very non-partisan, very deep and thoughtful - you can draw your conclusions. What Mr. Kaplan, a fine writer and tremendous scholar presents is a complete, albeit complex, picture. Couldn't put it down. Ditto for the first in this series, Imperial Grunts. I heard him explain his motivation in an interview: if he didn't write the story of these soldiers at this moment, in this time, no one would. I am grateful he did.

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