The Three Battles of Wanat: And Other True Stories

by Mark Bowden

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Mark Bowden has had a prolific career as one of America’s leading journalists and nonfiction writers. His new collection, The Three Battles of Wanat and Other True Stories, features the best of his long-form pieces on war, as well as notable profiles, sports reporting, and essays on culture.

Including pieces from the Atlantic, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, this collection is Bowden at his best. The titular article, “The Three Battles of Wanat,” tells the story of one of the bloodiest days in the War in Afghanistan and the extraordinary years-long fallout it generated within the United States military. In “The Killing Machines,” Bowden examines the strategic, legal, and moral issues surrounding armed drones. And in a brilliant piece on Kim Jong-un, “The Bright Sun of Juche,” he recalibrates our understanding of the world’s youngest and most baffling dictator. Also included are profiles of newspaper scion Arthur Sulzberger; renowned defense attorney and anti-death-penalty activist Judy Clarke; and David Simon, the creator of “The Wire.”

Absorbing and provocative, The Three Battles of Wanat is an essential collection for fans of Mark Bowden’s writing, and for anyone who enjoys first-rate narrative nonfiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802190666
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	252,479
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Mark Bowden is the author of twelve books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down. He reported at the Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for the Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and other magazines. He is also the writer in residence at the University of Delaware. His most recent book is The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

War

The Three Battles of Wanat 3

The Ploy 54

The Last Ace 78

The Killing Machines 108

Jihadists in Paradise 142

Profiles

Just Joe 179

The Inheritance 208

The Bright Sun of Juche 242

Defending the Indefensible 286

The Angriest Man in Television 305

The Measured Man 320

Sports

The Silent Treatment 343

The Hardest Job in Football 358

The Man Who Broke Atlantic City 375

Attila's Headset 388

Essays

The Story Behind the Story 407

The Great Guinea Hen Massacre 424

Rebirth of the Guineas 429

Cry Wolfe 436

Abraham Lincoln Is an Idiot 447

Dumb Kids' Class 453

Saddam on Saddam 458

Zero Dark Thirty Is Not Pro-Torture 464

Acknowledgments 475

Editorial Reviews

10/26/2015
The author of the bestselling Black Hawk Down will please fans and win new ones with this bracing collection of essays. Bowden is in his element charting the familiar and complex territory of American engagement in foreign conflicts, as in the titular essay, a tragic and nuanced account of "the worst single day in the seven-year Afghan conflict," in 2008, and its repercussions for the U.S. military and the families of the American soldiers whose lives were lost. But those only familiar with Bowden's war reportage will be pleasantly surprised to discover the variety of topics he has tackled in this collection, which includes a profile of Kim Jong Un that is by turns enlightening, level-headed, and hilarious, and an essay about journalism in the age of the Internet. In his introduction, Bowden justly thanks the Atlantic and Vanity Fair, which published the majority of pieces collected here, for their continued commitment to funding quality, in-depth reporting. With his rigorous and respectful approach to his subjects, multifaceted viewpoint, and wry sense of humor, Bowden proves that American journalism hasn't kicked the bucket yet. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Three Battles of Wanat :

“[Bowden is] one of America’s pre-eminent practitioners of long-form journalism . . . Given the importance of military affairs in Bowden’s oeuvre, it’s no surprise to find a trove of combat-related work in this new collection . . . Beyond the military pieces, Wanat offers excellent profiles . . . The Three Battles of Wanat should please Bowden’s legions of fans. He usually writes with care and empathy, eschewing fashionable snark and take-down drama.” — Dallas Morning News

“In Mark Bowden's four decades as a reporter, he has been honing his skills going after the second look—the return to an event or a story once the proverbial dust has settled, to ‘dig deeper and write longer’ in order to understand what really happened. In this process he has become a passionate advocate for long-form journalism and one of its more successful practitioners . . . The story of the three versions of the battle for Wanat is a good place to begin. Bowden is so good at what he does best—highlighting the human angle of battles large and small—that the reader is led to consider what another round of "boots on the ground" could actually mean.” — Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“The author of the bestselling Black Hawk Down will please fans and win new ones with this bracing collection of essays. Bowden is in his element charting the familiar and complex territory of American engagement in foreign conflicts . . . But those only familiar with Bowden’s war reportage will be pleasantly surprised to discover the variety of topics he has tackled in this collection . . . With his rigorous and respectful approach to his subjects, multifaceted viewpoint, and wry sense of humor, Bowden proves that American journalism hasn’t kicked the bucket yet.” — Publishers Weekly

"A first-rate collection from one of the finest writers in contemporary journalism." Booklist

“Mark Bowden marshals his finest for The Three Battles of Wanat.” — Vanity Fair

“Bowden is consistently curious about the anonymous, often invisible operators who power modern warfare—drone operators, intelligence agents, special forces teams . . . Bowden tells a good story.” — Salon

“Deeply researched work on war, profiles of prominent, interesting people and sports personalities, and a variety of general interest essays represent fine examples of contemporary journalism, as the author himself looks to his investigative models such as Nellie Bly, Ida Tarbell, and John Hersey . . . Readers of Bowden’s work are assured of honest, straightforward, painstakingly researched essays.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

11/15/2015
Bowden, author of 12 books including the highly praised Black Hawk Down, demonstrates his versatility in this collection of lengthy magazine pieces, which appeared mostly in The Atlantic and Vanity Fair. Subjects range from war coverage and in-depth portraits of political leaders to sports figures and fascinating people doing interesting things. The gripping titular article describes the aftermath of the death of a young lieutenant in Afghanistan and the human cost of war. Another of the 23 contributions introduces readers to Judy Clarke, the tenacious public defender whose clients included Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombers; and Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Other revealing stories feature "Just Joe Biden," the indispensable vice president who remains a Delaware homeboy, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, who appears to be the right leader for his country. VERDICT Although none of these pieces is from before 2006, a few feel dated. However, this does not detract from Bowden's eloquence and his art of drawing the reader into the stories. This collection is a delight for those who enjoy literate yet down-to-earth nonfiction. [See Prepub Alert, 7/20/15.]—Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Library Journal

2015-09-23
Collected magazine articles and essays by wide-ranging journalist Bowden (Writer in Residence/Univ. of Delaware; The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden, 2012, etc.). Divided into categories familiar to the author's readers, his deeply researched work on war, profiles of prominent, interesting people and sports personalities, and a variety of general interest essays (e.g., his wacky experiment with guinea hens) represent fine examples of contemporary journalism, as the author himself looks to his investigative models such as Nellie Bly, Ida Tarbell, and John Hersey. The most probing essay is the lengthy title article, first published in 2011 in Vanity Fair, which tracks the fallout from the single most violent day's battle in the Afghanistan War, July 13, 2008, during which nine American soldiers were killed in action in Wanat. Bowden looks deeply into a very painful, complicated episode for the U.S. Army, which was blamed for the death of Lt. Jonathan Brostrom by his father, a retired army colonel who accused the leadership of putting the men in needless danger at Wanat. Yet while the author expresses compassion for the father's pain, he also ascertains the many facets to the story, which underscore that the officers were doing exactly what they were trained to do. In "The Last Ace," published in the Atlantic in 2009, Bowden explores the changing nature of America's fighter pilots, reflecting the swift advances in air power. In "The Killing Machines" (2013), also published in the Atlantic, the author delves into the morally complex history of the use of drones. Some of the detailed character profiles include those of Vice President Joe Biden, Korean dictator Kim Jung Un, New York Times publisher and chairman Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., and extraordinary lawyer Judy Clarke, who manages to keep the worst killers in America (Ted Kaczynski, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Zacarias Moussaoui, and others) from getting the death sentence. Readers of Bowden's work are assured of honest, straightforward, painstakingly researched essays.

Kirkus Reviews