Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) - Doug Stanton

Great Story, Juvenile Writing, Nonexistent Editing

I have been doing a lot of reading about Afghanistan recently, and was very excited to read this book. I was, therefore, quite dissapointed at how poorly written/edited it is. I had to stop myself from putting it down (permanently) in frustration at many times.

I was first struck by the poor quality of writing. We are givenso many insignificant, mundane, and often repetitive details. I lost track of how many men had "peppered" beards or "salt and pepper" hair. Somebody get this guy a Thesaurus. I really don't care if he was wearing "jeans and a black sweater" unless it really adds to the story. Add to this, a very long list of characters, and you have a recipe for confusion. Or how about page 124 where we are told that Nelson "worried about Jean (his wife) having the baby without him while he was gone. Most people didn't think soldiers cared about that kind of thing. But Nelson did." What kind of "soldiers-are-so-tuff-they-don't" care BS is this guy pedalling. So I am to believe that most people think that soldiers don't care/worry about their wives giving birth to their first born alone while their husbands are at war? WTF!!! I would think that something was SERIOUSLY wrong with any person (soldier or not) who wasn't concerned about being gone when their wife was giving birth to their first born. I would also I would think something was quite wrong with anyone who didn't feel the same way.

More offensive, though, was the AMAZINGLY poor editing. For example, how did an editor (if there was one) not recognize the appaling sentence structure of "Dean pretty much believed there wasn't something he couldn't improve, himself most of all" on page 169 (center). Or even worse, on page 283, we are told that Herat is "about sixty miles west of Mazar", when the map opposite page 1 shows it is over 150 miles! Then, only 6 pages later on page 289 we are told that "General Dostum would afford them safe passage to the nearby ancient city of Herat, east of Mazar". Did you catch that...Herat is now EAST of Mazar - Unbelievable!

An amazing story virtually ruined. If you feel like wading through a very poorly written story, there is good information to be gleaned, but if you are the kind of person who even half-way pays attention to detail...well, you've been warned.

an outstanding overview of post 911 and the silent fight in Afghanistan.

This truly is a riveting retelling of post 911 Special Forces soldiers and CIA operatives that entered Afghanistan and engaged in the fight against Al Qaeda. So many unsung heroes that have sacrificed love, life, and family in the call of duty- I, for one, am grateful and humbly indebted to the many who have bravely fought and faced enemies, and who would do it all over again in the name of freedom.

Horse Soldiers

this book is a reminder of how much we owe these "unsung heros". This book shares the day to day challenges, including victories and defeats of our special forces working behind the scenes.

A lot of characters, but a good story.

It was hard to keep track of all of the characters and their ranks. But all in all a good story that I passed on to a family member to read.

Great book!

The book describes the activities of a group of U.S. special forces that assisted the Northern Alliance in defeating the Taliban. The last part of the book focuses on the Qala-I-Janghi prison riot. This riot was well covered by the news media. News footage of the riot and ensuing battle can be found on youtube. This was an eye-opening book. It covered the relevant history of the Taliban in Afghanistan, its battles with the Northern Alliance and the close relationship between the Northern Alliance and the special forces. Battles are described in gripping detail.