Excellent book if you are looking for a grunts view on the invasion of Iraq. The stories that are told by Rolling Stone's reporter Evan Wright not only create excellent characters, but also a great overall read. I would highly suggest reading the book before catching the HBO mini-series of the same name. The mini-series was VERY well done, and follows the book very closely. Reading the book and than watching the mini-series puts a face to name and made the whole "Generation Kill" experience very, very interesting. ( )

"Being around them is reminiscent of being a thirteen-year-old at a weekend sleepover with all of your very best friends in the world. Only this weekend goes on indefinitely, perpetually nurturing the mystical bonds, the warrior dreams."

Winner of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award in 2005, awarded to outstanding non-fiction books pertinent to USMC history, Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and The New Face of American War originated as a series of articles written for, and published in, Rolling Stone magazine by journalist Evan Wright. A one-time editor at Hustler magazine, who came to specialise in writing about youth subcultures, Wright saw the military as a natural extension of this theme, and thus came to be embedded with 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, in the lightly armoured lead Humvee of Team 1 as it spearheaded the American-led invasion force on Iraq between March 19th and April 9th, 2003.

Armed with only Moleskine notebooks, Wright faithfully recorded the day by day activities of the battalion and the the lives of the Marines in which he placed his trust and faith as a non-combatant. Written mainly from the perspective of the enlisted men of Bravo Company, this character driven Baghdad-or-Bust road-trip revolves largely around the following men - Second Platoon's commander, 25 year-old Lieutenant Nathaniel Fick; Team One leader, 28 year-old Sergeant Brad "The Iceman" Colbert; 31 year-old Sergeant Rudy "Ballbags" Reyes; 30 year-old Sergeant Antonio Espera; 22 year-old Corporal Josh Ray Person; and 19 year-old Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley. Bravo Company's Third Platoon's 31 year-old commander, nicknamed "Captain America", and Bravo Company's company commander, nicknamed "Encino Man", late 30s; are also the subject of Wright's pen. Both are widely despised within the Company and are often the subject of heated discussion amongst the team members and tensions eventually boil over.

At the tip of the invasion force, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion often find themselves the northern-most force in Iraq, and subsequently under heavy enemy fire. Gaining the respect of the Marines for his tenacity at staying with the team in these most trying of conditions, the men open up to Wright and discuss their feelings. Civilian deaths is a subject that Wright explores repeatedly, and the episodes he depicts highlight the horrors of war and the emotional strain these Marines find themselves under.

"Graves sees a little girl curled up in the backseat. She looks to be about three, the same age as his daughter at home in California. There's a small amount of blood on the upholstery, but the girl's eyes are open. She seems to be cowering. Graves reaches in to pick her up - thinking about what medical supplies he might need to treat her, he later says - when the top of her head slides off and her brains fall out. When Graves steps back, he nearly falls over when his boot slips in the girl's brains. It takes a full minute before Graves can actually talk. The situation is one he can only describe in elemental terms. "I could see her throat from the top of her skull," he says..... Graves is devastated. "This is the event that is going to get to me when I go home," he says."

Wright also criticises and highlights the lack of planning and preparedness of the invasion force for the occupation after the fall of Baghdad.

For anyone interested in the invasion as seen by the Marines on the ground there are probably few better books. Wright has been criticised for not talking enough to the high-level brass and taking into account the stresses of command, as well as focusing more on what went wrong rather than what went right. There are also suggestions that conversations were reported out of context and details omitted, and that commanders come across as incompetent despite the fact that the majority were quite the opposite. One member of the Battalion in an Amazon review notes that the book is "80% Accurate, 20% Interpretation" - if you find those percentages acceptable, read this book. ( )

http://sarahbbc.wordpress.com/2009/05... ( )

An outstanding look at the 2003 invasion of Iraq from the perspective of front line grunts. Evan Wright strings together his Rolling Stone articles into a more substantial, well-crafted account of the lengths the First Recon Battalion went to from D-Day to the fall of Baghdad. A thought-provoking look at a war people thought would be over in one hundred hours, the men Wright writes about seem even more real than those in history novels from Vietnam, WWII or WWI. These events happened only years ago. There isn't yet the distance - or end - to this conflict to dull the edges. ( )

Outstanding narrative of the invasion of Iraq as carried out by First Recon Battalion of the United States Marine Corps, written by the Rolling Stone reporter embedded with them. ( )