Because I didn't feel like resurrecting a thread last seen in 2007.
In my opinion, half the pleasure of reading is talking about what you've read.
So: I just finished
The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education, and I like it. A lot.
The author was a second-in-his-class West Point grad who was a Rhodes Scholar (went to Oxford for graduate school). He went through Ranger training and deployed to Afghanistan, and eventually taught history at the Naval Academy. He worked for the Obama-Biden Transition Project as an adviser to Obama on Middle Eastern policy and now apparently now works for USAID.
The memoir is really a valuable picture of what goes into shaping a smart and tough military leader. Craig brings a lot to the table from the start, but he takes the best the Army has to offer and uses it to become a better person. He's a gifted writer with exceptional talent and drive, but he never toots his own horn unnecessarily and doesn't pull any punches in describing his failures.
The experiences he relates should be genuinely interesting to people from both military and civilian backgrounds. For a civilian, the book will go a long way toward bridging the gap in understanding between themselves and the mentality of the principled, thinking soldier. In my own case it offered quite a bit beyond that. One of the best lessons of the book is the suppression of selfi
shness and self-interest in the service of one's subordinates.
After a failed training mission at Ranger school, an instructor hisses to the exhausted soldiers, "Fuck self-pity. This isn't about you." This thread is present throughout the book; the thought that one's subordinates will rightfully demand everything you have is a sobering one.
Anyway, I'd like to hear about any noteworthy stuff you guys have been reading lately. I just really liked this book and wanted to share.
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Topic: Book Thread (Read 92440 times)