In The Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat In Iraq by Rick Atkinson

In The Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat In Iraq Reviews

• 
  Christopher Blain

  I loved the book. I was In D company 3/502INF 101st and I can tell you it is correct in every way. From those cold nights at Campbell loading trains to the hot hell of Karbala, it is those little details that civilians see as boring that saves our lives. Moving the 101st from Ft Campbell to Kuwait in a month and then invading a country is no easy task. 99% of what we do is boring, but it is that 1% that they write books about. We sit in that hot seat and make those life and death commands when others do not or will not. I can tell you it is safer to read the book than live it. It was one hell of a ride and I do miss being in the company of those soldiers.
• 
  Lucas

  The author shadows David Petraeus during the invasion of Iraq, and after each recounted episode contrasts the competence and integrity of the soldiers with that of the Bush administration.
  
  Lots of minutiae about somewhat random things, like discussions over whether to tape or paint helicopter blades to protect them from the sand. Those particular details weren't completely random, the vulnerability of helicopters to ground fire and sand is mentioned repeatedly.
  
  The story of the looting is interesting - in another book it is mentioned that U.S. soldiers were authorized to shoot looters while in Haiti (or another country?) in the 90's, and there was therefore no looting. In Iraq no authorization existed, and there was a high level acceptance of the looting of Baath party buildings which degenerated into the looting of anything by the time that filtered to the street level. The author talks about painstaking attention made by the military to not damaging city infrastructure (the more they damage the longer they have to stay around afterward to see it rebuilt), but then the looters ended up destroying it in the anarchy following the invasion.
• 
  Ericka Clou

  Left me a bit cold. The author did a good job of honoring the history of the region, describing the movements like an interesting chess game, and examining some of the bumbling policy behind the war. But Atkins follows General Petraeus but we never really find out who the man himself is. Atkins doesn't follow any particular soldier so he fails to humanize the conflict the way the accounts I've read by soldiers always do. Atkins also made me nervous every time he detailed American military weaknesses. Shhh. The end is sad and scary though.
• 
  Clyde

  In In the Company of Soldiers Rick Atkinson chronicles his experiences as an embedded reporter with the 101st Airborne Division (air assault) during the Iraq war in 2003. His book brings back the concerns and fears of that war that have become somewhat blurred by time. I didn't find this book to be quite as engrossing as Atkinson's earlier The Long Gray Line, perhaps because In the Company of Soldiers is in fact a chronicle -- a diary of events as it were -- without a strong core theme. Other than the war itself and the accounts of warriors doing their jobs, the most important thing in this book is Atkinson's portrayal of General David H. Petraeus. In fact it was the recent high-profile scandal leading to Petraeus's resignation that prompted me to read this book. The complex man Atkinson shows us is enigmatic -- driven and driving, highly intelligent, obsessive over details, hyper competitive, intense, honorable, and at times humorous. Leadership is both a trade and an obsession for him. That portrayal and the tale of day to day life with soldiers make this a good book. I recommend it to those interested in the military, the Iraq war, or General Petraeus.
  
• 
  S.

  very fine, tight war writing. history of the quagmire. couldn't be long enough.
• 
  Christopher

  The invasion of Iraq at the Division level. Well-written but limited in scope and effect.
  
  Rick Atkinson's brief account of the 101st Airborne Division's role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq is a well written book that offers a General Officer-focused narrative. In this case, that GO is David Petraeus on his first combat tour. As Atkinson was embedded at the 101st headquarters, this senior leader focus is understandable, but it's also somewhat limited. It really should be titled "In the Company of Generals" because that's almost exclusively the focus.
  
  We get lots of paragraphs about BUBs and CUBs (Battle Update and Command Update Briefs, respectively) where various staff members nervously brief Petraeus and Petraeus gets a journalistic tongue-bath from Atkinson. There are some unintentionally hilarious moments where Petraeus says his goal is always to "do the right thing publicly" and another scene where his wedding rings "falls off" and he and Atkinson spend a few paragraphs looking for it.
  
  Given Petraeus' subsequent moral failings, this is high comedy.
  
  As for the strategic side of things, Atkinson does an adequate job of presenting *some* aspects of a Division preparing for and going to war but it's frequently too focused on *Rick Atkinson's* journey to war or anybody within Petraeus' immediate orbit (aides, drivers, Deputy Commanding Generals). You could open to nearly any page at random and find "West Point." Is this a good or bad thing? History and other books will judge.
  
  Because of this top-heavy focus, the reader gets little sense of how these Division-level decisions/briefs/problems/solutions actually play out at a unit or Soldier level. A more comprehensive look at the Division's deployment would have been better but instead we're mostly stuck at the headquarters for 300+ pages.
  
  We get some light political commentary on the Bush administration's justifications and rhetoric leading up to and during the invasion as well as the aftermath of "major combat operations." It's critical but unobtrusive. Ultimately, this is an passable slice of wartime writing that opens a very small window into the initial invasion of Iraq from a very specific POV.
• 
  Á

  I found the book interesting, though not as engaging as Generation Kill. I suspect in part this is due to the strategic-level perspective of much of the book. I found my interest to be greatest when he was discussing his experiences and those of the people around him. It may be that for those that followed the invasion, the strategy is well known and what's interesting is the experience of the people, American and Iraqi, living through it.
  
  I think the book also paints an interesting view of General Petraeus currently in charge of CENTCOM, who is being courted by the Republican Party as a potential presidential or vice-president candidate. Notable in Atkinson's depiction of Petraeus was his ambition.
  
  Certainly this is well worth the read. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of the Liberation Trilogy written by Atkinson.
• 
  Ivan

  FIRST LINE REVIEW: "They found the sergeant's body at midmorning on Saturday, April 12, 2003,just where an Iraqi boy had said it would be; in a shallow grave in south Baghdad, near the Highway 8 cloverleaf known to the U. S. Army as Objective Curley." With clarity, compassion and intelligence, one of my favorite war historian's (Atkinson) helped me better understand the arduous journey undertaken by the 101st in the initial sally into Iraq. As one of the most prestigious embedded journalists, he had constant access to Gen. Patreous, the result of which is a rich and sobering account of a war we should never have started.
• 
  Diogenes

  I think Rick Atkinson is the best historical journalist of our time and in 2003 he was embedded with the 101st Airborne, walking the same point in history as the soldiers themselves and he does his ever-perfect job of describing it as a chronicler.
• 
  Stephen Morrissey

  War is a lot of things, but straightforward and uncomplicated it is rarely (if ever(. Rick Atkinson brings forth the messiness of the Iraq War in his journal-like treatment of the opening stages of the war, serving as an embedded journalist under David Petraeus.
  
  While the book captures the ordinary muck of a daily soldier's, and commander's, life during war, it lacks the overall cohesiveness of Atkinson's grander works on World War II, Vietnam and the Revolutionary War. The details are no doubt gripping, but the military jargon suffocates the narrative at certain points, tethering the author to interesting but arguably trivial minutiae amidst the swirl of war.
  
  Readers will not find any treatment in these pages of the motives that propelled the United States to surge forth into the Iraqi desert in March 2003. "In the Company of Soldiers" is very much a tale of men and women on the front lines, with a fascinating look at how commanders can become caught up in the confusion of muddled intelligence, a changing enemy, and a battle plan that falls apart upon first contact with the other side.
  
  The Iraq War, if it lives on in any visceral form in the consciousness of the nation, is remembered for its political repercussions, made-for-CNN aerial bombings, and hurling forth the word "insurgency" and "Shia" and "Sunni" into the American lexicon. Atkinson does much to add depth to this consciousness, or lack thereof, in shedding light on how our soldiers fought the war, how our commanders led the war, and how tragic their sacrifice seems when considering the picture beyond the battlefield.
• 
  Dan Downing

  C.J Chivers just released his book "Fighters", which immediately landed on my shelves. He has been with soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. I recently read a couple of books by Kate Atkinson, and a while back Rick Atkinson's brilliant WWII trilogy. Thus I decided karma was telling me to read an earlier Rick Atkinson book about his time with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq before tackling Chivers.
  
  Looking back from a distance of 15 years the combat experiences and revelations are as interesting because of the later careers of several of the players as they are for the development of a quick entry and 'conquering' of Iraq. Of course, anyone who can claim sanity knows Rumsfeld, Bush, Colin Powell, the CIA, NSA and most of the spook squad were out and out liars who embraced incompetence to get us into the Iraq war to begin with, and dolts such as L. Paul Bremer III continued the saga of idiocy, leading to a long and bloody ordeal.
  Nevertheless, the story of how our military planned and executed the siege of a foreign country a third of the way around the world enlightens the mind, even if one followed the events as they unfolded. The eyes and the mind of a veteran reporter who is an award-winning military writer make this an engaging experience.
  Recommended.
• 
  Keith

  Rick Atkinson's book, In The Company of Soldiers, is a well written chronicle of the opening days of the war in Iraq as seen from the Division level. I appreciated Atkinson's understanding of the military in general and his knowledge of military history in particular. That said, there were a couple times when I had to question his research, the most glaring to me being his incorrect definition of a FARP and his discussion of the "obtuseness" of naming a FARP after a gas station - while invading a country where many people believed the invasion was about oil. Just asking a couple questions of someone in the Army Aviation community could have given the correct definition and he would have found out that FARP naming conventions often use a fuel station theme. Minor discrepancies aside, I found this to be an accurate representation of the US Army and thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio book.
• 
  Tom Gase

  This was okay, but I liked Atkinson's books on World War II a lot better. This book is basically a glimpse into Major General David H. Petraeus as he directed attacks on the cities of Najaf, Karbala, Hilla and, ultimately, southern Baghdad between Feb and April in 2003. I thought this book possibly needed a few more maps in them, maybe every chapter or something like that. Hard to get into this one as it's just a bio almost on Petraeus before he was involved in a scandal a few years down the road. I think Atkinson does a very good job reporting, it's just the story of the book didn't always grab my attention. I read this during the Veteran's Day holiday and I'm glad I did, but there are better books by the award-winning author. Just my opinion.
• 
  Andy Wiesendanger

  Reviewed before 2012:
  
  Atkinson is embedded in the 101st division for first month or so in Iraq war, 2003. A very interesting, in depth look at what its like in modern army. You get a good feel for it. You don't really get much else, a little tactics/strategy of V Corps, and a bit more of 101st itself. Follows in some detail the attacks in Al Najaf, Al Hilla and Karbala. No maps tho, would've help give a better picture of what was happening. Also, he injected a bit much of his own politics, which I'm not interested in. Stark contrast to "Coldest Winter", where Halberstam was able to be much more objective. It is interesting to hear some of the officers, even early in 2003, wonder how long it would really take, and wondering if we're in over our heads.
• 
  Nic

  Atkinson writes as though he ate a word-a-day calendar and regurgitated it all over the pages. I found the title misleading. Atkinson wasn't really in the company of soldiers. He was in the company of commanding officers, particularly Petraeus. The overall book portrayed the military as bumbling their way through a war they weren't prepared to fight. Atkinson mentions that he "cared about these soldiers a great deal," but his writing never eludes to that, making it hard for readers ro connect with the men involved. Overall, the book left me feeling indifferent and glad I've read other, more personal accounts of the war, and the men who fought it.
• 
  Brian Ruddock

  Not on the level of Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy, The British Are Coming, or The Long Gray Line, which all rank among my favorite books of all time. This is a solid look at the war from division command perspective, following a pre-scandal David Petreaus. RA inserts his politics here more than his other books, which was perhaps inevitable as a contemporaneous account. That said, he makes his admiration for American soldiers clear, and all of his critiques of the Bush administration are totally fair.
  
  I'd read Atkinson's other books first unless you have a special interest in Petraeus, but this is still a good effort from one of America's greatest historians.
• 
  Michael Vick

  Atkinson provides a unique lens as a reporter embedded in the 101st Airborne Division in the war in the Iraq, 2003/04. He gains the trust of the commanders on the ground, most notably, the Division Commander, Major David H. Patraeus. With this trust, the commanders and staff offers would share many of there inner most thoughts about the attack leading into Baghdad. Atkinson interprets those thoughts and his observations both objectively and honestly. To make his story more interesting, Atkinson weaves historical allusions concerning the biblical history, Greek History, and Persian history.
• 
  Matthew Kremer

  Good story about the 101st Airborne's deployment into Iraq in 2003 under the command of Gen. Petraeus. Interesting for a Soldier who deployed at the same time into the same area and now reading a higher level observation of the things I saw on the ground. Lack of communication from the top down provided many moments of frustration that could have been avoided if "in order to" would have been used in orders. Very interesting read.
• 
  Al Lock

  Well written within the confines of what it is, which Rick Atkinson does a great job of addressing - this is primarily a first-hand account of a journalist who was embedded with the 101st Airborne Division and was directly around General Petraeus primarily.
  
  Good look at the deployment of an Army Division (in this case, an Air Assault Division) to war, the problems faced, the adjustments to combat and the fog of war.
  
  Recommended.
• 
  Marc

  An excellent description of war from the perspective of upper military command, written by a Pulitzer prize winning journalist and military historian when the author was embedded with the 101st airborne division as it invaded Irag in 2003. As A Man Called Intrepid describes world war II spying from the inside at the upper levels, this book does the same for war.
• 
  Bruce Sweeney

  Success and Sadness
  
  Just about any of the war zone treatments by this observant well-developed historian is studded with wide and proven authority. The coverage of our war in Iraq however shows how little was gained and how much was expended in this miserable confrontation. It was nearly useless folly. The author barely avoids the obvious question " Do we ever learn?"
• 
  Adele

  As a combat veteran that served in Iraq from 2004-2005, Rick’s storytelling and recount of the what happened during the invasion was accurate. It’s taken me a long time to read this, but happy that I did. I highly recommend this book if you want to understand what it was like for our front line soldiers during the invasion.
• 
  Not Mike

  Audiobook.
  
  Covers the invasion of Iraq.
  
  Rick narrates some of it. The in-between sections of chapters are given to another voice actor and sometimes when Rick's narrating a sentence is flubbed and someone else comes in.
  
• 
  Jay Wright

  Much of the book is as good as his series on World War II, but he gets political in several places. t detracts from the straight forward prose that is geared to facts. His love of Petraeus is evident and isn't t ironic that his liberal constituency brought Petraeus down?
• 
  Jason

  This is a weird book - part a hagiography of Petraeus, part a chronicle of what the Iraq War was, it feels like it delivered more of the former but promised more of the latter. Some interesting things are gleaned out of this but it didn't grip me the way Atkinson's other books had.
• 
  Andy Dollahite

  This book focuses on the early stages of OIF with significant flattering praise given to David Petraeus. There is quite a load of sad irony given how the war unfolded and the general's own personal affairs played out. Still, Atkinson remains a compelling historian.