Gentlemen Bastards, Kevin Maurer
Gentlemen Bastards, Kevin Maurer
2 Rating(s)
List: $16.99 | Sale: $11.89
Club: $8.49

Gentlemen Bastards
On the Ground in Afghanistan with America's Elite Special Forces

Author: Kevin Maurer

Narrator: Mike Chamberlain

Unabridged: 7 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/30/2014


Synopsis

Until the war in Iraq, the Special Forces were the military's counterinsurgency experts. Their specialty was going behind enemy lines and training insurgent forces. In Afghanistan, they toppled the Taliban by transforming Northern Alliance fighters into cohesive units. But in the almost nine years since, Special Forces units have forgone their previous mission, instead focusing on offensive raids. With time running short, the Green Berets are going back to their roots and have started to focus on training Afghan security forces and building an Afghan government one village at a time.

Award-winning journalist Kevin Maurer traveled with a Special Forces team in Afghanistan, finding out firsthand the inside story of the lives of this elite group of highly trained soldiers. He witnessed the intense brotherhood built upon the Special Forces' rigorous selection process and arduous training that makes them the smartest soldiers on the battlefield. He also discovered the boredom of chasing an elusive enemy and managing third world cops and the infighting that occurs between teammates and other units.

Nine years after the start of the Afghan war, Maurer delivers a compelling account of modern warfare and of a fighting force that is doing everything in its power to achieve victory on a complex twenty-first-century battlefield.

About Kevin Maurer

Kevin Maurer is an award-winning reporter who has covered the military for ten years. He has been embedded with the U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan six times in the last five years, and he spent a month with special operations units in Africa in 2006. Kevin has covered Afghanistan's first parliamentary election and the invasion of Iraq. He is also the bestselling author or coauthor of several books, including Hunting Che, Valleys of Death, and No Easy Day.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brett on May 15, 2021

A book was about Special Forces operators in Afghanistan. This book was OK and I think The Only Thing Worth Dying For was way better in my opinion. I felt this book was just written to make an easy buck. Nothing against these elite warriors but I didn't like it. Thanks!......more

Goodreads review by Carlos Rivera on February 23, 2014

It's Ok...but not what you'd expect It's Ok...but not what you'd expect I chose this book after reading Outlaw Platoon, by Sean Parnell. Although it covers some of the issues of the war in Afghanistan, it is not an intense read. Kevin Maurer was embedded with a Green Berets group, but failed to go in-......more

Goodreads review by Dustin on February 27, 2014

There was nothing wrong with this book, from a conventional standpoint. It was well written, and it was honest. But it was also boring. I admit that my own expectations were to blame. I had been looking forward to reading a book about the modern Green Berets, thinking it would be full of...war. That......more

Goodreads review by Wade Woodbury on June 22, 2024

An interesting perspective of special ops fighting the Taliban. It was very sad reading this now and knowing all that work has now been destroyed and the Taliban that we rooted out of Afghanistan are now ruling the country.......more

Goodreads review by Steven on March 29, 2015

When people think "Special Forces," they think of commandos slinking about in enemy territory with a knife in hand, killing the enemy in daring commando operations. Those who do a little research learn that Special Forces focuses on unconventional warfare and training indigenous forces, but their kn......more