Book Review-The Forever War

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a book written about the early days of the war in Iraq. Reading this in 2017 allows one to look back and judge or criticize the actions of almost 15 years ago. My review, however, is not a defense or condemnation at all of the actions taken by the Americans and their allies, or the Iraqi people.

Filkins spent several years as a reporter embedded with the US military in Iraq. He developed relationships, friendships and even a healthy dose of guts to survive what he did during that time. It seems like at some point, he became desensitized to the devastation that was going on around him. He also shows how the Iraqi people had long ago developed that same sort of desensitization.

I enjoyed the book for it's first hand description of what was going on during the war. Much of what I've read before, was told from the perspective of the military including first hand reports and official reports, but this was from the view of a reporter. I think he tried his best to stay neutral and impartial, as his involvement with contacts etc required it. There are a few times where I really felt for the guy, and wondered what I would have done with mortars falling around me and bullets whizzing past. Also, the writing style was easy to follow and flowed nicely.

Overall, a good book with material that was very current at the time (2008) and has still stayed fairly relevant.

Favorite aspect: The view of a war from an outsider, someone not trying to kill the other guys. I've always thought it was important to look at major events like the war in Iraq from multiple angles, to try to fully understand the human story.



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