Black Knights: On the Bloody Road to Baghdad - Softcover

Poole, Oliver

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000717439X ISBN 13: 9780007174393

Publisher: HarperCollins UK, 2004

Synopsis

In an action-packed narrative Oliver Poole describes how he became "embedded" in a US tank and infantry company known as the Black Knights - the first unit in the Third Infantry Division to engage in combat.  By the time the first statues of Saddam were toppled in Baghdad, the soldiers had been through a terrifying baptism of fire - and had inflicted terrible casualties on the Iraqis. How did they - many of them under the age of 20, some of whom had only recently acquired US citizenship - cope with fear and injury?  How did they react to the killing?  How were they changed by war?  What was the impact on the people of Baghdad?  Oliver Poole has written a fly-on-the-wall account of what frontline combat action meant in the first major war of the 21st century.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Black Knights is a vivid eyewitness account of what frontline combat meant in the first major war of the 21st century. Written by a young journalist—the only British newspaper reporter to be embedded with the U.S. military during the operation in Iraq—this book unflinchingly records the modern face of battle. The tank and infantry company known as the “Black Knights” was the first unit in the U.S. Third Infantry Division to engage in combat when, 12 hours after crossing the Kuwait border, it helped seize Tallil Airfield. A month later, it headed a column that fought its way through Republican Guard units on the outskirts of Baghdad and led the advance from the west into the center of the capital. By the time the first statues of Saddam were toppled in Baghdad, the soldiers had been through a terrifying baptism of fire. Oliver Poole has written a remarkably candid narrative of that time—testimony as much to his own courage and skill as to the bravery and professionalism of the combatants.

About the Author:

Oliver Poole is the West Coast of America correspondent for the Daily Telegraph based in Los Angeles. An Oxford graduate, he started his job in September 2001, arriving in New York on one of the first planes allowed out of Heathrow following the 11September terrorist attacks.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 000717439X
• ISBN 13: 9780007174393
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280