The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan - Softcover

Matthew Currier Burden

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743294181 ISBN 13: 9780743294188

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2006

Synopsis

Matthew Currier Burden founded www.blackfive.net, one of the most popular military blogs on the Internet. His blog began as an homage to a friend killed on duty in Iraq and quickly became a source of information about what was really happening in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In The Blog of War Burden presents selections from some of the best of the military blogs, the purest account of the many voices of this war. This is the first real-time history of a war, a history written even as the war continues. It offers a glimpse into the full range of military experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, from the decision to enlist right through to homecoming. There are powerful stories of soldiers in combat, touching reflections on helping local victims of terror and war, pulse-racing accounts of med-evac units and hospitals, and heartbreaking chronicles of spouses who must cope when a loved one has paid the ultimate price. The Blog of War provides an uncensored, intimate, and authentic version of life in the war zone. Dozens of voices come together in a wartime choir that conveys better than any second-hand account possibly can what it is like to serve on the front lines.

About this title

About the Author

Matthew Currier Burden ("Blackfive") enlisted in the military at age seventeen. He served first as an Army aircraft crew chief, then a paratrooper, before joining Special Operations. After receiving a commission as a cavalry officer and serving in Europe and Asia, he later became an intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He left the military in July 2001 as a major in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is now an IT executive in Chicago. Visit Matt Burden at www.blackfive.net.

Reviews

A torrent of Internet blogs has poured from U.S. forces overseas, providing a unique view of our wars. Retired officer and blogger Burden does not claim this collection of extracts represents a cross section of what's available, nor does he disguise his biases. All the officers in the book are competent; all the enlisted men and women are brave; and all the husbands love their wives and vice versa. Every writer supports America's war aims, admires the President, despises enemy fighters (generally referred to as terrorists) and holds a low opinion of Americans who oppose the war (generally referred to as liberals). The best (if sometimes troublesome) selections relate personal experiences: a woman trucker is severely wounded; a tanker fights his way into Fallujah, enthusiastically describing the men he kills; a base commander fires an obstreperous Iraqi employee. More literary efforts are less successful, with several wince-inducing attempts at poetic battlefield imagery. Tributes to fallen comrades often fall into mawkishness. Burden warns that unfettered war blogging may soon disappear under the heavy hand of military censorship, but if our leaders are worried about criticism of their policies, Burden's book will reassure them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Vietnam has often been called the "first television war." In a similar way, the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan might be viewed as the "first Internet war." That is, for the first time, Internet bloggers are having a significant impact in shaping the public perception of the planning and conduct of an ongoing war. Many of those bloggers are pundits or pseudopundits who have never been in harm's way. But Burden, a veteran who has served with Special Operations and intelligence units, provides a glimpse into a new form of war literature, the military blog. Previously, war letters, diaries, and memoirs were published long after the actual experience of the writers. Burden, a blogger himself, has selected observations of ordinary men and women written and sent in real time as they endure the cauldron of war. Some of the writings are mundane, but there are also chilling descriptions of surviving a mortar attack and attempting to save the life of a severely wounded Iraqi. This collection is an excellent introduction to an emerging form of war reporting. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743294181
• ISBN 13: 9780743294188
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304