Black Knights: On the Bloody Road to Baghdad - Softcover

Poole, Oliver

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1906702187 ISBN 13: 9781906702182

Publisher: Reportage Pr, 2010

Synopsis

"The best reporter's book of the war so far—and it deserves to be one of THE books of the whole Iraqi crisis."—Robert Fox, Evening Standard

"This is an exhilarating, honest, often scary account of modern war as close-up spectator."—The Sunday Times

"Poole is a great reporter . . . possessed of a cool eye, natural sympathy and curiosity, and brisk honesty. He has immortalised [the Black Knights] in a true, funny and poignant book."—Patrick Bishop, The Daily Telegraph

"[Poole's] account of the baptism of fire endured by a US tank company is starkly horrific in places. It is also witty, often laugh-out-loud funny, and spiced with some wonderfully colourful pen portraits"—Soldier

Oliver Poole was one of the first journalists embedded with the US tank corps known as the Black Knights as they spearheaded the push into Baghdad in spring 2003. How did the troops—many of them under the age of twenty, 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, finally, was the impact on the people of Baghdad? Poole has written a frank and revealing narrative of life in the US Army.

Part of the proceeds from Black Knights will go to International PEN, who helped Poole's translator and his family flee Iraq for America.

Oliver Poole was The Daily Telegraph's Iraq correspondent from 2003–2006. He is the author of Red Zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad.

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:

Professor Brigadier Richard Holmes is a noted military historian and television personality. A former Aide de Champ to the Queen he is the author of over a dozen books. Holmes was educated at the University of Cambridge, as well as Northern Illinois University and the University of Reading. In 1964, he enlisted in the Territorial Army, the part-time volunteer reserve of

About this edition

• Publisher: Reportage Pr
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1906702187
• ISBN 13: 9781906702182
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 284