Not a Good Day to Die Format: Paperback

Award-winning combat journalist Sean Naylor reveals a firsthand account of the largest battle fought by American military forces in Afghanistan in an attempt to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces.

At dawn on March 2, 2002, America's first major battle of the 21st century began. Over 200 soldiers of the 101st Airborne and 10th Mountain Division flew into Afghanistan's Shah-i-Kot Valley—and into the mouth of a buzz saw. They were about to pay a bloody price for strategic, high-level miscalculations that underestimated the enemy's strength and willingness to fight.

Naylor, an eyewitness to the battle, details the failures of military intelligence and planning, while vividly portraying the astonishing heroism of these young, untested US soldiers. Denied the extra support with which they trained, these troops nevertheless proved their worth in brutal combat and prevented an American military disaster.

Sean Naylor was a senior writer at the Army Times for over 20 years, where he covered the Afghan mujahideen's war against the Soviets and American military operations in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. His coverage of Operation Anaconda earned him the White House Correspondents' Association's prestigious Edgar A. Poe Award. Naylor was named one of the 22 most influential “unsung” print reporters in Washington by American Journalism Review in May 2002.