Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda - Softcover

Naylor, Sean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0718146603 ISBN 13: 9780718146603

Publisher: Michael Joseph, 2005

Synopsis

At dawn on March 2, 2002, the first major battle of the 21st Century began. Over 200 soldiers of the 101st Airborne and 10th Mountain Divisions flew into Afghanistan's Shahikot valley - and into the mouth of a buzz-saw. They were about to pay a bloody price for strategic, higher-level miscalculations that underestimated the enemy's strength and willingness to fight.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Coalition forces quickly toppled the Taliban regime from the seat of government. But, believing the war to be all but over, the Pentagon and US Central Command refused to commit the forces required to achieve total victory in Afghanistan. Instead, they delegated responsibility for fighting the war's biggest battle to a tangle of untested units thrown together at the last moment.

Then the world watched as Anaconda seemed to unravel.

Denied the extra infantry, artillery and close air support with which they trained to go to war, the soldiers of this airborne assault fought for survival in brutal high-altitude combat. Backed up by a small, but crucial, team of special forces, they were all that stood between the Coalition and a military disaster.

Now, award-winning journalist Sean Naylor, an eyewitness to the action, vividly portrays the fight for Afghanistan's most hostile battleground and details the failures of military intelligence and planning that left victory hanging by a thread.

About this title

Review:

"If you liked Black Hawk Down, you''ll not be disappointed by Not a Good Day to Die... Extraordinary." --New York Post

"Naylor has doggedly pursued the full story of Operation Anaconda from the time he was ''embedded'' with 101st Airborne Division troops who fought in the battle... often against the wishes of [U.S.] commanders...an admirable job of exposing [Operation Anaconda''s] many shortcomings." --The Washington Post
"The best full-scale history of Operation Anaconda to date." --Booklist
"Excellent." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"If you liked Black Hawk Down, you'll not be disappointed by Not a Good Day to Die... Extraordinary." New York Post

"Naylor has doggedly pursued the full story of Operation Anaconda from the time he was 'embedded' with 101st Airborne Division troops who fought in the battle... often against the wishes of [U.S.] commanders an admirable job of exposing [Operation Anaconda's] many shortcomings." The Washington Post

"The best full-scale history of Operation Anaconda to date." Booklist

"Excellent." The Cleveland Plain Dealer"

"If you liked Black Hawk Down, you'll not be disappointed by Not a Good Day to Die... Extraordinary." --New York Post

"Naylor has doggedly pursued the full story of Operation Anaconda from the time he was 'embedded' with 101st Airborne Division troops who fought in the battle... often against the wishes of [U.S.] commanders...an admirable job of exposing [Operation Anaconda's] many shortcomings." --The Washington Post

"The best full-scale history of Operation Anaconda to date." --Booklist

"Excellent." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer

-If you liked Black Hawk Down, you'll not be disappointed by Not a Good Day to Die... Extraordinary.- --New York Post

-Naylor has doggedly pursued the full story of Operation Anaconda from the time he was 'embedded' with 101st Airborne Division troops who fought in the battle... often against the wishes of [U.S.] commanders...an admirable job of exposing [Operation Anaconda's] many shortcomings.- --The Washington Post

-The best full-scale history of Operation Anaconda to date.- --Booklist

-Excellent.- --The Cleveland Plain Dealer

About the Author:

Sean Naylor is a senior writer for the Army Times. He has covered the Afghan mujahideen's war against the Soviets, and American military operations in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Named one of the 22 "unsung" influential print reporters in Washington by American Journalism Review in May 2002, he earned the White House Correspondents' Association's prestigious Edgar A. Poe Award for his coverage of Operation Anaconda.

About this edition

• Publisher: Michael Joseph
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0718146603
• ISBN 13: 9780718146603
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 592