Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror by Erik Prince. 416 pages (November 18, 2013) Portfolio Hardcover. The inside story of mysterious Blackwater, the company founded by US Navy SEALs, including the author, in 1997. As civilian contractors, they did the dirty work in Iraq and other zones of the War on Terror that conventional American forces could no longer do. Driven by a mix of patriotism and profit motive, Blackwater was in the middle of the action doing what needed to be done, providing armed protection, training, and support in the gap left between expanding political requirements and a shrinking US military.

Minefields of the Heart: A Mother’s Stories of a Son at War by Sue Diaz. 176 pages (July 31, 2010) Potomac Books Inc. How do combat veterans and their loved ones bridge the divide that war by its very nature creates between them? How does someone who has fought in a war come home, especially after a tour of duty marked by near-daily mortar attacks, enemy fire, and roadside bombs? With a journalist’s eye and a mother’s warmth, Sue Diaz asks these questions as she chronicles her son Roman’s two deployments in Iraq from the perspective of the home front.

Sgt. Diaz’s second deployment put him south of Baghdad in the region aptly termed the Triangle of Death. There his platoon experienced extraordinarily heavy casualties during the height of the Iraqi insurgency. That unit has since become the focus of considerable media attention following events that made headlines in the summer of 2006: an insurgent attack at a remote outpost on three of their own – one killed at the scene, the other two kidnapped, their bodies found days later; and a terrible war crime committed against an Iraqi family by four soldiers from 1st Platoon. Minefields of the Heart adds a very personal dimension to the larger story of this Bravo Company platoon from the 101st Airborne’s 502nd Infantry Regiment, a unit known since World War II as the “Black Heart Brigade."

Diaz recounts the emotional rollercoaster her family and other soldiers’ families experience during and after deployment. She explores this terrain not only through stories of her son’s and family’s experiences connected to the Iraq War, but also by insights she’s gained from experts and other veterans’ accounts—from what she calls “the box" that soldiers returning from any war carry within. This added layer gives her narrative broader meaning, bringing home the impact of war in general—this war, every war—on those who fight and on those who love them.

Minefields of the Heart is a story of innocence lost, understanding gained, and hope reaffirmed. In addition to veterans and their families, this book will appeal to anyone who wants to understand war’s impact on individuals as well as on the fabric of our society. [Thanks to Sue Diaz for providing this review to Olive-Drab.com. See also this video.]

Victory Point by Ed Darack. 336 pages (April 7, 2009) Berkley Hardcover. Operation Red Wings and its follow-up Operation Whalers, were the campaign in Afghanistan in the summer of 2005 that made the elections in the fall of that year possible. The victory of the U.S. team of SOF Soldiers and Marines over Ahmad Shah's warriors has been widely reported (see Seal of Honor, below), but many facts have been misstated or distorted until this volume. The author was embedded with the 2d Bn, 3d Marines before, during and after their tour in Afghanistan, where he gathered the interviews that made this book.

Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN by Gary Williams. 256 pages (May 5, 2010) Naval Institute Press. Biography of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, the first naval officer to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, and the first SEAL to be honored posthumously. The Medal was earned for acts of extraordinary heroism on 28 June 2005, during a battle with Taliban fighters in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan, an engagement of Operation Red Wings.

Camera Boy: An Army Journalist's War in Iraq by Fred Minnick. 158 pages (November 1, 2009) Hellgate Press. While stationed in Iraq with an Army public affairs unit, Minnick carried both a weapon and his camera. He was outside the wire in full gear on a daily basis, living the life and taking the risks with the Infantry. As noted in many of the customer reviews, he writes openly and honestly about those experiences as well as his personal struggle to stay sane amid the carnage and frustration. This is one of the outstanding books on the Iraq war from the soldier's point of view.

A Time to Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent Inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran by Reza Khalili. 352 pages (April 6, 2010) Threshold Editions. The author, a Tehran native, is using a pseudonym because he is a former CIA double-agent who operated as a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. He now reveals new information about the training and objectives of the Revolutionary Guards and the threat they pose to the U.S., Israel and the Western world. A must read as a nuclear confrontation looms with Iran.

Question of Command: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq by Mark Moyar. 368 pages (October 20, 2009) Yale University Press. Mark Moyar is one of the foremost military historians writing today. (See Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965 .) In this book, Moyar reviews the history of counterinsurgency operations, including the improvements in Iraq after Gen. David Petraeus took command in January 2007. To find the common elements that generate success, the author scrutinized the written record and conducted interviews with hundreds of counterinsurgency veterans at all levels of command. Moyar's conclusion, supported by massed evidence and analysis, is that the key is effective leadership on the ground, not the conventional wisdom of "winning hearts and minds." This work will definitely stir controversy as events unfold in Afghanistan and battlefields yet to emerge.

The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 by Thomas E. Ricks. 400 pages (February 10, 2009) Penguin Press. Ricks is the senior Pentagon correspondent at the Washington Post, and author of Fiasco a bestselling account of the Iraq war through 2005. He was therefore well positioned with the contacts and background to prepare this history of what is generally called "the surge." Ricks negative assessment of the leadership in the Iraq theater was transformed by the arrival of Gen. David Petraeus who took command in January 2007. Ricks takes the reader step by step through how the "fiasco" in Iraq became the success that is now widely recognized. The Amazon.com page for this book has an interview and other supplementary material.

Racing Toward Armageddon: The Three Great Religions and the Plot to End the World by Michael Baigent. 304 pages (September 1, 2009) HarperOne. As explained by author Baigent, the War on Terror and other international conflicts are symptoms of a much more significant struggle going on to take control of the world in preparation for the Messiah. He traces the development of the three great religions (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) over the past three millenia and their dangerously overlapping philosophies of the end times. He shows that today's problems are influenced and directed by fundamentalist beliefs not just within militant Islam but also by extremist Christians and Jews who wish to hasten the arrival of the final battle of Armageddon. Readers who do not share these beliefs may find it hard to accept, but Baigent will open your eyes to fringe people and organizations actively trying to change the game to advance their version of the Apocalypse. This is essential deep background for those who want to try to understand what's behind the daily flow of events.

Racing Toward Armageddon: The Three Great Religions and the Plot to End the World

Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda by Sean Naylor. 448 pages (March 7, 2006) Berkley Trade. Operation Anaconda was launched in March 2002 to capture or kill Taliban terrorists in the Shahi-Kot Valley of Afghanistan. Afghan military forces were aided by US military, Special Forces, and CIA personnel. Author Naylor has put together the complete story of this complex operation that killed at least 500 Taliban.

Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay by Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu. 304 pages (January 27, 2009) Collins. At the end of the Bush Administration, with Pres. Obama taking over, debate rages about what to do with the Guantanamo Bay detention facility (Gitmo). While there are many opinions, few people are well informed about the nature of the prisoners held at Gitmo or the details of their treatment. Into this knowledge gap steps Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu. Based on personal inspections on-site, the author describes "... the six camps reserved for different levels of compliance, details the treatment of prisoners, and examines their experiences in detail, including the techniques used to interrogate them, the food they eat, their medical care, how they communicate with one another, and the many ingenious ways they contrive to assault and injure their guards." The book's release comes just as the Obama administration wants to close the facility, but the author shows how dangerous most of the detainees are and how well they are actually treated, especially given that their continuing aim is to kill as many Americans as possible.

The Threat Closer to Home: Hugo Chavez and the War Against America by Douglas Schoen and Michael Rowan. 240 pages (January 6, 2009) Free Press. Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chavez is widely perceived by Americans as a loud-mouthed blowhard of little consequence to the United States. This is a dangerous underestimation of a significant threat, according to the authors. Would it surprise you to know that there is an Islamic enclave in Venezuela where Hezbollah terrorists train? Or that uranium is being mined in Venezuela for shipment to Iran? This book goes step by step from Chavez' rise to power in Venezuela on a populist, anti-American platform through his anti-democratic, strong-arm moves to consolidate his grip on the country. Chavez then used his control of the country's institutions and oil revenue to promote an all-out assault on the U.S. and its Latin American allies. Under Chavez, Venezuela has embraced the most anti-American members of OPEC (Iran and its client states), seeking to use oil as a weapon and to bolster Iran's nuclear ambitions. He supports and encourages the FARC guerrillas who threaten Columbia, Venezuela's democratic and U.S.-friendly neighbor. Using the country's enormous oil earnings, Chavez has influenced elections all over the hemisphere and intervenes directly in the United States as well. He actively supports terrorists moving from the Middle East to the Western Hemisphere, not least by renegade banking and airline arrangements that subvert international control efforts. All in all, the authors provide a very bleak picture of a powerful and dedicated enemy making rapid progress in his quest to marginalize U.S. influence while providing aid to America's most serious enemies. What can be done? The authors point out that most Venezuelans like the U.S. and do not support Chavez, who retains power through propaganda, corruption and force. They outline an initiative by the U.S. to strip Chavez of his oil revenue, his source of outsized influence, while spurring a Latin American Marshall Plan for economic development to lift the region out of poverty. Approving the Free Trade Agreement with Columbia would be an important gesture in this direction. The recent collapse of oil prices may have already started the process of undercutting Chavez, an opportunity the Obama administration could exploit.

War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas J. Feith. 688 pages (April 8, 2008) Harper. The origins of the Iraq War remain mired in controversy. With President Bush still in office, the careful, insider accounts or deep analyses by historians have not been written. But Douglas Feith was there, as the No. 3 civilian at the Department of Defense during 2001 to 2005, and took part in the decisions and planning. Here he writes of his personal involvement and the roles of others prominent at the time. Many myths about the motivations for Operation Iraqi Freedom, the degree of planning for the invasion and the aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein, the selection of Ahmad Chalabi, and much more are explored and the simplistic, partisan concepts are exploded. Moreover, he explores why and how the CIA failed to properly assess the situation in Iraq and the influence of the State Department and other parts of the U.S. government. This book is for anyone who seeks to understand the Iraq War in particular and the U.S. approach to the Global War on Terror in general.