Title: Horse Soldiers
Author: Doug Stanton
Publisher: Scribner
Date: 2009
Pages: 407
Horse Soldiers (book review)
Doug Stanton, the author, took a great amount of time and effort to write this story about a small group of Army Special Force men going into Afghanistan shortly after 9/11. He personally traveled to the various locations that they had been in and interviewed a lot of people, including those he wrote about to get the story correct.
Shortly after 9/11 occurred, the United States had chosen to send a small elite team of special forces into Afghanistan to capture a city and push the Taliban back. These men went in looking like civilians but fully armed for battle. They teamed up with three Afghan generals (that did not like each other), Abdul Dostum, Atta Noor and Naji Mohaqeq to get a small army of about 15,000 soldiers to help them.
After landing in Afghanistan, they learned that they would be riding horses into the battle area. Most had never ridden a horse in their lives. They learn to work with Afghans and understand their mindset. Without giving away the whole story, they do get in and are able to capture the city of Mazar-i-Sharif with several thousands of Taliban prisoners. However, they nearly lost the city again in an uprising at Qala-i-Janghi fortress. There is a lot of action with fighting and killing going on. Many survive and some died.
When the is over, Doug writes about after that battle and how the Taliban rose up again and regained control. He talks a little about how many want the US to get out of Afghanistan while he also points out the problems with leaving and what some of those soldiers felt about it. He also lists all the people he talked with and the places he went in order to write this book.
This book gives great insight into a nation that is in inner war with itself and finishing and winning that war is very difficult. It shows the do or die mindset of the Taliban soldiers. I do recommend it if you want to read something historically true and see the bravery and fears of a few men with families. However, there is a fair amount of bad language used throughout the book that is quoting various people. It is not a Christian book in anyway.
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