These memoirs of the war in Afghanistan provide firsthand accounts of those who experienced it and can help provide insight into the conflict.

One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer
By Nathaniel Fick
A former captain of the U.S. Marine Corps First Reconnaissance Battalion unveils the process that makes Marine officers such legendary leaders and shares his hard-won insights into the differences between the military ideals he learned and military practice, which can mock those ideals. One Bullet Away never shrinks from blunt truths, but it is an ultimately inspiring account of mastering the art of war.

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green: A Year in the Desert with Team America
By Johnny Rico
In this fresh and funny Afghanistan War memoir, a highly liberal, highly educated army misfit chronicles his time in the war with a healthy dose of skepticism and razor sharp wit.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
By Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson
Four U.S. Navy SEALs fought to the death against 150 armed Taliban in the Afghan mountains. Now, two years later, the lone SEAL survivor pens this spellbinding, first-hand account, a heartbreaking, yet inspiring story of heroism, courage, and sacrifice.

Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, In the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families
Edited by Andrew Carroll
Organized in 2004 by the National Endowment of the Arts, a series of writing workshops led by such noted authors as Tom Clancy, Jeff Shaara, and Mark Bowden encouraged U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to record what they saw, heard, and felt in combat. The result is this presentation of letters, journals, emails, and stories, read by a full cast.

The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan after the Taliban
By Sarah Chayes
From a former National Public Radio reporter, a news-breaking eyewitness account of how the U.S. government and armed forces allowed, and even abetted, the tragic return to violent warlordism in Afghanistan following the defeat of the Taliban.

First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan
By Gary C. Schroen
From a CIA agent who led the first team of Americans into Afghanistan after 9/11, this book explains the crucial role the agency played in defeating the Taliban.

The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan
By Matthew Currier Burden "Blackfive"
A military veteran gathers the best stories from the Internet diaries of soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, capturing the front lines of the war against terror.

Heroes Among Us: Firsthand Accounts of Combat from America's Most Decorated Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan
Edited by Chuck Larson
A U.S. Army major who served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom presents twenty-nine true stories of courage from the frontlines of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Democracy Is Born: An Insider's Account of the Battle against Terrorism in Afghanistan
By Matthew J. Morgan
Written by a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, this book provides readers with a candid account of Afghanistan's first presidential election and its subsequent transition to democratic self-governance.

Book descriptions provided by BookLetters.