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The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan
Scribner
May 2009
On Sale: May 5, 2009
416 pages ISBN: 1416580514 EAN: 9781416580515 Kindle: B0026SCMMS Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
From the New York Times-bestselling author of
In Harm's Way comes a true-life story of American
soldiers overcoming great odds to achieve a stunning
military victory. Horse Soldiers is the
dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers
who secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to
war on horses against the Taliban. Outnumbered forty to one,
they pursued the enemy across mountainous terrain and, after
a series of intense battles, captured the city of
Mazar-i-Sharif, which was strategically essential if they
were to defeat the Taliban. The bone-weary American
soldiers were welcomed as liberators, and overjoyed Afghans
thronged the streets. Then the action took a wholly
unexpected turn. During a surrender of six hundred Taliban
troops, the Horse Soldiers were ambushed. Dangerously
outnumbered, they fought for their lives in the city's
immense fortress, Qala-i-Janghi, or the House of War. At
risk were the military gains of the entire campaign: if the
soldiers perished or were captured, the effort to defeat the
Taliban might be doomed. As the Americans struggled
to hold the fortress, they faced some of the most intense
urban warfare of our time. But until now the full story of
the Horse Soldiers has never been told. Doug Stanton
received unprecedented cooperation from the U.S. Army's
Special Forces soldiers and Special Operations helicopter
pilots, as well as access to voluminous after-battle
reports. In addition, he interviewed more than one hundred
participants and walked every inch of the climactic
battleground. This exciting story is filled with
unforgettable characters: brave Special Forces soldiers,
tough CIA operatives, cunning Afghan warlords, anxious
stateside soldiers' wives who do not know where their
husbands have gone, and humble Afghan boys spying on the
Taliban. Deeply researched and beautifully written,
Stanton's account of America's quest to liberate an
oppressed people touches the mythic. The Horse Soldiers
combined ancient strategies of cavalry warfare with
twenty-first-century aerial bombardment technology to
perform a seemingly impossible feat. Moreover, their careful
effort to win the hearts of local townspeople and avoid
civilian casualties proved a valuable lesson for America's
ongoing efforts in Afghanistan. Horse
Soldiers is a big-hearted and thrilling read, with an
epic story that reaches not just across the cold mountains
of Afghanistan but into the homes of small-town America, and
confirms Doug Stanton as one of our country's preeminent
storytellers.
Comments
1 comment posted.
Re: Horse Soldiers
this sounds like the kind of book I'd like to read (Kathy Weber 9:47pm May 22, 2012)
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