In January 2007, the young and optimistic soldiers of the 2-16, the American infantry battalion known as the Rangers, were sent to Iraq as part of the surge. Their job would be to patrol one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad. Telling the story of these soldiers, both the heroes and the ruined, this title portrays the face of modern war.

'[A] ferociously reported, darkly humorous and spellbinding book - You will be able to take this book down from the shelf years from now and say: This is what happened. This is what it felt like.' Doug Stanton, New York Times 'Brilliant, heartbreaking, deeply true. The Good Soldiers offers the most intimate view of life and death in a twenty-first-century combat unit I have ever read. Unsparing, unflinching, and, at times, unbearable.' Rick Atkinson, author of In the Company of Soldiers 'Heart-stopping... harrowing - immediate and visceral.' Michiko Kakutani, New York Times 'Unsparing - This wrenching account brings alive not only the horror of roadside bombs and mortar blasts, but the oft ignored aftermath of grief and suffering' Michael Kenney, Boston Globe 'The finest book yet written on the platoon-level combat of the Iraq war... Unforgettable.' Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars 'The best account I have read of the life of one unit in the Iraq war. It is closely observed, carefully recorded and beautifully written. David Finkel doesn't just take you into the lives of our soldiers, he takes you deep into their nightmares.' Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and The Gamble

A magnificent account of one American platoon's tour of duty in Baghdad. It is simply one of the most powerful, nerve-shredding pieces of war writing ever. '[A] ferociously reported, darkly humorous and spellbinding book... You will be able to take this book down from the shelf years from now and say: This is what happened. This is what it felt like.' Doug Stanton, New York Times

David Finkel is a staff writer for the Washington Post and also the leader of the Post's National enterprise reporting team. He has reported from Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, and throughout the United States, and was part of the Post's war coverage in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo. He won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2006 for a series of stories about U.S.-funded democracy efforts in Yemen. A 1977 graduate of the University of Florida, Finkel lives in Maryland with his wife and two daughters.