Taking Baghdad - by Aaron Michael Grant (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

If you only read one book on the Iraq invasion THIS IS IT!" -- Command Sergeant Major Dennis Woods, author of Black Flag Journals

TAKING BAGHDAD is one of the few histories of Operation Iraqi Freedom written by a Marine who actually served in the war. It covers the twenty-two-day push to Baghdad in 2003, which was was one of the most efficient conflicts in the annals of warfare. This book is for soldiers and civilians, for historians and the young who need to understand war. So much more than facts and figures, Taking Baghdad is a dynamic account of the real struggles of war. Corporal Grant illuminates success in Iraq for those who see Iraq for what it became afterward: a war in which America lost heart. Written on sand-covered pages during the invasion and after, the author guides us step by step on a journey through the desert, through war and peace.

Review Quotes

"USMC Veteran Aaron Michael Grant's account of Taking Baghdad is a Gripping true-life narrative of an event not to be repeated in our lifetime. If you only read one book on the Iraq invasion THIS IS IT!" -- Command Sergeant Major Dennis Woods, author of Black Flag Journals

"From boredom to the battlefield, Aaron Grant has done a superb job of transporting the reader to the buildup and invasion into Iraq. I could feel the heat, the sand in my eyes, and taste the fear. His easy and readable style coupled with his poetry, prose and pictures make this an interesting journey to travel with him. This should be required reading for anyone who even thinks about sending our men and women into war. It is terrible and exciting, heart-breaking and inspirational." --Thomas Paul Reilly, author of Hope in The Shadows of War

"Taking Baghdad is a first-hand account of a US Marine who participated in the Iraq War and the taking of Baghdad. Grant's writing highlights his time in Iraq, but moreover it is a display of humanity in the midst of the most trying circumstances a soldier can endure. Grant's personal journal entries document these experiences and, undoubtedly, mirror those emotions and challenges of other American warriors. A well written and documented account. A must read for those who truly want to know what the war was like and all that that entailed - the good, the bad, and the ugly." --Dr. David L. Harmon, Professor of History, University of Maryland, University College.

"Aaron Grant has written an especially vivid and insightful war memoir. It deserves wide reading." --Dr. Andrew J. Blacevich, Professor of History Emeritus, Boston University. Winner of the American Book Award. Author of Americas War for the Greater Middle East.

A courageous man is not a man without fear, that man is a fool. A courageous man is one that overcomes his fear. Staff Sergeant Aaron Michael Grant, USMC Retired, is such a man. His work, Taking Baghdad: Victory in Iraq with the U.S. Marines, is masterfully done. The reader will feel that he is riding alongside SSG Grant in his M88 Hercules Recovery Vehicle. The Army's 3^rd Infantry Division received much acclaim as a result of its attack on Baghdad and its "thunder runs" throughout the city. This work is not a scholarly analysis of the strategic or operational phases of the Iraq War, it is the "real" war as told by a grunt who fought it. I will be among the first to purchase this important book. --Major Paul S. Teague, U.S. Army Retired, Author of Montgomery's Professionalism and Its Effects on Allied Campaigns