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Imperial Grunts
The American Military On The Ground
by Robert D. Kaplan


7.0

based on 16 reviews
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based on 4 votes
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Official Publisher Site

Atlantic Monthly writer Robert Kaplan joined American troops on the ground in seven different countries for this first-hand account of military action in the war on terror.

Random House, 448 pages
09/13/2005
$27.95

ISBN: 1400061326

Nonfiction
Current Events & Politics
History

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Booklist Roland Green

An experienced military journalist has created this worthwhile portrait of American ground troops, mostly in elite units, working with the armed forces of other countries to fight terrorism. [Aug 2005, p. 1987]

Chicago Tribune James O'Shea

For all of Kaplan's writing skills and admirable reportage, "Imperial Grunts" has a shortcoming. It flows from his reluctance to judge the soldiers and warriors he interviewed from anyone's perspective but their own. [25 Sep 2005, p. 1]

Kirkus Reviews

A provocative survey of a changing military charged--it seems ever more apparent--with making the world American, regardless of the world's view of things. [15 June 2005, p. 672]

Publishers Weekly

Military buffs will prefer the chapters on Iraq and Afghanistan, where the soldiers are slugging it out. [20 Jun 2005, p. 70]

San Francisco Chronicle Julie Foster

[Kaplan] offers the reader an enlightened way to understand what is happening in the world.

The New Yorker

An admirable portrait of America's volunteer, working-class warrior caste.

Wall Street Journal Daniel Ford

If "Imperial Grunts" serves no other purpose, it is a wonderful corrective to the disenchanted troops we sometimes see on the television news or in the new TV series "Over There," or read about in the dispatches of reporters and pundits who are themselves disenchanted by the war on terror.

Washington Post Eliot A. Cohen

For better or worse, the grunts Kaplan describes so brilliantly will be out there representing America in the chaotic zones of a dangerous world, and to understand them one is well advised to read this book.

New York Review Of Books John Gray

Kaplan enjoyed a degree of access to US military bases and personnel that is rare if not unique among contemporary journalists. The result has many weaknesses; but it is a consistently thought-provoking and vividly evocative book (the first of several he plans to write on the subject, he tells us) that challenges many preconceptions about the place of the military in American life and the world.

The New York Times Michiko Kakutani

While Mr. Kaplan's larger, theoretical arguments about the future of the military often read like an unconvincing hodgepodge of talking points lifted from people like Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Max Boot... his on-the-ground reportage makes for riveting reading.

The New York Times Book Review David Lipsky

It's hard to say whether this is travel writing or analysis. But it's clearly from a book by Robert Kaplan.

Boston Globe H. W. Brands

But the reader can't help asking whether the policies [the troops] pursue, not to mention the leaders who formulate those policies, are as worthy as the troops themselves. One can't tell from Kaplan's account.

Los Angeles Times Stephanie Giry

"Imperial Grunts" is an uneven book, its irregularities highlighted by its chronological structure. [25 Sep 2005, p.R7]

The Economist

Mr Kaplan's analysis is unsophisticated and unoriginal.

The Nation Andrew J. Bacevich

Buried in all of this chest-thumping jingoism and celebration of soldierly virtue is an argument of sorts. The essence of the argument is as follows: America's unconventional warriors hold the key to governing its global imperium.

The New Republic David Rieff

Kaplan is tragically wrong-headed even within his own frame of reference.

The average user rating for this book is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Aaron L gave it a9:
This work was a very enjoyable read and gave excellent insight into the actual operations of the US military today. It's anecdotal quality is at times a shortcoming, but Kaplan's obcession with first-hand experience is also the book's strength.

galen w gave it an8:
Loved the book. For the average citizen, an excellent survey of the military at work worldwide. Thought the book covered the personalties of the men, and broad range of politcal and social complexities they deal with. It is well worth the time and the small $$ investment. You will want to pass this one along to your friends.

P F Cameron gave it a9:
Wonderful book! There is what might be called a surprize audience for these insightful presentations of authoritative perspective about our military...that being any prospective citizen-soldier of draft age wanting the suscinct explaination of the cultural differences between our military branches of service. This is for anyone asking, "How is the United States Marine Corps culture different from United States Army culture?"

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Imperial Grunts The American Military On The Ground by Robert D. Kaplan

Imperial Grunts
The American Military On The Ground
by Robert D. Kaplan