The Long Walk

A raw, wrenching, blood-soaked chronicle of the human cost of war. Castner's memoir brings to mind Erich Maria Remarque's masterpiece, All Quiet on the Western Front. Jon Krakauer, author of 'Where Men Win Glory' A powerful book about the long cost of combat and the brotherhood of men at arms. Occasionally hilarious, and always harrowing. I found myself holding my breath. Anthony Swofford, author of 'Jarhead' Elegant [and] superbly written. As you read think of Alan Sillitoe's The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. Castner gives us that steady rhythm of one foot in front of the other. Think of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Here is the reality of the exhausted mind, and of profound thought wandering all Creation. Larry Heinemann, author of 'Paco's Story' and 'Close Quarters' This is a very human book. You need to read The Long Walk. Thomas E. Ricks, author of 'Fiasco' and 'The Gamble' Vivid... Castner's book intersperses stateside scenes of intense military training, off-hours hijinks and marital strife with vivid, often grisly accounts from Iraq's war-ravaged landscape, where his EOD teams disarmed improvised explosive devices, hunted for the bomb makers or cleaned up after their horrific handiwork while dodging gunfire and angry locals. [He writes] bluntly in describing how he has been changed by the war. Wall Street Journal