Rating: 
Summary: In the Company of . . . Generals
Review: The title of the book fooled me, instead of the grunts on the ground and in the tanks, this book follows the commander of the 101st airborne, General Petraeus. Of course, generals are "soldiers" too, but the title is deceiving. The few comments from the common soldier are overheard in the chow hall or in the toilet line.Atkinson is a great writer and was given unprecedented access to key leaders. He's in the command tent, flying around in the command helicopter, and sleeping in tents with other generals on the staff. The access did not taint Atkinson's coverage, as he doesn't pull any punches in his critique of the generals. The book has 3 basic phases:
1. The build-up. The 101st airborne had to move from base to an airbase and across to Kuwait, and then had the agonizing wait for their equipment to arrive by sea. At times, despite Atkinson's great storytelling ability, this section drags, as he likely had lots of time to write but little of interest to write about. In every chapter, Atkinson weaves in his political perspective, which can get annoying.
2. The early drive/fly in. The 101st moves quickly to its bases deep inside Iraq, and everything goes well for a while. Unfortunately, at least for the story, the 101st is left out of most of the action, due to weather/wind and a setback by another helicopter unit that gets badly shot-up. However, the book picks up the pace, as Atkinson drops the political commentary and tells it like it was, with no hindsight. The generals are concerned that the war could last for months and question the usefulness of attack helicopters.
3. The attack towards Baghdad. The action picks up as the 101st is involved in clearing some towns, and there are interesting accounts of combined arms to clear streets without damaging historic monuments or injuring civilians. However, there is little explanation of how the general moved from "this could last for months" to being over in weeks. As in the first section, the political commentary appears again. Overall, the book provides a fresh perspective from a few key generals without hindsight. However, the book is not up to Atkinson's lofty standard set by "An Army at Dawn". There are plenty of cliches, such as what the soldiers carried into battle. Even more annoying than the political commentary is the listing of the daily challenge/password, he must have mentioned at least 15. In the end, Atkinson's storytelling and access make the book worthwhile, but other books like "The March Up" provides a better feel for combat with the "soldiers" on the ground.
Rating: 
Summary: The author doesn't even try to hide his bias.
Review: This author doesn't miss a chance to take a shot at Bush and Rumsfeld. He goes out of his way to do so.
He also seems to like to hear himself talk. There is a lot of unneccessary detail about mundane things. I was hoping for an account of an embed in combat. What I got was an embed who hung around with the division commander and constantly editorialized.
I started to read this right after I read "The March Up : Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division" by Ray L. Smith and Bing West, a book I highly recommend. After reading that book I couldn't get past page 100 in this one. Every 5 pages or so the author throws in a dig, sometimes sarcastic, or otherwise makes known his opinions.
I recommend even more "Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad" by David Zucchino. If you liked "Black Hawk Down" you'll like "Thunder Run". It's written in the same style. Zuchinno is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, but he doesn't succumb to a need to lecture and editorialize the way Atkinson does.
Rating: 
Summary: OUTSTANDING!!!!
Review: This book is an outstanding read and worth every penny. Mr. Atkinson writes in detail about the deployment and combat the 101st Airborne Division was involved in during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A majority of the book is focused on the commanding general and his staff, but the author does write about those at the lower levels of command and the problems they faced. His writing is very detailed and makes the reader feel as if he is actually getting pounded with sand during shamals or seeing comrades die during combat. The writing draws you in and keeps you there. Mr. Atkinson is brutally honest in showing how politician's views and soldier's views of how the war should have been waged are vastly different. Mr. Atkinson is not complimentary toward Bush and Rumsfeld. He writes about their trying to go to war "on a shoestring" and how they got upset when the V Corps commander stated his opinion of how the war was going. Recent events in Iraq has proven once again that politicians who weasled their way out of serving their country do not have a clue what it takes to wage and win a war.
Rating:
Summary: Political Commentary
Review: This book is more about Mr. Atkinson's political feelings about the war then how the war was fought and executed by the soldiers on the ground. There is very little description of combat. Rather, a great deal of time is spent describing the poor living conditions and political commentary. From the description of graffiti on the latrine wall, to box cutters found in an Iraqi warehouse the author never misses an opportunity to make a political statement.
Rating:
Summary: i was there also, very good depiction of the truth
Review: This book is the best i've read on the war. I was with Rick almost every step of the way. A couple times I was ahead of him but he caught up. I think Rick gives it to you straight not filled with "media hype". This is the kind of book movie are made from. Excellent book! ~Tim
Rating: 
Summary: Informative and entertaining
Review: While many people expect a book written about a war topic to be an academic tome that discusses dry things like tactics, or to be a post-war propaganda piece, this book is neither. Where this book is strong is in its human side--we see the people in the war, not the war with people in it. The writing is strong, and the book maintains a fast pace. It's entertaining, because it looks at the situation and the people involved. At times, you can almost feel the desert sand in your teeth. Atkinson adds wit to observation, and provides us with an insider's view of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army during its mission in Iraq. While Major General (two-star) Petraeus is de facto the star of the book (and he's pretty much a force of nature in his own right), Atkinson skillfully gives others--both above and below Petraeus in command--a voice. There are no cardboard caricatures and no bit players. It's not a book about a general or handful of officers commanding legions of storm troopers or faceless soldiers. Everyone is important. Atkinson shows this with distinctly personal quotes--sometimes hilarious ones--from people at all levels in the 101st. We get into the spirit of the 101st, pick up the lingo, and learn a significant amount about the military very early--and very easily--in the book. I like that. This book doesn't begin with tanks clanking across the terrain or with pilots heading off toward the enemy strongpoints. It begins in a Shoney's parking lot in Hopkinsville, KY. From there, it goes to Fort Campbell, KY. The real saga of any military campaign begins in such places, and this is something Atkins shows in a clear and entertaining way. And it is here we begin to see the staggering importance of logistics. We later see how mistake in logistics created problems for Petraeus and others in the 101st, and how they made tough choices because of those problems. This book held two surprises for me. First, anyone who grew up in the Vietnam Era and/or watched episodes of Air Wolf (Ernest Borgnine, Jan Michael Vincent) or Tour of Duty has this idea that the helicopter is an awesome weapon of war and the symbol of American power on the battlefield. This is apparently what American planners at the highest level thought at the beginning of the the Iraqi War. The reality is quite different. But, Atkinson doesn't spout an armchair general opinion as though he's some kind of expert. He lets us see this through the eyes of General Petraeus, the pilots, Lieutenant General (three star) Wallace, and others. These are people who assessed the first--and ill-fated--Apache assault mission (not flown by the 101st, but by a different company) and developed a very different way of deploying helicopters. A way that proved to work very well. It's this kind of inside view that makes this book so fascinating. I got my second surprise when I came upon the many captioned photos at the center of the book. These put faces with the names and added depth to an already enjoyable book. Unfortunately, there's a fly in the ointment. Atkinson included leftist political remarks that simply fell short of the caliber of the rest of the book, and I found this jarring. It's as if Atkinson wants the reader to know he's a product of the liberal left and oblivious to the mainstream point of view. I hope a future edition has this editorializing edited out. Yet, I still enjoyed the book. I would have enjoyed it more if the author had focused on telling the story. It was a good story. In fact, it was an excellent story. I would sum it up in two words: "Air Assault!" Read the book and you'll know what that means.
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