Rating: 
Summary: This Is A Must Read
Review: "The March Up" is pure and simple the best book on warfighting in decades. West and Smith capture every nuance of the 1st Marine Divison's Baghdad campaign. They also pull no punches. The writing is taut and evocative; the analysis on the money. This book will be required reading at the service academies and war colleges for years to come. Bravo Zulu
John Weisman--author of "SOAR: A Black Ops Novel" and the Rogue Warrior series
Rating:
Summary: Good to go
Review: A great read. A retired Marine General and Asst. Sec. Def. romping along with the 1st. Marine Division. It has the insight that only a senior Marine could tell. Mixed with a bit of humor, the book was a relief from the normal embedded journalists that never served and couldn't portray.
Semper Fi,
USMCTOW
Rating:
Summary: Unbiased History
Review: As a father of a Marine, I was a big fan of Mr. West's son Owen's novels. So I was excited when I heard about this book. It is a simply written, crisp account of war that honors these young men to whom we are all indebted. Semper Fi!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Access, Short On Substance
Review: As a former 1st Marine Division Marine, I bought this book without taking the time to peruse it for about 20 minutes in the bookstore. As a result, I spent $25, rather than save $$ and wait for the softcover version. The authors had excellent access, and as former Marine officers, very likely more trust and confidence from the Marine chain of command they were traveling with, as compared to the typical embedded journalist. But, in the end, West and Smith missed the mark. In what appeared to be their haste in publishing a book (like the haste of the 1st MARDIV and 3d ID to get to Baghdad?), many details were overlooked that require explaining. Delving into the single worst day of combat for the Marines, as they were held-up at An Nasiriyah, would have been insightful. What about Col Joe Dowdy's relief of command in the midst of combat operations? This was totally skimmed over. I'm positive the authors were privy to some of the decision-making involving this unfortunate event. Why not take the time to explain this incident? You were there, report it!
Smith and West were good in their time. They know their stuff. They had excellent access and contacts. I just wish they had provided more factual information about some of the ugly warts involving the Marines' heroic push to Baghdad. Semper Fi.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding account by men who were there
Review: As the commander of a U.S. Army Psychological Operations company assigned to the 1st Marine Division during and after the Iraq War, I can attest to the truth written by Mr. West and MajGen Smith. Their no-holds-barred account of what our Marines, soldiers, and sailors experienced in Iraq is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how the Iraqis really reacted to their liberation. They accurately depict the extreme sacrifices made by our young men and women, and remind us that all Americans and Iraqis owe a great debt to those who died to make them free.
Rating:
Summary: The First Good One
Review: As the dust jacket states this book is really only the experience of the two authors as they traveled with the Marines during the campaign to Baghdad. The book does not give the reader an overall view of the war or probably even a good overall view of what the Marines accomplished. The authors do not give the reader the detail of say a Clancy or the overall talented writing of Ambrose, but they provide a gritty, hard nosed view of the combat that is exciting to read. You may thing, given the first few lines of this review, that I did not enjoy the book. The opposite is in fact true, I found the book every enjoyable and fast reading. It is a in a nicely detailed and written work that given you a good idea of what the average Marine went through during Operation Iraqi Freedom. What an interesting, exciting and dangerous experience these two retired Marines share with the world. I was concerned that the authors would use the book as either an overly positive Marine recruiting piece or as so kind of back handed justification for the war, but they stayed away from these two areas. The book was just equal parts good old reporting and mature story telling that really gave the reader a wonderful insight to what the troops went through. There will be untold number of books about the war, there always is, but I bet that more often then not the March Up will be credited in the footnotes. This book will probably be one of few early attempts that stand the test of time.
Rating: 
Summary: A DISTORTED VIEW OF EVENTS
Review: At first blush I thought this book was pretty good considering how quickly it was written. Nevertheless, the inherent weaknesses of the instant history genre to which this book belongs is beginning to show. In short, this book is NOT a bona fide, thoroughly-researched and corroborated work of history. In fact, it's not a history at all, it's a self-satisfied memoir with a lot of unverified loose change tossed in. Discrepancies in The March Up are beginning to appear in the press. In the March 2004 issue of the Marine Corps Gazette one veteran of the battle for An Nasiriyah states, "The truth was out there if only the authors would have asked. They [West and Smith] obviously should have researched the fight for An Nasiriyah more and gotten their facts straight before rushing to put this book out...[This book] is so glaringly wrong from the perspective of those of us who fought the battle of An Nasiriyah. I don't know whom the authors got their facts from, but they are just plain wrong. I was personally involved in the battle from start to finish...My question is why didn't the authors research this fight for the bridges more? Was there a reason to get this book done so fast that they couldn't interview more of us who were there?" This is some tough talk from an eyewitness who isn't getting rich off of a hastily-written instant history as are the authors likely are. I used to recommend this book to friends and colleagues. Now I tell them what I told them in 1991, "Save your money. Wait three years for the real books to come out."
Rating:
Summary: Marines in IraQ
Review: Bing West & Ray Smith team together and related to me how they as former Marines themselves, gave me a the sense of the hardships of the blowing dust, the tension of possible chemical attack, the sleeplessness of moving day after day, the loss of fellow fallen Marines, and the euphoria of getting the job done. Their narrative gripped me in anticipation and it was hard to put this book down until the 1st Marine's taking of Bagdad. I lent this book to 2 other coworkers and they agree the same as I that this is a 5 star book.
Rating:
Summary: A valuable and enthralling account
Review: Bing West and Ray Smith have seen more war than most soldiers, to say nothing of most civilians. They bring their hardwon expertise as Vietnam veterans to this enthralling account of the Iraq War. They advanced alongside the Marines all the way to Baghdad, moving a large part of the way in a Nissan SUV "liberated" from an Iraqi general. In this completely unarmored vehicle they braved Iraqi fire to provide this frontline account. They are by no means uncritical of US troops; when friendly fire incidents or shootings of civilians occur, they can be scathing in their criticism. But overall they provide an inspiring glimpse of warriors who are disciplined, brave and professional, and who hold civilian life in much higher regard than do their enemies. They provide many facts and interpretations that will markedly revise the picture of the war painted by the news media at the time. Their account will be of great value to future historians and anyone else who wants to know what happened--as well as to anyone who simply wants to read a great story.
Rating:
Summary: superlative piece of war reporting
Review: Bing West and Ray Smith were both marine veterans when they joined the 1st Marine Division as unpaid consultants. (After his USMC service, West became a best-selling author and an assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. Smith retired as a much-decorated major general.) They had the run of the division from the day it jumped off from Kuwait until it entered East Baghdad. Here they tell the story of those three astonishing weeks as you have never heard it told before--and you are unlikely ever again to read such a splendid piece of war reporting. Get three copies: one to keep, one to give to your best friend, and the third to donate to your local library! -- Dan Ford
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