Reviews for In the Company of Soldiers

“Atkinson actually learned he’d won the 2003 Pulitzer for An Army at Dawn, his history of the World War II North African campaign, while he was eating dust in the push toward Baghdad. So you’d expect this new volume, In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat, would be the most intimate, vivid and well-informed account yet published of those major combat operations that President Bush declared at an end on May 1. And it is.”
—New York Times Book Review

“Rick Atkinson gives us a beautifully written and memorable account of combat from the top down and bottom up as the 101st Airborne commanders and front line grunts battle their way to Baghdad. If you want to understand the big picture and up-close experiences of soldiers in modern warfare, In the Company of Soldiers is a must-read.”
—Tom Brokaw

“A Pulitzer-winning Washington Post correspondent and military historian gives the best account yet to come out of the Iraq War, chronicling the unit in which the author was embedded, the 101st Airborne . . . an eloquent and incisive tribute to how the men and women of the 101st won their part of the war in Iraq, in a manner that bears comparison to his Pulitzer winning WWII volume, An Army at Dawn. Superb writing and balance make this the account to beat.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A superbly written account of the recent unpleasantness in Mesopotamia . . . Much of Atkinson’s account has a commander’s eye, synoptic view of the 2003 Iraq campaign, and it resounds with extraordinary statistics and facts that presumably were not available to the average grunt . . . Atkinson’s memoir is engaging on many levels; for civilians, it provides a crash course in military culture, while veterans will appreciate some of the eternal verities of that culture’s illogic . . . Sure to be textbook reading at the Pentagon, but deserving of the widest audience.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Atkinson’s excellent reportage will be intently read, both as a tableau of contemporary martial argot and ethos, and for officers thoughts about their assignment in Iraq.”
—Booklist

“. . . A perceptive, exciting and engaging book. The battle scenes are heart-pounding narratives of officers directing combat.”
—The Washington Post’s Book World