{"product_id":"american-cipher-9781472238801","title":"American Cipher","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe explosive narrative of the life, captivity, and trial of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who was abducted by the Taliban and whose story has served as a symbol for America''s foundering war in Afghanistan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the early hours of June 30, 2009, Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl walked off his platoon''s base. Since that day, easy answers to the many questions surrounding his case have proved elusive. Why did he leave his post? What kinds of efforts were made to recover him from the Taliban? And why, facing court martial, did he plead guilty to the serious charges against him?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eAmerican Cipher\u003c\/i\u003e, journalists Matt Farwell and Michael Ames persuasively argue that the Bergdahl story is as illuminating an episode as we have as we seek the larger truths of how the United States lost its way in Afghanistan. Telling the parallel stories of an idealistic, misguided young soldier and a nation stalled in an unwinnable war, the book reveals the fallout that ensued when t\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA riveting journalistic account\u003c\/b\u003e of Bowe Bergdahl's disastrous - and weirdly poignant - choice to walk off his military base in Afghanistan ... \u003cb\u003eA spectacularly good book about an incredibly painful and important topic\u003c\/b\u003e -- Sebastian Junger * author of Tribe and War *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCompelling \u003c\/b\u003e... In \u003ci\u003eAmerican Cipher\u003c\/i\u003e the specific facts of Bergdahl's case are elevated to the allegorical, and this is where \u003cb\u003eFarwell and Ames's storytelling really shines\u003c\/b\u003e ... Farwell and Ames convincingly show that so many of the reasons we've been fighting in Afghanistan for 18 years - bureaucratic inertia, partisan dysfunction, domestic indifference - are the same reasons that, even when Bergdahl's captors eagerly hoped to broker his release, it took so long to recover him -- Elliot Ackerman * Washington Post *\u003cbr\u003eMatt Farwell and Michael Ames have written\u003cb\u003e a vitally important book\u003c\/b\u003e. As an account of Bowe Bergdahl's captivity and eventual release, \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmerican Cipher \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eis compelling\u003c\/b\u003e. Yet it's the backstory that really matters: The crippling dysfunction that permeates the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan, beginning in the combat zone and extending all the way back to Washington -- Andrew Bacevich * author of Twilight of the American Century *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis excellent book is a cautionary tale \u003c\/b\u003eabout what happens when a confused and misguided young soldier is sent off to fight for an equally confused and misguided foreign policy -- Karl Marlantes * author of Matterhorn *\u003cbr\u003eBowe Bergdahl's story \u003cb\u003eshould be required reading for all Americans\u003c\/b\u003e, illuminating as it does so many aspects of an ill-conceived conflict. \u003ci\u003eAmerican Cipher \u003c\/i\u003eshines a cold, clear light not just on an unending war, but also on the society that pays for it in countless ways. \u003cb\u003eA fascinating book\u003c\/b\u003e -- Andrew Cockburn * author of Kill Chain *\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMatt Farwell and Michael Ames brilliantly reconstruct Bowe Bergdahl's journey and provide \u003cb\u003ea damning portrait of America's role in Afghanistan\u003c\/b\u003e, revealing the larger truth of why the U.S. has failed and why the war means unending tragedy for the Afghan people. \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmerican Cipher \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eis haunting and moving\u003c\/b\u003e, a deeply human study of an inhuman conflict. It is \u003cb\u003eone of the most important books I've read about the Afghan war\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e -- Anand Gopal * author of No Good Men Among the Living *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter his capture by Islamic terrorists, during five years of imprisonment at undisclosed locations across the border of Pakistan, every moment in Bowe Bergdahl's existence became fodder for controversy at an international level. The authors present \u003cb\u003ecompelling\u003c\/b\u003e,\u003cb\u003e convincing\u003c\/b\u003e evidence that addresses each specific controversial element ... \u003cb\u003eAn unsettling and riveting book filled with the mysteries of human nature\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e * Kirkus *","brand":"Headline Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48739423682903,"sku":"9781472238801","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/american-cipher-9781472238801","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}