Lawrence of Arabia meets Sebastian Junger's War in this unique, incendiary, and dramatic true story of heroism and heartbreak in Afghanistan written by a Pulitzer Prize–nominated war correspondent. Army Special Forces Major Jim Gant changed the face of America’s war effort in Afghanistan. A decorated Green Beret who spent years in Afghanistan and Iraq training indigenous fighters, Gant argued for embedding autonomous units with tribes across Afghanistan to earn the Afghans’ trust and transform them into a reliable ally with whom we could defeat the Taliban and counter al-Qaeda networks. The military's top brass, including General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, approved, and Gant was tasked with implementing his controversial strategy. Veteran war correspondent Ann Scott Tyson first spoke with Gant when he was awarded the Silver Star in 2007. Tyson soon came to share Gant’s vision, so she accompanied him to Afghanistan, risking her life to embed with the tribes and chronicle their experience. And then they fell in love. Illustrated with dozens of photographs, American Spartan is their remarkable story—one of the most riveting, emotional narratives of wartime ever published. “In the half-century since Robin Moore’s classic, The Green Berets , no other account of Special Forces at war could match its range and depth and candor―until now. American Spartan will enlighten and disturb readers with its searing honesty in describing the modern Green Berets’ battle for Afghanistan. There are many stories here; one of the most troubling is what can happen to elite troops after their country has kept them in combat for over a decade.” - Dr. Kalev I. Sepp, former Green Beret and coauthor of Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan “ American Spartan is a riveting, powerful account of the service of Major Jim Gant, a man seen by many of us as the “perfect counterinsurgent”―an inspiring, gifted, courageous leader who had a nuanced understanding of Afghan cultural and tribal dynamics and was willing to take extraordinary risks living among Afghans in remote locations far from friendly bases. Ultimately, however, one of Jim’s strengths―a willingness to push the envelope―became his undoing. Ann Scott Tyson had a ring-side seat to observe it all and takes us there in this extraordinary, gripping book.” - General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.) “This story captivated me like no other I’ve read on combat action in Afghanistan. I don’t condone Jim Gant’s every decision or the way he did things, but I do respect the hell out of what he did as a warrior.” - Dalton Fury, author of Kill Bin Laden “Former Washington Post reporter Ann Scott Tyson tells this story not from a news bureau desk, but from the tribal front lines, where she lived it side-by-side with Gant. . . . If you read only one book this year about war or politics, read American Spartan .” - Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of Gates of Fire “ American Spartan is very much real-life-as-movie―a series of exciting firefights, brotherly warriors, hypocritical higher-ups, and personal demons that seems ready-made for Hollywood. In the process of entertaining readers and defending her family’s reputation, Tyson raises a host of serious questions about the nature of war, the many aspects of loyalty, and the price paid by America’s front-line fighters.” - Christian Science Monitor “Tyson raises a host of serious questions about the nature of war, the many aspects of loyalty, and the price paid by America’s front-line fighters.” - Christian Science Monitor “In the half-century since Robin Moore’s The Green Berets , no other account of Special Forces at war could match its range and depth and candor-until now. American Spartan will enlighten and disturb readers with its searing honesty...” - Dr. Kalev I. Sepp, former Green Beret and coauthor of Weapon of Choice “A momentous account… The overall story is enticing, brutal, and current.” - Publishers Weekly “An astonishing new account . . . This book will be read a lot longer than most books about the American war in Afghanistan. It especially will resonate with people interested in Special Forces… We need people like Gant to do real foreign internal defense.” - Tom Ricks “Welcome to American Spartan , the Catch-22 of the Afghanistan War, a mixture of romanticism, fantasy and hard-core dedication. . . . Gant took his private war to a legendary level. After he and reporter Ann Scott Tyson fell in love, she sneaked into the Pashtun village to live with him and his team. Don’t try to count how many journalism and military rules the two of them broke. By way of partial redemption, Tyson has a sharp and sentimental eye. Read this book to savor the rich, candid details of love between a man and a woman, between Afghan and American comrades in battle, and between two cultures. . . . Catch-22 was a satirical novel, sprinkled with gritty vigne