Eagle Down: American Special Forces at the End of Afghanistan's War

In 2015, the White House declared the longest war in American history over, but for some, it was just the beginning of a new and covert war. Hutch, a Green Beret on his fifth combat tour, was tasked with leading a small band of men into Kunduz to recapture the city from the Taliban. However, disaster struck when he called in an airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital, killing dozens of doctors and patients. Eagle Down is a dramatic and intimate portrayal of this ongoing forgotten war, revealing how America came to rely on U.S. Special Forces and how the covert war failed to stabilize Afghanistan and undermined U.S. interests both at home and abroad.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 12 May 2022
Publisher: PublicAffairs,U.S.

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR




Powerful, important, and searing. -General David Petraeus, U.S. Army (ret.), former commander, U.S. Central Command, former CIA director
In 2015, the White House claimed triumphantly that the longest war in American history was over. But for some, it was just the beginning of a new and covert war, fought far from public view, with limited resources, little governmental oversight, and contradictory orders.


Take Hutch, a battle-worn Green Beret on his fifth combat tour in 2015, tasked with a high-stakes mission: lead a small band of men into Kunduz, recapture the city from the Taliban, and turn it over to the Afghan government. The U.S. role was meant to be a secret, after all, the war was over. Then, disaster struck. He called in an airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital, killing dozens of doctors and patients.


Or Caleb, who stepped on a bomb during a raid on a Taliban hideout in notorious Sangin. Or Andy, trapped in Marjah with a crashed Black Hawk and no air support. From Hutch to Caleb to Andy, Eagle Down is a dramatic and intimate portrayal of this ongoing forgotten war that moves from the desperate battlegrounds in muddy Afghan villages all the way to the White House.


Pulitzer Prize Finalist Jessica Donati, with big-picture insight and on-the-ground grit, reveals how America came to rely on U.S. Special Forces, through successive policy directives that ramped up the war under the Obama and Trump administrations. Donati shows how the covert war failed to stabilize Afghanistan and undermined U.S. interests both at home and abroad.


Relying on Donati's daring on-the-ground reporting, first-hand accounts from Special Forces, military documents, and declassified reports, Eagle Down is an account of the heroism, sacrifice, and tragedy experienced by those who served in this ongoing war.

Weight: 280g
Dimension: 208 x 138 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781541762565