The Fifth Act: America'S End in Afghanistan

The Fifth Act is a powerful and revelatory eyewitness account of the American collapse in Afghanistan, its desperate endgame, and the wars echoing legacy. It is a play in five acts with a tragic denouement that brings readers into close contact with a remarkable group of characters who fought the war with courage and dedication. It is a first draft of history that feels like a timeless classic.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 17 August 2023
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

A powerful and revelatory eyewitness account of the American collapse in Afghanistan, its desperate endgame, and the wars echoing legacy. Elliot Ackerman left the American military ten years ago, but his time in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Marines and, later, as a CIA paramilitary officer marked him indelibly. When the Taliban began to close in on Kabul in August of 2021 and the Afghan regime began its death spiral, he found himself pulled back into the conflict. The official evacuation process was a bureaucratic failure that led to a humanitarian catastrophe. Ackerman was drawn into an impromptu effort to arrange flights and negotiate with both Taliban and American forces to secure the safe evacuation of hundreds. These were desperate measures taken during a desperate end to America's longest war, but the success they achieved afforded a degree of redemption: and, for Ackerman, a chance to reconcile his past with his present.

The Fifth Act is an astonishing human document that brings the weight of twenty years of war to bear on a single week at its bitter end. Using the dramatic rescue efforts in Kabul as his lattice, Ackerman weaves in a personal history of the war's long progress, beginning with the initial invasion in the months after 9/11. It is a play in five acts with a tragic denouement. Any reader who wants to understand what went wrong with the wars trajectory will find a trenchant accounting here. And yet, The Fifth Act is not an exercise in finger-pointing: it brings readers into close contact with a remarkable group of characters, who fought the war with courage and dedication, in good faith and at great personal cost. Understanding combatants' experiences and sacrifices demands reservoirs of wisdom and t.

Ackerman's writing is clear-eyed and unsparing, but he also shows deep empathy for the people caught in the middle of the conflict. He vividly describes the fear and chaos that followed the Taliban's takeover, as well as the bravery and resilience of those who fought against them. He also delves into the political and diplomatic complexities that led to the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, highlighting the mistakes made by both the Obama and Trump administrations.

The Fifth Act is a powerful and important book that sheds light on one of the most complex and controversial wars in American history. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand what went wrong in Afghanistan and why the war ended in such a tragic way.

Weight: 252g
Dimension: 129 x 199 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780008532710