Synopsis
In the summer of 2001, Donovan Campbell, an honors student at Princeton, decided that he could differentiate his résumé from the pack by attending Marine Corps Officer Candidate School. Three years later, rather than fighting for a corner office, he was fighting for his life in Iraq, with a full platoon of mostly novice soldiers looking to him for safety and guidance. His harrowing description of his tour in one of the most hellish spots in Iraq, Ramadi, evokes the terrifying immediacy of living every moment with the knowledge that your life was in considerable danger. Campbell and his platoon, Joker One, were on point for the door-to-door advancements of the battalion, meaning they constantly and repeatedly thrust themselves into hostile environments with no awareness of the extent of the enemy's presence. One morning, they were awoken by the chilling chant of "jihad" emanating from the speakers of the surrounding mosques, and were soon engulfed in a torrential barrage of gunfire. Unbelievably, under Campbell's command, Joker One lost but a single soldier during his tour. This haunting and heroic story will resonate with readers long after the final page.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2009-03-10 |
| Size | | Length: | 313 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 18.9 oz |
Publisher's Note
When the author's platoon deployed to Ramadi, Iraq in the spring of 2004, they believed they'd be building schools, training police, and working with the local citizens, but when they awoke one morning to the chilling cry of "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" they knew they had an altogether different situation on their hands -- all out combat.
Industry Reviews
"[A] beautiful and harrowing debut....By the time the platoon finally returns home, exhausted, scarred, and with fewer men than they set out with, Campbell's admiration for his men has become contagious. It's only then that you realize that JOKER ONE isn't as much a story of war as it is a story of love."
(03/13/2009)
"JOKER ONE...should be read by all those who have ever wondered what conclusions they would have drawn about the Iraq war if they had been dropped into the middle of the conflict..."
(03/22/2009)
"[This] is an extraordinary book....[that] brings a complicated and often messy war down to an extraordinarily personal level. Even those who have serious doubts about the wisdom of the war will come away from reading JOKER ONE with a deep admiration for the values and character of those who are fighting it."
(05/08/2009)
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