About the Author

Michael Hastings (1980-2013) was a contributing editor to Rolling Stone and a reporter for Buzzfeed. In 2008, he covered the US presidential election for Newsweek. His work appeared in GQ, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Salon, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, and a number of other publications. In 2011, he was awarded the George Polk Award for magazine reporting for his story in Rolling Stone, "The Runaway General." He is the author of I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story (Scribner, 2008) and The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan (Blue Rider, 2012).

Reviews

"[A] powerful debut...a tragic love story with broad appeal married to an unflinching account of wartime violence and brutality." -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Love and war always make for a potent brew, and in Michael Hastings's new book they infuse the horror in Iraq with an immediacy and a poignant sense of loss that are light-years away from the numbingly remote headlines we've been reading. This is what really happens when love, youth, and innocence descend into the abyss of death and devastation that is Iraq." -- Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud and American Armageddon

"There's a long tradition of young reporters going off to wars that test their journalism skills and their capacity to absorb emotional pain. Michael Hastings's pain was off the charts, but he manages to tell his story -- and the tragic story of his girlfriend Andi -- with dignity, humor, and grace. This is a searing personal drama and a raw, compelling account of the daily battle to cover the war in Iraq." -- Andrew Nagorski, author of The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II

"Outstanding ... The world Hastings describes is choked with the craziness that characterizes all great war books."
-- The Sydney Morning Herald

"This is what really happens when love, youth, and innocence descend into the abyss of death and devastation that is Iraq."
-- Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud and American Armageddon

"[A] powerful debut...a tragic love story with broad appeal married to an unflinching account of wartime violence and brutality." -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Love and war always make for a potent brew, and in Michael Hastings's new book they infuse the horror in Iraq with an immediacy and a poignant sense of loss that are light-years away from the numbingly remote headlines we've been reading. This is what really happens when love, youth, and innocence descend into the abyss of death and devastation that is Iraq." -- Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud and American Armageddon
"There's a long tradition of young reporters going off to wars that test their journalism skills and their capacity to absorb emotional pain. Michael Hastings's pain was off the charts, but he manages to tell his story -- and the tragic story of his girlfriend Andi -- with dignity, humor, and grace. This is a searing personal drama and a raw, compelling account of the daily battle to cover the war in Iraq." -- Andrew Nagorski, author of The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II
"Outstanding ... The world Hastings describes is choked with the craziness that characterizes all great war books."
-- The Sydney Morning Herald
"This is what really happens when love, youth, and innocence descend into the abyss of death and devastation that is Iraq."
-- Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud and American Armageddon