| Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 | 
 enlarge | Author: Marcus Luttrell
Creator: Patrick Robinson
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.99
Buy New: $9.05
You Save: $6.94 (43%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (813 reviews)
Sales Rank: 615
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0316067601
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1047
EAN: 9780316067607
ASIN: 0316067601
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to be very close to Bin Laden with a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive.
This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His squadmates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.
A born and raised Texan, Marcus Luttrell takes us from the rigors of SEAL training, where he and his fellow SEALs discovered what it took to join the most elite of the American special forces, to a fight in the desolate hills of Afghanistan for which they never could have been prepared. His account of his squadmates' heroism and mutual support renders an experience that is both heartrending and life-affirming. In this rich chronicle of courage and sacrifice, honor and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers a powerful narrative of modern war.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 808 more reviews...
 I couldn't put the book down January 8, 2009
"Lone Survivor" is an incredible account of what a Navy Seal goes through to get that trident pin and what they do to keep americans safe. I thought it was extremely well written. It was as if I was there on that mountain side with them. It really was a great read.
I'm proud that there are people like Marcus out there keeping us safe.
 Great book, sour grapes January 7, 2009
This is a fast paced thriller and an incredible true story. Gives great insight into military operations in Afghanistan. However, Petty Officer Luttrell's professed love of country apparently doesn't apply to the Bill of Rights in particular freedom of press. As far as blaming the Rules of Engagement, which by the way were not established soley by the "liberal" policitians, for his team's demise, perhaps, Marcus should consider the command who sent a team in harm's way outnumbered 35 to 1, SEAL team or no. Or LT Murphy who accepted a mission without adequate intel on the surrounding terrain. As a former Naval Aviator and Aircraft Commander in the U.S. Navy, I would have had a difficult time explaining to my superiors why I chose to put a life and death decision to a vote. What resulted in this instance was a heavy cross of guilt for Petty Officer Luttrell to bear rather than the decision having rested with the senior officer. I understand SEAL teams are a tight knit group but the Navy assigns an officer to each team for a reason, to make the tough decisions. An outstanding book but perhaps better told with more passage of time.
A good read January 7, 2009
This book was a gift for my Dad. He read the book in a couple of days and then gave it to me. I have not finished it yet but so far it is an awsome book. The training these Seals go through is just amazing.
 Predictable and Loaded with Cliche January 7, 2009
I admire the author and his fellow soldiers for their courage and for their service. But it's the book, and not their actions, decisions, or anything else which is being reviewed - and that's the reason why it really can't receive anything but a very low mark.
As a piece of writing, this book is really difficult to take seriously. I really wish the author had chosen to have his story told objectively, by an experienced military writer or war historian. It really reads like something out of Team America.
The book's biggest failing is that it's far too politicized. His anger toward and mistrust of people with opposing political or religious views is a little halting. I also think it's fine that he loves God, Bush, and Texas - I just couldn't help wishing it was conveyed or explained in a more interesting or compelling way.
The book is also full of contradictions that are never even superficially explored. For example, his decision to shift blame for their release of the goat herders to "LIBERALS" and the "left-wing media" runs contrary to his admission that it was actually the Christian (as opposed to the military) side of his brain which told him to let the herders go. So the reader is left to sort it out: Was it his Christian conscience and his faith in God, or a cowering fear of Rush Limbaugh's tired old caricature of "left wing liberal elites" ready to persecute him on his return which forced his hand and caused him to vote "let em' go"?
Contradictions and poor prose aside, I think the author could have easily avoided politicizing a story which at the heart of it has nothing to do with politics. I've already mentioned Team America, but I think it's appropriate to have this film in the back of your mind if you want to dive into this book. Avoid the temptation to read lines aloud to the laughter of friends and colleagues, as one reviewer admitted to doing. The cliches start early and don't ever really end.
I would look forward to reading an objective, detailed account of what these brave men encountered - as well as a follow-up on the investigation into what went wrong. The author makes no attempt to discuss the obvious problems with mission planning, which was the reason they all had a bad feeling about this mission from the word "go".
I have to say I don't enjoy slamming the work of anyone, much less that of a true patriot, but I wish he'd had a better ghost writer or mentor - or a publisher wise enough to have brought in an experienced war writer and Pulitzer Prize winner such as Rick Atkinson. The result might have done the author's incredible story better justice.
***
Reviewer's note: I consumed this via audible. I don't think the reader helped this book, and in retrospect I think this review is more harsh as a result. I can say with very little doubt that I would have enjoyed this more had it not been read to me by this particular actor. Still, my problems with the content and style of writing remain.
Unbelievably Fabulous and Enlightening January 4, 2009
I have always been a fan of our military, our soldiers, our intelligence and our President George W Bush. But after reading Marcus's book, I am an absolute devotee of the US Navy SEALs. It instills an education as to the training and the dedication these men have to serve and protect our country, our freedoms and our future. Any liberal idiot who thinks that we have no reason to protect ourselves , especially against afghanie and pakastani and Syrian and Iraqi muslim radicalism , needs to read this book over and over and over again. George W Bush is a man , a fighter , a protector and will be seen as a much better President of the United States than the liberal media has awarded him in the present. I am proud and grateful that he was our leader, and to these men, I thank you for my life, my family's life and our future. Your fight is not in vain. Please know that. Thank you Marcus.
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