Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death

Black Hearts is the most extraordinary work of nonfiction. Jim Frederick tells the story of the entire deployment of a group of soldiers in the Triangle of Death who suffered the most terrible losses and were under attack almost every day. They lived outside the wire in "the most dangerous place at the most dangerous time" in Iraq. Black Hearts is not just for those who like war books, it's a book for anyone who wants to read about characters, about human character, how it is tested, about how war really is (some passages are difficult to read, so raw and real), how humans interact, how they behave under the kind of pressure most of us will never have to suffer. This book is for anyone who wants to read a beautifully crafted tale, sensitively and fairly handled. You feel as if you were there, watching the soldiers the whole time, willing them to step back two inches, a step that would spare the insurgent a clean shot; urging leaders to choose this course of action, not the one that results in yet more losses, with little overall gain; urging those who ended up committing the worst crimes of the war to hold back, to dig deeper, find the good in their character, to spare the innocent Iraqis their lives, their brothers-in-arms the inevitable tainted-by-association. Black Hearts is about leadership, about friendship, about the extraordinary tests on the character of a person, why those who endure the same things cope, or don't. It's about why some people choose to behave the way they do. (The chapter on the rape of the girl and murder of her family by 4 soldiers --all now in jail in the US -- is extremely difficult to stomach.) There's nothing Hollywood -- though it would make the most incredible movie actually -- or sanitized about Black Hearts, so real are the characters and images conveyed. We need to know this is what war is without, thankfully, not debating the been-there-done-that pros and cons of going into this particular war. This is the best and most emotive book, not just war book but book, I have read in years. Some scenes made me weep openly. It has changed the way I think about men at war, about character, good and bad, right and wrong, how not every leader is a good one, not every soldier is a hero -- a point Frederick makes very well, -- mostly because soldiers and leaders are human, too. But it also makes you realize how an army needs to sort those who can lead from those who obviously cannot, that is those whose errors in judgment have catastrophic consequences, those whose orders decide whether people live or die and, for those that live, how they live, how they cope, how they work within the larger group, how they rebuild their lives outside the wire, inside, if they're lucky enough, and how they deal when they return home. This is stuff we need to know and think about. It would be an amazing book were it fiction. The fact it is not makes it all the more riveting and shocking. Frederick is an extremely talented writer. I absolutely recommend Black Hearts to all Amazon customers.

"Black Hearts" is a brilliant description of combat as seen through the eyes of Bravo Company in the darkest days of the Iraq War. It serves as a case study for the negative impacts of poor leadership in today's Army and the general effects of heavy combat on young and strung-out soldiers. Frederick tells his story masterfully, obviously passionate about his subject, but remaining subjective enough to where he is able to describe things in such a manner that the reader is able to make their own decisions. This story is nothing short of a tragedy, and by the end, the reader is absolutely appalled at much of the cast of characters, many of whom work to bring about a series of horrible events for all parties involved.. The description of daily life is unbelievable for anyone who thinks they knew what the war was like for American troops. The multi-day stints at poorly defended checkpoints manned by three or four privates with zero supervision is something I didn't realize happened. The descriptions of combat are also top-notch, particularly one very gripping passage about the mental anguish soldiers faced while simply driving around, wondering if each second would be their last at the hands of a massive IED. Many characters in the story are sympathetic, generally at the platoon or company level, while the battalion level leadership is shown to be infuriatingly incompetent. I was especially incensed at the end, where you find out (SPOILER ALERT) that Kunk was promoted to colonel and Bravo's sympathetic yet clearly incompetent commander is an operations officer somewhere in the Army. Frederick doesn't make these judgements, but it is difficult not to make them yourself, for right or wrong. The abduction of US troops and the murder of an Iraqi family, while horrifying in their own right and very well described, are almost caveats to the overall story about this ill-fated group of men trying to survive their year in Iraq. Overall, this is an incredible book that serves to show a lot of what was (and still is) wrong with the Army's senior leadership. Still, even though there are antagonists at every level here, Frederick isn't indicating the US Army; there are good guys too, and plenty of them, which the author makes extremely clear. I'm glad to see the Army is taking this book seriously and using it as a learning tool for its leaders. This is a hugely important book and I can't thank Jim Frederick enough for writing it.

The book is extremely well written by a professional journalist. Throughout the book the writer tries to remain objective about the circumstances of the descent into madness. I left the book reflecting on how any military professional could find themselves in this situation if they were presented with as challenging circumstances. It is extremely compelling reading. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the Iraq conflict and military ethics.

Unfortunately, I must start on a negative note. This book is presented to the public by the publisher, certainly in its paperback form, as some sort of roller-coaster thriller which happens to be a true story. If you are, in fact, looking for some sort of first-hand true account of non-stop action I recommend Dan Mills' Sniper One. With the publisher using phrases on the cover such as 'descent into madness' and words like 'climax', 'intense' and 'fast-paced' the casual observer might even pick this book up believing it to be fiction, and if that is what they are looking for I recommend they watch Apocalypse Now or read Conrad's Heart of Darkness; better still do both. Now, onto what this book is really about. This is a detailed investigation of a single atrocity and the events and circumstances leading up to and surrounding the soldiers and battalion involved. It is presented in the very best of journalistic tradition - at times one can sense the author's struggle to not pass any personal judgement - and is exceptionally detailed, revealing and sympathetic. You can read other reviews for information regarding this event. What I will add is that I believe this book to be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the stresses and strains placed on the modern 'western' soldier, especially in the US forces where tours of duty are much too long and often enforced second or even third tours. Beyond that, it is equally useful reading for any student of psychology and even students of organizational theory and ledership. In fact, I would warn any reader who is not au fait with terms such as 'The Pygmalion Effect' that they ensure they have psychiatric reference sources available to them during reading. With due deference to the appalling subject matter, especially to those directly involved on both sides and generally to anyone who esteems NATO's armed forces, this book is an exciting recounting of a company's deployment in the most extreme of circumstances, terifically well researched, edited and presented and deeply, deeply disturbing. Excellent.

An enthralling account of how war can make or degrade one's character, the latter being discussed here, centered around a platoon of the famous 101st airborne. Explains what effect war has on a soldier's mind and the awful situation of families who have nothing to do with war. Gutsy.

Excellent

A must read account of 1st platoon, bravo company's descent into darkness leading to the rape and murder of a young girl and her family, and the abduction and death of other soldiers from the platoon. But these two harrowing incidents, as horrific as they are, are not even the main thrust of the book. Instead it analyses in detail how the platoon were the unfortunate victims of circumstance. Poor upper leadership, combined with deaths and injuries to direct local leadership, lead to the almost inevitable fracturing of ethics and morality in a group of men driven to the edge. The book asks the question, why do some people break and commit heinous crimes while others stand tall and resist. It doesn't answer that question, but I suggest it shows that as civilised as we all consider ourselves to be, it is finite and that when pushed long and hard enough, eventually it will run out. A book that is on the USMC commandant's professional reading list of career officers; an essential book I would suggest for leaders (and not just those in the military) to show how not to lead. I couldn't recommend this more.