What Every Person Should Know About War

The book is crammed full with very useful information about war and the military. The author states clearly in the introduction that he is anti-war, but the facts presented in the book are objective and taken from studies, documents, official government information and expert observations. Although the title says that the book is about war, it is about military life in general. The book is written in question - answer format. We get a question, and then a short answer. The questions range from such things as: "How much vacation I get in the army? If I am wounded and dying, will I know it? How will my family react when I return from deployment?" and hundreds more. Although many things in the book are universal for all wars and armies, the author did base his research on the American army. Answers to questions such as: "How much will I get paid? Can my spouse find work at the military base where I live?" all relate to the US army. Many answers (and even questions) will vary depending on which military we are talking about. There are differences between, say, US and Bulgarian army, or between Bulgarian and Nigerian army. I wish the book was more universal and not so American centric. The answers are brief and to the point. Sometimes too brief. For example, a question asks: "If I am taken prisoner and tortured, why will they torture me?" (I am paraphrasing.) Answer: "To get information from you." Absolutely true, but there are other reasons for torture that the book does not mention. They might include: a) The captors are punishing you for the wrongs and atrocities your side has committed against their side. b) Because they are sadistic and hurting defenseless people makes them feel powerful good about themselves. c) It is their tradition. d) They torture you to make an example out of you and to spread terror. I can come up with other reasons. My point here is that much more information could be put into the book. It is so short (130-something pages. I read it in 3 or 4 hours.) that adding another 10, 20 or even 50 pages would not hurt. Be aware that the information and numbers given in the book are not absolutes. I read other books and studies about some of these topics, and they gave slightly different details. There are contradictions too. One particular that stood out was about suicide among Vietnam veterans. At one point we are told that some estimates say that more Vietnam veterans have committed suicide than died in combat in Vietnam. Probably not true, but I heard that before Iraq, Vietnam veterans were the most suicide prone group. Then we are told that within the first five years of the end of the Vietnam war its veterans were no more likely to kill themselves than veterans of other wars. So which one is correct? Did Vietnam veterans wait five years before they started to kill themselves in large numbers? And if yes, why? What I am saying is that the book should not be followed religiously. Not every number and every statistic is 100% correct. I am sure the author wrote what he believed to be the truth, but he had to base it on studies and official records, and those are sometimes incorrect or they disagree about details. However, the information presented here is so varied and fascinating that anyone interested in the grim reality of war and military life should definitely add it to his library.

Review of What Every Person Should Know About War (Chris Hedges) By: Taylor Fielstra I was first introduced to Chris Hedges’s book What Every Person Should Know About War by my Intro to World Civilizations professor at Bethel College. We were asked to read the book and complete a project discussing the affairs covered within the pages. If my professor had not necessitated reading the book, I do not believe I would have ever thought twice about opening it up. Although I have a lot of respect for those who have served our country, I have never been strongly inclined to research the topic of war. However, I am glad that I engaged in reading What Every Person Should Know About War. The book contains nine chapters where each one describes a different aspect of war. It emphasizes the stark contrast between life before, life during the war, and life afterwards. Hedges also reveals many of the shocking realities military personnel face on a day-to-day basis in combat. By doing without fancy wordplay, the concise question and answer format gives readers only factual information. Statistics and detailed descriptions shatter the misguided and dreamily heroic depictions of war. The book addresses questions regarding the heinous horrors of war such as torture, imprisonment, rape, and the intense psychological battles that follow. What Every Person Should Know About War thoroughly accomplishes its purpose. By exposing the naked truth of wartime, Hedges sheds some light on a subject that many have not experienced. Hedges states only factual information without the frequent frills of writing that are custom to our culture today. Regardless of prior knowledge, all people can learn more about wartime. Hedges thoroughly explains and attempts to answer all questions that the public may have concerning warfare. I would definitely recommend this book to a wide audience. If you have an extensive knowledge of modern warfare, this book is still for you. It is a great reminder about what all war entails. If you are like me and have barely any knowledge of modern warfare, I would definitely recommend this book to you as well. I was blown away by the many horrific truths of war. Hedges presents the information in an interesting format, keeping the attention of readers. This is a book the public needs to read.

The book What Every Person Should Know About War by Chris Hedges, is a question and answer book with the author. This book brings up many questions that you would have never thought to ask; which makes the reader understand and learn more about war. Some of the questions are a little out dated because the book was published in 2003, so some answers to the questions need to be read with a grain of salt. Most of the answers, even if they are currently not completely accurate, are thought provoking. I read this book for a college class and we did writing assignments from the book. The assignments brought up questions from the book that was discussed in class. We also had students who had either served time in war, or had parents or grandparents that served time in war. Many of these students could agree with answers that the rest of the class thought were inaccurate; and help answer some of the questions that were somewhat out dated. I personally learned a lot about what war life is like from this book. Some of my morals were tested, and now I better understand the side I choose to stand on in controversy. I would strongly recommend this book for leisure and for learning experiences. This book will cause you to realize what war really is, and may cause you to research more about different issues that occur in war.

This is a very informative work, primarily useful as a reference tool or for an introduction or overview of some basic issues pertaining to war, primarily from the viewpoint of an American soldier. It will be shocking to the uninitiated, but there is nothing unfamiliar to anyone who has either experienced or studied war in its reality. I do wish that many of the statistics were up-to-date, and find that his body counts are generally much lower or much more conservative for many wars than most scholarship (though it is a very inexact "science" anyway). If you are used to reading Chris Hedges' other works, this will be a bit of a different experience for you, as it does not have the same tone or contain the same withering jeremiads against corporate abuse and collusion with the state that you will expect. It was written and reviewed in coordination with many former soldiers and military officials, and while it gained much from this, it also seems to have lost something as well.

The book's description is pretty accurate. This book is very had to read. It is basically a question and answer. It seems most of these questions could be answered by a recruiter or are common sense. I would not recommend this book if you are looing for something to read, but rather as reference material.

I expect the enthusiasm for wars would be much less if people were exposed to the realities of the situation for troops and their families. A difficult, but valuable book. Some of the information, particularly on survival rates, likely could use an update given that the book was written at the turn of the millennium.

Chris Hedges never pulls his punches. I value his reporting of, in my opinion, how war is invariably a lose/lose activity. I regret that we place our young men and women in the midst of such terror and gore beginning at age 18 which is at least seven years before they normally have fully developed mental judgment, according to recent studies of the brain.

I believe that this book should form part of every person's education, like civics class or driver's ed. Great anti-crap medication, and profoundly relevant. Speaks clearly to why more soldiers now die of suicide than combat injuries. Peels the gloss off one of the more fundamental lies of our culture.

Chris Hedges war 20 Jahre lang Kriegskorrespondent und schreibt hier zusammen mit mehreren Kriegsveteranen, Militärexperten und Journalisten in Form von Fragen und Antworten, wie es ist, Soldat im Krieg zu sein. Er beschreibt wohl Krieg etwas anders, als es normalerweise in den Medien geschildert wird. Die traumatischen Folgen, die Kriegserfahrungen auf Menschen hat wird hier gnadenlos beschrieben. Obwohl Chris Hedges selbst Kriegshandlungen gegenüber sehr kritisch ist wird jedoch – möglicherweise aus Rücksicht auf den teilnehmenden Militärexperten – etwas verschwiegen, das die USA einige der international anerkannten Regeln für Kriegsführung selbst nicht immer achtet und beispielsweise das Abkommen gegen Splitterbomben und Tretminen nicht unterschrieben hat. Trotzdem ist das Buch sehr lesenswert. Auch die Tatsache, dass das Buch schon 2003 geschrieben ist macht es nicht weniger aktuell.

what can i say but Chris Hedges is the new more prosaic and thinker of our time. He seems to be taken over where Chomsky left off. 5outa5 stars

Just the facts. Backed up with stats. Maybe slightly out-of-date but I think war had only got worse not better...

みなさんも戦闘に巻き込まれたときにこの本があれば生き残る確率が上がると思います。 ただ、アメリカ人用の本なので、日本の自衛隊とはいろいろと違う部分もありましょうか。 以上。

This books gives a civilian extremely useful background information about what happens on a front line (with american bias but still generally relevant).