The Three Battles of Wanat and Other True Stories

New York Times bestselling author Mark Bowden has had a prolific career as one of America’s leading journalists and nonfiction writers. His new collection,The Three Battles of Wanat, features the best of his long-form pieces on war, as well as notable profiles, sports reporting, essays on culture, and more.

Including pieces from the Atlantic, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, and thePhiladelphia Inquirer, this collection is Bowden at his best. The titular essay, The Three Battles of Wanat,” tells the story of one of the bloodiest days in the War in Afghanistan and the extraordinary years-long fallout it generated within the United States military. In The Killing Machines,” Bowden examines the strategic, legal, and moral issues surrounding armed drones. And in a brilliant piece on Kim Jong-un called The Bright Sun of Juche,” he recalibrates our understanding of the world’s youngest and most baffling dictator. Also included are profiles of newspaper scion Arthur Sulzberger; renowned defense attorney and anti-death-penalty activist Judy Clarke; and David Simon, the creator of the now-legendary HBO series The Wire.”

Absorbing and provocative, The Three Battles of Wanat is an essential collection for fans of Mark Bowden’s writing, and for anyone who enjoys top narrative nonfiction.

Mark Bowden is the author of twelve books, including the #1 New York Times bestsellerBlack Hawk Down. He reported at the Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for theAtlantic, Vanity Fair, and other magazines. He is also the Writer in Residence at the University of Delaware. His most recent book isThe Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden.