The best books about the Iraq War without fake Hollywood nonsense

This novel about a U.S. Marine Corps road clearance platoon is one of the few fiction books out there that genuinely conveys the Iraq War experience. The deployment story, intertwined with post-war vignettes from its primary characters, captures the authentic perspectives and sensory feel of daily patrols in Anbar without the hackneyed action hero plot lines usually tacked on to sell books. Its accurate detailing of Marine Corps culture while translating it for the uninitiated with the author’s talented prose makes this a compelling and insightful journey into what this war was.

This visceral infantryman’s memoir of combat in Iraq gives authentic firsthand details of clearing houses of jihadists in street fighting operations. Brutally descriptive about tactics, engagements, casualties, and the enemy, this book details the more conventional side of the war compared to the unorthodox counter-insurgency campaigns that dominated most of the conflict. House to House resonated with me because it showed how modern war can still devolve into bitter, bloody, Stalingrad-style engagements despite the existence of high-technology wonder weapons that are supposed to sanitize and civilize warfare.

A gut-wrenching true account about a U.S. Army soldier’s horrific wounding and recovery, The Glass Factory entails the unfathomable physical and emotional costs on veterans and their families in the Iraq War. This book was an authentic Iraq War story to me because it showed the casualty evacuation and horribly painful rehabilitation process often ignored by more vainglorious authors. However, instead of dwelling on victimhood and hurt, the author’s journey has an uplifting message of overcoming hardship and growth as a human being and citizen.

This compelling history of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division’s armored spearhead into Baghdad details the coup de main that broke the Saddam’s regime’s grip on Iraq. Rich with exploits of individual soldiers, tank operations, and combat this nonfiction work relates the initial success in the war when victory seemed obtainable in months not years. I thoroughly enjoy this history because it illustrates the early war’s events accurately without politicized narrative and details just how daring and complicated this decisive attack was. If more people read this history, then our society could remember and have a fairer discourse on the Iraq War.

An obscure esoteric graphic novel, this seemingly crudely drawn book (and others by this author) genuinely showcases the brutal, tedious lifestyle that soldiers endured for years in Iraq. By telling the stories ignored by more cliché heroic works, things like a lieutenant being covered in raw sewage, Sisyphean Army work, and patrols, or casual violence, this book is a surprisingly honest glimpse into the day-to-day of the Iraq War. Be advised, I have a weakness for crass, dark soldier humor, so more highbrow readers may want to steer clear of this author.