Tribe

By Sebastian Junger,

Book cover of Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

Book description

From the author of THE PERFECT STORM and WAR comes a book about why men miss war, why Londoners missed the Blitz, and what we can all learn from American Indian captives who refused to go home.

Tribe is a look at post-traumatic stress disorder and the challenges veterans face…

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Why read it?

5 authors picked Tribe as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Junger wrote War, about Afghanistan. But as I found the West Point rugby players’ stories wouldn’t leave me alone, so Junger stayed with those he found in Kunar province.

In Tribe, he considers the ties that bind – notably a focus on the “energy of male conflict and male closeness”. Junger “once asked a combat vet if he’d rather have an enemy or another close friend”. The vet looked at Junger like he was crazy. “‘Oh, an enemy, 100%,’ he said. ‘I’ve already got a lot of friends.’

He thought about it a little longer. ‘Anyway, all my…

From Martin's list on brotherhood in war – and sports.

Tribe is a must read for any grunt who’s completed a combat tour.

Junger, an imbedded journalist who covered Afghanistan for over a decade, taps into the minds of young veterans in an attempt to understand the homecoming and how vets try to integrate back into society. Modern soldiers lean on tribal instincts while operating inside a group to perform difficult tasks.

But living with those tribal instincts during war can lead to readjustment problems in the civilian world that lead to PTSD, suicide, and substance abuse. Junger dives deep into the subject to try and understand why?  

From Ronny's list on infantry life during modern war.

I adored this book because Junger not only dealt with the disassociation he felt with coming home from a personal perspective but because he – probably more accurately than anyone writing on veterans issues – identified the source of the problem facing America’s veterans.

His book resonated with me as a veteran because he called out the thing that so many of us felt lacking: the lack of purpose. The Iraq War was not a war of necessity – the leaders of our nation fabricated links to 9/11 to justify the invasion and subsequent decade – and it makes justifying…

From Jessica's list on the Iraq War that go beyond bullets.

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Book cover of I Am Taurus

I Am Taurus By Stephen Palmer,

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.

Each of the sections is written from…

Despite the hopes and dreams of humanity coming together as some form of a “global community,” there’s no evidence that this has happened in the past or is possible in the future. Junger’s book, Tribe, provides evidence of how humans find comfort in a community that leads to both good and bad outcomes. The book leads to thought-provoking questions about how we can leverage what’s good for communities, or tribes, and mitigate the fallouts to solve global problems.

In my ongoing interest and research into the nuances and issues surrounding war throughout history and the modern age, it wasn’t long before I discovered Sebastian Junger’s work. His award-winning documentaries Restrepo and Korengal are honest, visceral forays into his time embedded with an American infantry unit in Afghanistan. He’s a well-respected journalist with a thoughtful, compassionate eye for the complexities of combat. I chose Tribe for its unique contemplation – supported by anthropological and sociological studies – about the problem many veterans face reintegrating into society after their deployments.

Rather than taking up the common point-of-view that there is…

From Karin's list on the personal impact of war.

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Book cover of I Am Taurus

I Am Taurus By Stephen Palmer,

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.

Each of the sections is written from…

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