Audiobooks by Bing West

The Last Platoon: A Novel of the Afghanistan War

A platoon of Marines and CIA operatives clash in a fight to the death with the drug lords and the Taliban, while in Washington, the president seeks a way out. This authentic war story vividly displays how a warrior must replenish his own moral courage and not allow ambition to coarsen his sense of decency. The Last Platoon explores firefights expertly told by a combat veteran. Listeners will feel like they have entered a strange, alien world as they hear, in great detail, how the Marines and Taliban clash, circle each other, probe for weakness, and clash again in primordial violence, neither side yielding. While intrigue and deceit play out at the higher levels, in Afghanistan's bright poppy fields only the killing instinct will decide the winner.

Bing West (Author), Stephen Graybill (Narrator)

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Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A clear-eyed account of learning how to lead in a chaotic world, by General Jim Mattis-the former Secretary of Defense and one of the most formidable strategic thinkers of our time-and Bing West, a former assistant secretary of defense and combat Marine. Call Sign Chaos is the account of Jim Mattis's storied career, from wide-ranging leadership roles in three wars to ultimately commanding a quarter of a million troops across the Middle East. Along the way, Mattis recounts his foundational experiences as a leader, extracting the lessons he has learned about the nature of warfighting and peacemaking, the importance of allies, and the strategic dilemmas-and short-sighted thinking-now facing our nation. He makes it clear why America must return to a strategic footing so as not to continue winning battles but fighting inconclusive wars. Mattis divides his book into three parts: Direct Leadership, Executive Leadership, and Strategic Leadership. In the first part, Mattis recalls his early experiences leading Marines into battle, when he knew his troops as well as his own brothers. In the second part, he explores what it means to command thousands of troops and how to adapt your leadership style to ensure your intent is understood by your most junior troops so that they can own their mission. In the third part, Mattis describes the challenges and techniques of leadership at the strategic level, where military leaders reconcile war's grim realities with political leaders' human aspirations, where complexity reigns and the consequences of imprudence are severe, even catastrophic. Call Sign Chaos is a memoir of a life of warfighting and lifelong learning, following along as Mattis rises from Marine recruit to four-star general. It is a journey about learning to lead and a story about how he, through constant study and action, developed a unique leadership philosophy, one relevant to us all.

Bing West, Jim Mattis (Author), Danny Campbell (Narrator)

Audiobook

One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War

Battalion 3/5 suffered the highest number of casualties in the war in Afghanistan. This is the story of one platoon in that distinguished battalion. Aware of U.S. plans to withdraw from the country, knowing their efforts were only a footprint in the sand, the fifty Marines of 3rd Platoon fought in Sangin, the most dangerous district in all of Afghanistan. So heavy were the casualties that the Secretary of Defense offered to pull the Marines out. Instead, they pushed forward. Each Marine in 3rd Platoon patrolled two and a half miles a day for six months-a total of one million steps-in search of a ghostlike enemy that struck without warning. Why did the Marines attack and attack, day after day? Every day brought a new skirmish. Each footfall might trigger an IED. Half the Marines in 3rd Platoon didn't make it intact to the end of the tour. One Million Steps is the story of the fifty brave men who faced these grim odds and refused to back down. Based on Bing West's embeds with 3rd Platoon, as well as on their handwritten log, this is a gripping grunt's-eye view of life on the front lines of America's longest war. Writing with a combat veteran's compassion for the fallen, West also offers a damning critique of the higher-ups who expected our warriors to act as nation-builders-and whose failed strategy put American lives at unnecessary risk. Each time a leader was struck down, another rose up to take his place. How does one man instill courage in another? What welded these men together as firmly as steel plates? This remarkable book is the story of warriors caught between a maddening, unrealistic strategy and their unswerving commitment to the fight. Fearsome, inspiring, and poignant in its telling, One Million Steps is sure to become a classic, a unique and enduring testament to the American warrior spirit. Praise for One Million Steps "West shows the reality of modern warfare in a way that is utterly gripping."-Max Boot, author of Invisible Armies "A gripping, boot-level account of Marines in Afghanistan during the bloody struggle with Taliban fighters."- Los Angeles Times " One Million Steps transcends combat narrative: It is an epic of contemporary small-unit combat."-Eliot A. Cohen, author of Supreme Command "A blistering assault on America's senior military leadership."- The Wall Street Journal "A heart-pounding portrayal . . . a compelling account of what these men endured." -The Washington Post "Stunning, sobering, and brilliantly written."-Newt Gingrich "One of the most intrepid military journalists, Bing West, delivers a heart-wrenching account of one platoon's fight."-Bill Bennett, host of Morning in America "Bing West has reconfirmed his standing as one of the most intrepid and insightful observers of America's wars. . . . One Million Steps reveals the essence of small-unit combat, the very soul of war."- The Weekly Standard "A searing read, but it is one that all Americans should undertake. We send our sons into battle, and few know what our warriors experience." -The Washington Times From the Hardcover edition.

Bing West (Author), Ray Porter (Narrator)

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Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War

"The story of what Dakota did . . . will be told for generations."-President Barack Obama, from remarks given at Meyer's Medal of Honor ceremony In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out one hundred men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, twenty-one year-old Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades. With a brave driver at the wheel, Meyer stood in the gun turret exposed to withering fire, rallying Afghan troops to follow. Over the course of the five hours, he charged into the valley time and again. Employing a variety of machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers, and even a rock, Meyer repeatedly repulsed enemy attackers, carried wounded Afghan soldiers to safety, and provided cover for dozens of others to escape-supreme acts of valor and determination. In the end, Meyer and four stalwart comrades-an Army captain, an Afghan sergeant major, and two Marines-cleared the battlefield and came to grips with a tragedy they knew could have been avoided. For his actions on that day, Meyer became the first living Marine in three decades to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Into the Fire tells the full story of the chaotic battle of Ganjigal for the first time, in a compelling, human way that reveals it as a microcosm of our recent wars. Meyer takes us from his upbringing on a farm in Kentucky, through his Marine and sniper training, onto the battlefield, and into the vexed aftermath of his harrowing exploits in a battle that has become the stuff of legend. Investigations ensued, even as he was pitched back into battle alongside U.S. Army soldiers who embraced him as a fellow grunt. When it was over, he returned to the States to confront living with the loss of his closest friends. This is a tale of American values and upbringing, of stunning heroism, and of adjusting to loss and to civilian life. We see it all through Meyer's eyes, bullet by bullet, with raw honesty in telling of both the errors that resulted in tragedy and the resolve of American soldiers, U.S.Marines, and Afghan soldiers who'd been abandoned and faced certain death. Meticulously researched and thrillingly told, with nonstop pace and vivid detail, Into the Fire is the true story of a modern American hero.

Bing West, Dakota Meyer (Author), Zach McLarty (Narrator)

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Village

Bing West (Author), Peter Berkrot (Narrator)

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Beyond Bin Laden: America and the Future of Terror

Osama bin Laden was the most wanted man in American history—an enemy who brought the United States what President George W. Bush called "a day of fire," and ushered in a new era of terrorism. It took a decade of blood and sacrifice, of determination and frustration, but finally, in a nighttime raid at the end of a dirt road in Pakistan, the hunt for Bin Laden ended with a gunshot. It was a dramatic climax to a long and painful chapter. But now what? The terrorist threat that has defined American policy since the attacks of 9/11 did not die with Bin Laden in his walled compound near Islamabad. Radicals still wish us harm, and we must fight on. In this provocative collection of essays edited and introduced by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham, a group of penetrating analysts and leaders look ahead to the world after Bin Laden—to the future of Al Qaeda, of Afghanistan, of Pakistan. We explore the political, military, and cultural implications of the post–Bin Laden war on terror. From Richard N. Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations to former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, from historian and journalist Evan Thomas to former U.S. Army officer Andrew Exum, Beyond Bin Laden gives readers intelligent, deeply informed, and urgent glimpses of what comes next.

Bing West, James A. Baker Iii, Jon Meacham, Karen Hughes, Richard Haass, Various Authors (Author), Various Readers, Various Readers (Narrator)

Audiobook

No True Glory: Fallujah and the Struggle in Iraq A Frontline Account

"This is the face of war as only those who have fought it can describe it."–Senator John McCain Fallujah: Iraq’s most dangerous city unexpectedly emerged as the major battleground of the Iraqi insurgency. For twenty months, one American battalion after another tried to quell the violence, culminating in a bloody, full-scale assault. Victory came at a terrible price: 151 Americans and thousands of Iraqis were left dead. The epic battle for Fallujah revealed the startling connections between policy and combat that are a part of the new reality of war. The Marines had planned to slip into Fallujah “as soft as fog.” But after four American contractors were brutally murdered, President Bush ordered an attack on the city–against the advice of the Marines. The assault sparked a political firestorm, and the Marines were forced to withdraw amid controversy and confusion–only to be ordered a second time to take a city that had become an inferno of hate and the lair of the archterrorist al-Zarqawi. Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every level–senior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front lines–No True Glory is a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complex–and often costly–interconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.

Bing West (Author), Robertson Dean (Narrator)

Audiobook

No True Glory: Fallujah and the Struggle in Iraq, A Frontline Account

"This is the face of war as only those who have fought it can describe it."-Senator John McCain Fallujah: Iraq's most dangerous city unexpectedly emerged as the major battleground of the Iraqi insurgency. For twenty months, one American battalion after another tried to quell the violence, culminating in a bloody, full-scale assault. Victory came at a terrible price: 151 Americans and thousands of Iraqis were left dead. The epic battle for Fallujah revealed the startling connections between policy and combat that are a part of the new reality of war. The Marines had planned to slip into Fallujah "as soft as fog." But after four American contractors were brutally murdered, President Bush ordered an attack on the city-against the advice of the Marines. The assault sparked a political firestorm, and the Marines were forced to withdraw amid controversy and confusion-only to be ordered a second time to take a city that had become an inferno of hate and the lair of the archterrorist al-Zarqawi. Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every level-senior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front lines-No True Glory is a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complex-and often costly-interconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.

Bing West (Author), Dennis Boutsikaris (Narrator)

Audiobook