No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah

Infantry Magazine,  July-August, 2006  by Rick Baillergeon

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No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah. By Bing West. New York: Bantam Books, 2005, 380 pages, $25 (cloth). Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Rick Baillergeon.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines classic as "serving as a standard of excellence." In utilizing this definition, several recent books come to my mind as true classics. These include General Hal Moore and Joe Galloway's We Were Soldiers Once and Young and Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down. Each of these books superbly captured the true psychological and physical essence of battle in a way that totally grips its readers. After reading Bing West's No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah, I have no doubt this book will receive the same acclaim and recognition by readers and critics alike. By definition, it must be categorized as a classic.

Many readers may be familiar with West's last work, The March Up." Taking Baghdad With the 1st Marine Division. In it, he collaborated with Major General (Retired) Ray L. Smith to detail the 1st Marine's offensive operation into Baghdad from March 20--April 10, 2003. This book received well-deserved praise and garnered several awards. I agreed and felt The March Up was a superb book and possessed numerous strengths. West carries these strengths over in his latest effort and in fact takes them to another level.

The best way to give a concise description of No True Glory is to utilize the author's own words. In his introduction West states, "THE OBSCURE, HARDSCRABBLE INDUSTRIAL city of Fallujah erupted into the major battle of the Iraqi insurgency, involving fifteen thousand combatants and claiming 153 American and thousands of Iraqi lives. Fallujah provides a cautionary tale about mixing the combustible ingredients of battle and politics. This book describes how it came to do so and why."

In detailing how it came to be and to answer the why, No True Glory focuses on the period from April 2003 through December 2004 in the embattled city of Fallujah.

Throughout the pages, West expertly weaves the political climate with operational and tactical decision making. The constant with these two elements is West's outstanding ability to capture the fighting on the ground at the individual Marine and Soldier level. The author's ability to seamlessly combine these three places this book a cut above of anything I've presently read regarding Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

In my opinion, one of the critical things missing from books of this genre is the inability of authors to set the stage for the reader. To better understand the fighting at the small unit level, a reader should know the political and operational context and how these shaped events on the ground.

Truly, West paints this picture for the reader. Throughout No True Glory, readers have an understanding of how the political environment totally affected military decisions during the Fallujah campaign. As West discusses the political context, he pulls no punches. His frustration is evident when he opines how political indecision translated to casualties on the ground. The author's treatment of the political landscape is complete and to be truthful was an added bonus for myself. Before reading the book, I had the misconception that it entirely focused on operations on the ground.

Certainly, West's ability to describe the combat on the ground is the major strength of the book. His ability to do this was supported by two actions. First, he spent countless days with the Marines and Soldiers on the ground during operations in Fallujah (as well as Ramadi). There is nothing like being there and West was truly there. Second, the author has conducted hundreds of interviews to fill in any of the missing pieces to tell the story. Combined, these actions enable West to capture the human dimension of war unlike any book I've read in many years. It will leave a lasting impact on all readers.

Besides the above strengths, I found several other items that made this book even better. First, he utilizes the inside flaps of the book to place maps and some graphics of the cancelled April 2004 offensive (Operation Vigilant Resolve) and the actual November 2004 offensive (Operation Phantom Fury). Second, West begins the book by writing paragraph-size biographies of the major political and military leaders involved in the Fallujah campaign. He follows this by adding a "Where Are They Now?" section at the end of the book telling readers what these and others discussed in the book are currently doing today. Third, West provides a large section of color pictures (most taken by West himself) that add power to his words. Finally, he crafts a superb conclusion which offers tremendous insight on various subjects such as defeating the insurgency and the performance of the world press.

In summary, No True Glory is a superb book. I believe in years to come it will rightfully be recognized as the book to read not only on the operations in Fallujah, but on the opening months of the insurgency in Iraq. As you can surmise, I give West's volume my highest recommendation. I am confident future readers will share my sentiments.

COPYRIGHT 2006 U.S. Army Infantry School
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group