Eloquent, devastating . . . packed with gimlet-eyed analysis --
cultural, economic, historical -- of how American life came to look
the way it does . . . Edstrom's keen observational powers encompass
both the physical world and social nuance. --Los Angeles Review of
Books
A manifesto about
America's unchallenged war machine, from an Afghanistan veteran and
new kind of military hero.
Before engaging in
war, Erik Edstrom asks us to imagine three, rarely imagined
scenarios: First, imagine your own death. Second, imagine war from
"the other side." Third: Imagine what might have been if
the war had never been fought. Pursuing these realities through his
own combat experience, Erik reaches the unavoidable conclusion about
America at war. But that realization came too late--the damage had
been done.
Erik Edstrom grew up
in suburban Massachusetts with an idealistic desire to make an
impact, ultimately leading him to the gates of West Point. Five years
later, he was deployed to Afghanistan as an infantry lieutenant.
Throughout his military career, he confronted atrocities, buried his
friends, wrestled with depression, and struggled with an
understanding that the war he fought in, and the youth he traded to
prepare for it, was in contribution to a bitter truth: The War on
Terror is not just a tragedy, but a crime. The deeper tragedy is that
our country lacks the courage and conviction to say so.
Un-American
is a hybrid of social commentary and memoir that exposes how blind
support for war exacerbates the problems it's intended to resolve,
devastates the people allegedly being helped, and diverts assets from
far larger threats like climate change. Un-American is a
revolutionary act, offering a blueprint for redressing America's
relationship with patriotism, the military, and military spending.