Gray Land: Soldiers on War

by Barry Goldstein

Given extraordinary access by the U.S. Army, Barry Goldstein spent two years photographing and interviewing more than fifty actively serving members of a veteran battalion, including two month-long trips during which he lived and patrolled with the unit.

No one indicts war more powerfully than experienced professional soldiers, and no one enumerates more eloquently the reasons for serving. Gray Land is a collection of photographic portraits...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393072967
• ISBN13: 9780393072969
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.8" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

Singular

This book, composed of photographs (all of which are first-rate) and gripping narratives (in the words of the Soldiers themselves) portrays war as it really is, as it is really seen by those who have to go up front. This particular unit, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor, suffered casualties during the period this book covers and in the stories here you can see the dynamics in a combat unit, the bonds Soldiers form and the hurt they feel when they lose one of their own. War is not pretty. This has been true from the beginning of history to today and the words you read here could be from WWII, Vietnam, the Great War... only the circumstances are different.

If you want to understand American soldiers, pore over this book.

Most Americans don't know anyone in the military well enough to have earned the trust it takes for a combat veteran to open up about his or her time in a war zone. I know I didn't until I married one. But Goldstein clearly has earned that trust. This book is the closest thing to an unfiltered, non-partisan conversation with a group of soldiers as most civilians will ever experience. Plus we hear from wives and interpreters. Their words are simultaneously heartfelt, raw, thoughtful, and matter-of-fact. There's neither bravado nor histrionics like there sometimes is for a video camera or a reporter they've just met. Civilians who want to better understand why people serve and the effect it has on them should pore over "Gray Land". Eloquent interviews and revealing portraits alternate with fleeting moments that Goldstein captured with his camera during training and on the streets of Baghdad. This quiet, intimate style has the effect of someone whispering a secret: it forces you to listen, and when we listen, we learn.

An Incredible View of Soliders and the Nature of War

This is a powerful look into the lives of American Soldiers in Iraq. Flipping through the pages, one can't help but to pause and carefully examine each portrait, to connect the name on the page with the face staring back at you. The interviews conducted with these soldiers bring out a real and terrifying reality of war, which people sometimes forget or choose not to think about. Soldiers discuss losing their commanding officers and their friends. They talk about watching children being blown up, or having been almost blown up themselves. They talk about what it's like coming home and feeling isolated. Barry Goldstein has done an incredible job of showing American soldiers and telling their stories, both through outstanding documentary photography and heart-wrenching testimony. Many of the photos are portraits of soldiers, but the documentary photography interspersed between interviews creates a powerful contrast between soldiers as people and soldiers as fighters. Whether you agree with the War in Iraq or not, this book is sure to force you to take a deeper look at the lives of the soldiers defending our country.