Swords of Lightning, Jim DeFelice
Swords of Lightning, Jim DeFelice
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Swords of Lightning
Green Beret Horse Soldiers and America's Response to 9/11

Author: Jim DeFelice, Bob Pennington, Mark Nutsch

Narrator: Mike Chamberlain

Unabridged: 9 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/17/2022


Synopsis

The first-person account of how a small band of Green Berets used horses and laser-guided bombs to overthrow the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan after 9/11.

They landed in a dust storm so thick the chopper pilot used dead reckoning and a guess to find the ground. Welcomed by a band of heavily armed militiamen, they climbed a mountain on horseback to meet the most ferocious warlord in Asia. They plotted a war of nineteenth-century maneuvers against a twenty-first-century foe. They trekked through minefields, sometimes past the mangled bodies of local tribesmen who'd shared food with them hours before. They saved babies and treated fractures, sewed up wounded who'd been transported from the battlefield by donkey. They found their enemy hiding in thick bunkers, dodged bullets from machine-gun-laden pickup trucks, and survived mass rocket attacks from vintage Soviet-era launchers. They battled the Taliban while mediating blood feuds between rival allies. They fought with everything they had, from smart bombs to AK-47s.The men they helped called them brothers. Hollywood called them the Horse Soldiers.

They called themselves Green Berets—Special Forces ODA 595.

About Jim DeFelice

Jim DeFelice is the author or coauthor of sixteen New York Times bestselling books, including American Sniper and Everyman a Hero. A winner of the Army Historical Foundation Award for his writing, he lives in the Hudson Valley.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mike on December 25, 2024

This is a very good book about the Green Berets first inserted into Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. It is written by one of the Green Beret team members who was actually there on the ground. It begins with the planning stages of the mission and follows the exploits of the ODA te......more

Goodreads review by Darren on July 22, 2022

If you want to know what the Green Berets do (US Army Special Forces), then read this book. The authors have now told their story that many first learned about after watching the film 12 Strong. However, this account digs into what actually happened, lessons learned for small units, how to work with......more

Goodreads review by James McVay on May 25, 2022

Good story not well written I can tell this was written by Army personnel. I like the factual aspect but I did not care for how it was written. For non service members, the book is worth a read.......more

Goodreads review by Jeffrey on September 30, 2023

This is a great story about U.S. Army Special Forces troops who deployed to Afghanistan right after September 11, 2001, and helped organize the Northern Alliance into an effective fighting force against the Taliban. It is definitely told through they eyes of two Army soldiers, as it does have that fe......more

Goodreads review by Mary on April 12, 2023

I’m an ordinary 78 year old woman, not associated with the military in any way. I have seen the movie 12 STRONG many, many times, watched a number of interviews, then read the book. Yep! Truth IS stranger than fiction. The movie is entertainment only, but gives the reader a visual picture of what is......more