The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education,   ISBN:9781594202025

Customer Rating: 

Military novels are often poorly written and riddled with political bias and opinion - and so in buying this book, I expected to encounter either stereotypical quality and eventually put it down.

One week later, I've read through it twice, and found its words intoxicating. It is a masterfully written and honest tale of a young man's journey through every existential and phenomenological problem he faces. It is funny, tragic, brutal, heartwarming, and thought-provoking throughout. Mr. Mullaney's book, as one of the critical excerpts said, should be required reading for every American. I have recommended it to several friends, all of whom are currently texting and emailing me about how much they love it.

Stop reading this and go read the book!

Customer Rating: 

Craig Mulanney's memoir of becoming an American Army officer who goes from West Point, to Army Rangers training, to Oxford and then to Afghanistan is fascinating and touching. His loyalty to the men in his squad, and description of leading them, is something I will remember for a long time.

Customer Rating: 

I thought that this was a very well done account of an interesting life from a man who could have written something that was quite a ho hummer. He did not spend the pages and words on the technical aspects of a soldier's life, perhaps because he did not spend his entire life as a soldier. AND he did not spend page after page lamenting his choice to go to West Point and to spend time in the Army. Rather it was a rather interesting tale of his life, his choices, his strenuous training, his academic life and his time on foreign soil fighting for what he thought was right. I read this because it had been selected by my book club and found that I was so glad that someone had found it and brought it before the group. Gladly, I gave it a superior rating.

Customer Rating: 

Unforgiving Minute is a very enjoyable book and a tough book to put down. The vivid storytelling brought back some good and bad memories that I had long ago filed away. The honesty with which Craig tells his story is refreshing. As someone who has been through many of the same experiences, I was impressed with the way he articulated complicated sequences of events. It seemed like a book that a reader who had never been in the same environments could read and easily understand. The confusion and urgency that accompany most complex military operations was very well conveyed, and gives readers an understanding of the intense pressures and complex situations that our military lieutenants are thrown into almost immediately following graduation.

A great read for students of military literature and the casual reader alike.

Customer Rating: 

Like some readers, I was expecting more with regard to the actual time spent in Afghanistan but I was mistaken. And that is ok because the book more than made up for that with what it told about the education and training it takes to become a member of an elite group of soliders. As I've heard Mr. Mullaney say in interviews, the training can be worst than the actual fighting. And although the book centers around training for the Army Mountain Rangers, it in no way takes away from the training and dedication of all of our military personnel, in all branches of the service. My respect for these men and women grew even more after reading this book. And for those who would like to read more about actual fighting, you must read "Lone Survivor" by Marcus Lutrell. It is an amazing story.