It can't be easy to tour with an American infantry regiment in one of the most dangerous parts of Baghdad, where the soldiers dodge bullets and scan roadside rubbish heaps for bombs. It is surely even harder to be there as the confidence gives way to misery and fear, the people they are there to help grow more demanding or afraid, and too many of the bullets and bombs find their targets. Fourteen soldiers are killed, others maimed, yet more become depressed. It must be difficult to witness all this and then to write about it in a way that is respectful to the soldiers and to the Iraqis; that conveys to others all the awfulness without prompting despair. Finkel is a Pulitzer-prizewinning reporter and his absorbing, disturbing, sad, sometimes funny account has been heaped with deserved praise. The book lists 801 names of 2-16 Battalion, with which he toured between 2007 and 2008; it succeeds by focusing on individuals  just a few likeable, believable men, who seem increasingly baffled by the war they have been asked to fight.