Who among the following is the author of the book ‘Marathon War : Leadership in combat in Afghanistan’?

Correct — option (1), Jeffrey Schloesser.

*Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan* is by Jeffrey Schloesser, a retired Major General of the US Army. Simon & Schuster's catalogue page lists the hardcover with a release date of 25 May 2021.

The page describes the book as "a revealing memoir of leadership in the chaos and fog of the Afghanistan War", by the "former Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division and Regional Command-East".

His author note says he commanded the 101st Airborne Division for thirty-three months, including fifteen months in combat in Afghanistan.

The idea to remember: Marathon War (2021) is a commander's memoir: Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser on leading the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  Chris Mooney — Chris Mooney is not the author of Marathon War. Open Library lists a Chris Mooney among the authors of a 2021 war-related book, Walk in My Combat Boots: True Stories from America's Bravest Warriors, with James Patterson and Matt Eversmann.

  Open Library also lists The Republican War on Science (2005) under both Chris C. Mooney and Chris Mooney. Whichever writer the option means, Marathon War is Jeffrey Schloesser's.

• (3)
  Samuel Moyn — Samuel Moyn did not write Marathon War. Open Library catalogues him as author of Humane (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021) and of The Last Utopia (2010).

  Marathon War is a memoir by Jeffrey Schloesser, who commanded US troops in Afghanistan.

• (4)
  Carter Malkasian — Carter Malkasian also published a book on Afghanistan in 2021: The American War in Afghanistan: A History (Oxford University Press), according to Open Library.

  His earlier book War Comes to Garmser (2013) is also about Afghanistan. Marathon War, though, is Jeffrey Schloesser's memoir.

A war memoir is a first-person account by someone who took part in the events. Marathon War belongs to this kind: its author commanded the troops whose fighting he describes.

Simon & Schuster's description says the book follows Schloesser through the daily grind of the war and takes readers into the Battle of Wanat, "where nine U.S. soldiers were killed in a fierce, up-close fight".

It also reflects on decision-makers of the time, including President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Key facts

• Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan is by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser (US Army, retired).
• Simon & Schuster lists the hardcover's release date as 25 May 2021.
• Schloesser was Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division and Regional Command-East, with fifteen months in combat in Afghanistan.
• The book covers the Battle of Wanat, in which nine US soldiers were killed.
• Carter Malkasian's The American War in Afghanistan: A History was also published in 2021.

Common traps

• Two 2021 books on the American war in Afghanistan: Marathon War is Schloesser's memoir; The American War in Afghanistan: A History is by Carter Malkasian.
• The word "War" in a title is not a clue to the author: Chris C. Mooney's The Republican War on Science is not a military book.
• Memoir versus history: Marathon War is a first-person account by the commander, not a general history.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2013 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following books, published in 2021, was written by Carter Malkasian?

  • (a)The American War in Afghanistan: A History
  • (b)Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan
  • (c)Humane
  • (d)Walk in My Combat Boots
  Answer(1) — Open Library catalogues The American War in Afghanistan: A History (Oxford University Press, 2021) under Carter Malkasian. Option (2) is by Jeffrey Schloesser, option (3) by Samuel Moyn, and option (4) by James Patterson, Matt Eversmann and Chris Mooney.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Jeffrey Schloesser, author of 'Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan', was the Commanding General of which US Army division?

  • (a)82nd Airborne Division
  • (b)101st Airborne Division
  • (c)1st Cavalry Division
  • (d)10th Mountain Division
  Answer(2) — Simon & Schuster's page describes him as former Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division, which he commanded for thirty-three months. Options (1), (3) and (4) are other US Army divisions, not the one he commanded.