Phil Klay has created a series of stories that make what is, for most of us, an abstract series of flashes on the TV screen or words on the radio or in the newspaper, real. He brings to life the personal repercussions of what it means to be in military service at this moment in time. What it means to come “home” to a place that may not make sense any more, where you want to fit, but things are irrevocably changed inside of you, inside your understandings of yourself. Wherever you might stand on the politics of the wars of this generation, Klay brings us to the reality of the individual lives of the people employed in the business of protecting a nation. I read this one with the book group and there wasn't a person who attended the discussion who didn't appreciate the perspective Phil Klay brings to life here. One person said this should be required reading for anyone holding political office and I agree. We could sit back and close our eyes to what is happening to our troops, but no matter what any one of us might think about the politics of these wars, let’s not.