RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewWhat makes Griswold’s book so valuable is the way in which every combatant in the church’s internal culture war is treated with humanity and empathy ... It’s very much worth reading Griswold’s book, examining our own hearts and asking ourselves a vital question: Are our differences so great that they justify destroying relationships or institutions that are truly good?
Andrew Sullivan
RaveNew York Times Book ReviewTo call the book a mere \'collection of essays\' is to do it a grave injustice. Perhaps it’s better to call it a series of journeys ... It’s hard for anyone to read Sullivan’s words and not feel provoked. However, he is no troll. He does not write for the purpose of inflicting pain. And even his most passionate arguments are thoughtfully delivered, deeply rooted in his philosophy and faith ... The last person to argue that Sullivan has always been right in both substance and tone is Sullivan himself. He puts his own mistakes on the page. He places them in his own curated collection of essays. It’s an act of remarkable humility in an age when humility is often derided as weakness ... Read it to better understand the many journeys of one of America’s most important public intellectuals. But most of all read this book to see what it looks like when a thoughtful man tries his best to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may.
James Verini
RaveThe National Review... a painful, moving, and necessary read ... Verini is almost recklessly brave. He embedded himself, whenever he could, with virtually every kind of allied unit fighting ISIS, and he found himself in the middle of the action, constantly. He was present when the snipers opened up, when the car bombs came, and when the mortars fell ... [Verini] was able to capture the truth of war in Iraq (and of Iraq itself) in a way that precious few writers have. In fact, he helped me to make more sense, over a decade later, of my own deployment ... the beauty of Verini’s book is that it explains the \'how\' and the \'why\' better than any other single volume I’ve read ... Verini gets the little touches right ... Most important, however, he gets the complexity right. He understands the paradoxes ... Through it all, Verini helps you understand ... Verini’s book is an antidote to ignorance. It’s an indispensable account of a fight that no American should forget.
