American Spartan: The Promise, the Mission, and the Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant

Lawrence of Arabia meets Sebastian Junger's War in this unique, incendiary, and dramatic true story of heroism and heartbreak in Afghanistan written by a Pulitzer Prize–nominated war correspondent.

Army Special Forces Major Jim Gant changed the face of America’s war effort in Afghanistan. A decorated Green Beret who spent years in Afghanistan and Iraq training indigenous fighters, Gant argued for embedding autonomous units with tribes across Afghanistan to earn the Afghans’ trust and transform them into a reliable ally with whom we could defeat the Taliban and counter al-Qaeda networks. The military's top brass, including General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, approved, and Gant was tasked with implementing his controversial strategy.

Veteran war correspondent Ann Scott Tyson first spoke with Gant when he was awarded the Silver Star in 2007. Tyson soon came to share Gant’s vision, so she accompanied him to Afghanistan, risking her life to embed with the tribes and chronicle their experience. And then they fell in love.

Illustrated with dozens of photographs, American Spartan is their remarkable story—one of the most riveting, emotional narratives of wartime ever published.

Lawrence of Arabia meets Sebastian Junger's War in this unique, incendiary, and dramatic true story of heroism and heartbreak in Afghanistan written by a Pulitzer Prize–nominated war correspondent

Some have called him "Lawrence of Afghanistan." To the Pashtun tribesmen he is "Commander Jim," leader of the "bearded ones." He is Army Special Forces Major Jim Gant, one of the most charismatic and controversial U.S. commanders of modern memory, a man who changed the face of America's war in Afghanistan when his critical white paper, "One Tribe at a Time," went viral at the Pentagon, the White House, and on Capitol Hill in 2009.

A decorated Green Beret who had spent years training indigenous fighters, Jim argued for embedding autonomous units with tribes across Afghanistan: these American soldiers would live among Afghans for extended periods, not only to train and equip tribal militias, but to fight—and even die—alongside them in battle. He argued that we could earn the trust of the Afghans and transform them into a reliable ally with whom we could defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda networks. The military's top brass, including General David Petraeus, then commander of U.S. Central Command and overseeing the war in Afghanistan, and Admiral Eric Olson, head of Special Operations Command, approved the plan and gave Jim the go-ahead to embark on the mission.

As correspondent Ann Scott Tyson got to know Jim Gant the man as well as the warrior, she saw that there was a larger story to tell—about a people desperate to defend their homes, and about this intense fighter and deeply honorable man who pushed boundaries, despite his own personal demons, and risked life and career to achieve what some thought was impossible. Ann soon came to share Jim's vision that Americans and Pashtuns could fight side-by-side and create real change across the region, so she accompanied him to Afghanistan, risking her life to embed with the tribes and chronicle their experience. This remarkable story—of Jim's close relationships with village elder Noor Afzhal and his family, the fierce fighting they took straight to the enemy in the treacherous mountains of Konar Province, and Ann and Jim's deepening love for each other—is told with a keen sense of drama and immediacy.

A war story like no other, an unprecedented account of a warrior who took up the cause of villagers as if it were his own, and of a woman on the front lines of a distant war, American Spartan is an unforgettable tale—and one of the most remarkable and emotionally resonant narratives of war ever published.

“In the half-century since Robin Moore’s classic, The Green Berets, no other account of Special Forces at war could match its range and depth and candor—until now. American Spartan will enlighten and disturb readers with its searing honesty in describing the modern Green Berets’ battle for Afghanistan. There are many stories here; one of the most troubling is what can happen to elite troops after their country has kept them in combat for over a decade.” - Dr. Kalev I. Sepp, former Green Beret and coauthor of Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan

“American Spartan is a riveting, powerful account of the service of Major Jim Gant, a man seen by many of us as the “perfect counterinsurgent”—an inspiring, gifted, courageous leader who had a nuanced understanding of Afghan cultural and tribal dynamics and was willing to take extraordinary risks living among Afghans in remote locations far from friendly bases. Ultimately, however, one of Jim’s strengths—a willingness to push the envelope—became his undoing. Ann Scott Tyson had a ring-side seat to observe it all and takes us there in this extraordinary, gripping book.” - General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)

“This story captivated me like no other I’ve read on combat action in Afghanistan. I don’t condone Jim Gant’s every decision or the way he did things, but I do respect the hell out of what he did as a warrior.” - Dalton Fury, author of Kill Bin Laden

“Former Washington Post reporter Ann Scott Tyson tells this story not from a news bureau desk, but from the tribal front lines, where she lived it side-by-side with Gant. . . . If you read only one book this year about war or politics, read American Spartan.” - Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of Gates of Fire

“American Spartan is very much real-life-as-movie—a series of exciting firefights, brotherly warriors, hypocritical higher-ups, and personal demons that seems ready-made for Hollywood. In the process of entertaining readers and defending her family’s reputation, Tyson raises a host of serious questions about the nature of war, the many aspects of loyalty, and the price paid by America’s front-line fighters.” - Christian Science Monitor

“Tyson raises a host of serious questions about the nature of war, the many aspects of loyalty, and the price paid by America’s front-line fighters.” - Christian Science Monitor

“In the half-century since Robin Moore’s The Green Berets, no other account of Special Forces at war could match its range and depth and candor-until now. American Spartan will enlighten and disturb readers with its searing honesty...” - Dr. Kalev I. Sepp, former Green Beret and coauthor of Weapon of Choice

“A momentous account… The overall story is enticing, brutal, and current.” - Publishers Weekly

“An astonishing new account . . . This book will be read a lot longer than most books about the American war in Afghanistan. It especially will resonate with people interested in Special Forces… We need people like Gant to do real foreign internal defense.” - Tom Ricks

“Welcome to American Spartan, the Catch-22 of the Afghanistan War, a mixture of romanticism, fantasy and hard-core dedication. . . . Gant took his private war to a legendary level. After he and reporter Ann Scott Tyson fell in love, she sneaked into the Pashtun village to live with him and his team. Don’t try to count how many journalism and military rules the two of them broke. By way of partial redemption, Tyson has a sharp and sentimental eye. Read this book to savor the rich, candid details of love between a man and a woman, between Afghan and American comrades in battle, and between two cultures. . . . Catch-22 was a satirical novel, sprinkled with gritty vignettes of real combat during World War II. American Spartan is the real-life story of living a fantasy, sprinkled with allusions to an impossibly ambitious strategy.” - Washington Post

“The Catch-22 of the Afghanistan War, a mixture of romanticism, fantasy and hard-core dedication. . . . Read this book to savor the rich, candid details of love between a man and a woman, between Afghan and American comrades in battle, and between two cultures.” - Washington Post

“Masterfully written and moving . . . [American Spartan] is a must read and will stand the test of time.” - Chicago Tribune

“Masterfully written and moving . . . Tyson’s superbly rendered account of how Gant was done and undone by war, eventually becoming a high-value target within his own military community, is a must read and will stand the test of time.” - Chicago Tribune

“Tyson concentrates on Gant’s campaign, which produced plenty of fireworks, heroism, suffering and, this being Afghanistan, constant frustration. . . . One of the only satisfying products of a dismally unsatisfying war: this entertaining book.” - Kirkus Reviews

“American Spartan is a riveting, powerful account of the service of Major Jim Gant, a man seen by many of us as the “perfect counterinsurgent” . . . Ann Scott Tyson had a ring-side seat . . . and takes us there in this extraordinary, gripping book.” - General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)

“American Spartan is one of the most remarkable books yet to emerge from the last decade of war. It can be read as a virtual catalogue of what military men sometimes antiseptically refer to as ‘failures of leadership.’ Not one of these failures belongs to Jim Gant.” - The Washington Free Beacon