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  • Published: 4 April 2006
  • ISBN: 9781594482014
  • Imprint: Riverhead
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $32.99

The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell

An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq



In the tradition of Michael Herr's Dispatches, a National Guardsman's account of the war in Iraq.

John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college tuition, willingly exchanging one weekend a month and two weeks a year for a free education. But in Autumn 2002, one semester short of graduating and newly married—in fact, on his honeymoon—he was called to active duty and sent to the front lines in Iraq.

Crawford and his unit spent months upon months patrolling the streets of Baghdad, occupying a hostile city. During the breaks between patrols, Crawford began recording what he and his fellow soldiers witnessed and experienced. Those stories became The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell—a haunting and powerful, compellingly honest book that imparts the on-the-ground reality of waging the war in Iraq, and marks as the introduction of a mighty literary voice forged in the most intense of circumstances.

  • Published: 4 April 2006
  • ISBN: 9781594482014
  • Imprint: Riverhead
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $32.99

Praise for The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell

“Potent…Crawford tells tales that bring human dimensions to his situation.” —The New York Times“A National Guardsman who never expected to see battle writes a shattering account of the war that changed his life.” —People "Tremendous...An incredibly gripping book, and incredibly well-written. It's a remarkable story...I commend [Crawford] not only for his service, but for the account of it, which is really a wonderful read."Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart "Harrowing and exquisite."—Time "Takes its place among the very best tales of men at warit rings with the raw emotional energies of truth and anger and sadness."—The New Orleans Times-Picayune “It's f***ing dynamite… Like Michael Herr in Dispatches, Crawford really has it down. He’s got it nailed.” —Thom Jones, author of The Pugilist at Rest “Crawford is a wonderfully descriptive writer—and reading this book feels like climbing into a Humvee to patrol Baghdad in 130-degree heat.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune