"Chasing Alexander", by Christopher Martin

A Marine journey’s journey across Iraq and Afghanistan

Martin guides us in his memoirs through the history of Alexander the Great while chronicling his own journey from an out-of-shape grunt to an action-hungry corporal. From boot camp through his deployment the everyday military life including excitement, boredom and tragedy is told in minute details.

Each chapter opens with interesting snippets of Alexander the Great conquest. Martin admires Alexander’s militarily genius and his diplomatic skills and “Chasing Alexander” draws deeply on the life of the king. Telling a little bit of his biography does not bog down the flow or the impact on the author’s story. Actually it is a great touch.

This memoir is written with tact and clarity, he talks about his friends, family and his unit in a compelling manner. The trauma and hardship of Marines’ existence is captured as well as the grief, terror and agony they experienced. The vague notions of what means to be a Marine is put aside, replacing it with the reality of life in service.

If you are interested in military life this book may be for you. I had a hard time getting into it I found it boring, too many details and not enough action till reaching half way when Martin saw some action. Pages after pages of boot camp training ...once you read a military story boot camp is boot camp. Although I appreciated the simply words Martin used to make us see what the war was like for the regular Americans. Definitely the author can write.

A good book but it was not for me.

An advance review copy was provided by the publisher, Notional Books via Edelweiss for an impartial and honest review.