The Fifth Act

From Elliot Ackerman, a former White House Fellow and Marine, and a bestselling, prize-winning author, this is a short, powerful book that traces how and why American involvement in Afghanistan ended in tragedy.

In this searing ground-level reckoning with the West’s ignominious endgame, Elliot Ackerman traces the long arc of failure across four succeeding acts from 2001 on, culminating in the dark final act that is now playing out.

The Fifth Act faces up to the deeply troubling erosion of American political culture that has contributed to this collapse and in a real sense mirrors it.