War by Sebastian Junger

Embedding journalists in combat units has been criticized.  The practice compromises the reporter’s objectivity.  By entering into the daily life of combat soldiers, a reporter will invariably feel more connected to the group than to the story.

Sebastian Junger’s War shows this is not an inevitability.  Junger is aware time and again that he can easily compromise his journalistic values. He regains balance by extended explanations of what an active, shooting war is like.  He is both observer and participant, and balances one against the other.  By experiencing war with the men, he provides  detailed prose about the costs (and often benefits) of a life at war.  No other way would accomplish this.