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Piers Platt

Combat and Other Shenanigans: Tales of the Absurd from a Deployment to Iraq Paperback – February 25, 2014

by Piers Platt (Author)

276 ratings

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. War is hell…but sometimes it’s also funny as hell. Combat and Other Shenanigans is Lieutenant Piers Platt’s firsthand account of his year as a cavalry platoon leader in Iraq. Wry, action-packed, and poignant, Combat and Other Shenanigans is the absurd-but-true story of the antics the world’s finest soldiers get up to when no one high-ranking is watching.

Print length

178 pages
Language

English
Publication date

February 25, 2014
Dimensions

6 x 0.45 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1496128672
ISBN-13

978-1496128676
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Piers Platt grew up in Boston, but spent most of his childhood in various boarding schools, including getting trained as a classical singer at a choir school for boys. He joined the Army in 2002, and spent four years on active duty, including a year-long deployment to Iraq in 2004 as a tank and scout platoon leader. He now works as a marketing strategy consultant in New York city, when he's not spending time with his lovely wife and daughter.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (February 25, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 178 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496128672
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496128676
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.45 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #507,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #324 in Iraq War Biographies
- #548 in Iraq War History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
276 ratings

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Piers Platt

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Piers Platt is the New York Times bestselling author of "Combat and Other Shenanigans," a memoir of his year-long deployment to Iraq as a tank and scout platoon leader. Piers grew up in Boston, but spent most of his childhood in various boarding schools, including getting trained as a classical singer at a choir school for boys. He joined the Army in 2002, and spent four years on active duty.

When he's not writing or spending time with his lovely wife and daughter, Piers works as a strategy consultant in New York city.

To be the first to hear about new releases - and get a free e-book! - sign for Piers' newsletter at: piersplatt.com/newsletter (just copy and paste into your browser)

Customer reviews

5 star		59%
4 star		26%
3 star		11%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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“You Are Here”

Funny and honest.

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

This was a nice read, not too serious but serious when it needed to be. I can understand his feelings of not having "experienced" as much or as deeply as others doing the same job. I think we do TBE best that we can and we all see things differently. What happened during this you may have been considered difficult by another. I think the author has a keen sense of humor and that helped with his ability to make it through his tour relatively unscathed. Good story teller. I enjoyed reading this book.

Helpful

Larry Placido

Real life, not Hollywood

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is an easy read. The author puts forth an honest look into what it's like on deployment, in his own eyes. It can be funny one moment, to completely ridiculous and absurd the next. Anyone that has been deployed has probably seen similar scenes... As I said, it's not like you see from Hollywood. It does bring back my own memories when I was overseas. Overall, a good book in my honest opinion.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Taurus

The Real Deal

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

Considering that Piers Platt is already an accomplished author he is able to bring the real story of American Servicemen in Iraq during hostilities.
He is able to portray the life of a serviceman during a deployment, the boredom, poor rations, the sand, the squalor. silly army regulations, questionable leadership. The army at its best is basically dysfunctional, ask anyone who has served.They manage to get by, there are problems with equipment,men who should never have been enlisted because of their low standards. But what makes the book interesting are those few, the exception to the rule, the men who excel at what they do. They were born to be soldiers and they must carry the weight, have the answers, be able to keep the riff raft in line and hold them to the mission and keep what ever discipline they can muster. This is not to be confused with WWII or Korea, this is America flexing its muscle which really comes down to our advance technology. Oh how important good leadership is and there we seem to be lacking. The author illustrates some close calls, but calls into question, WTF were we doing their?

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Doc Krew

Uneventful mostly. Absurd, not really...

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

A well written adventure sharing a typical soldier experience through a tour in Iraq. I’m sure the authors story that he experienced was to him a wild, dangerous and absurd year in combat and he is right to be proud of his service. If your looking for a nice soldier story surviving the tedious year away from home it’s a well written book and record of this soldiers experience. If your looking for exciting war stories your probably going to be disappointed like a was waiting for the big battles and life and death moments in many of the great books available today. Absurd, not at all.

Helpful

DonM

An excellent journal about the author’s experience in the Iraq war

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is probably the most interesting of the many such journals I have about war experiences. This includes the unpublished one I had written for my family members only. The author documents his experiences with the vernacular used by soldiers. If you get upset with comments that are not “politically correct,” or are Chauvinistic, or are vulgar, then don’t read this book. For those that want to see how our soldiers conduct combat operations today, this is the book to read. Veterans of other wars should also read this to see how much things have changed. The author did change the names of some of the characters mentioned to avoid embarrassing them. I am sure he also did not mention other things that might have offended even the most callused of readers.

As I was finishing the book, national news was reporting that almost the entire city of Samarra was now in the hands of the Taliban. This city figured prominently in this book. What a shame that this entire battle, if not the war, appears to have been fought for nothing!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ronnie Rohn

An easy almost relaxing read.

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2021

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Ron Rohn
Filled with the boring mundane, that is.military life, punctuated with the sudden violance and lifethreatinng actionof all battlefields. A good read. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop .the syle of writingwas engaging and painted the picture of one mans experiance of his first time in the modern feld of battle. May we send no more young men and women into harms way to satisfy old mens ambitions!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

E.D.

War Memoir that Blends Drama with Hilarity

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

Do you want to know what it’s really like to kiss your loved ones goodbye and board a plane for the sweltering desert of Iraq? To serve a tour of duty with a bunch of courageous and lewd-as-hell fellow officers? To participate in an attack on an insurgent-controlled city where your mettle is tested? Then pick up this memoir. Intended for a wide range of readers -- those familiar with the armed forces and those, like me, who are outside this world but curious about it -- COMBAT is funny, intense, raw, and realistic. Using an episodic structure, Platt writes honestly about his often unglamorous experiences as a soldier and the friendships (and rivalries) that emerge. One highlight for me was the practical jokes played on new soldiers, such as sending a private on a six-hour wild goose chase to get a “can of squelch,” which doesn’t exist. If you’re looking for a war memoir that tells it like it is, COMBAT is your book.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Madgolfer1

GOOD READ

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

I served 4 years in the Marine Corps with 2 combat tours in Nam. I enjoyed the book and the stories of the absurd. I guess the Army is a different "creature" because it never even occurred to us that we were "friends" with the officers and "roughhousing" with them NEVER would be acceptable. The only time you put your hands on an officer was to pull him from direct danger or to treat his wounds. But these were "tankers" afterall, so I guess it was normal. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in the "life" of a US soldier in a combat theatre.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Tanya

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very funny!

Chris Wickham

Excellent read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

Reminds me of the the book Sniper One by Dan Mills and that is high praise indeed. An honest and amusing account of western forces in Iraq.

Kindle Customer

Excellent read, well written that allowed me to feel ...

Reviewed in Australia on May 28, 2016

Verified Purchase

Excellent read, well written that allowed me to feel I was there with you brave warriors

that step up to a high level to protect each other and make a difference to the innocent people

they are protecting. Loved the humor in your book.........

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