Beyond the Call, Eileen Rivers
Beyond the Call, Eileen Rivers
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
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Beyond the Call
Three Women on the Front Lines in Afghanistan

Author: Eileen Rivers

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers

Unabridged: 9 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Da Capo Press

Published: 11/06/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

A riveting account of three women who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with men and worked with local women to restore their lives and push back the Taliban

They marched under the heat with 40-pound rucksacks on their backs. They fired weapons out of the windows of military vehicles, defending their units in deadly battles. And they did things that their male counterparts could never do--gather intelligence on the Taliban from the women of Afghanistan. As females they could circumvent Muslim traditions and cultivate relationships with Afghan women who were bound by tradition not to speak with American military men. And their work in local villages helped empower Afghan women, providing them with the education and financial tools necessary to rebuild their nation--and the courage to push back against the insurgency that wanted to destroy it. For the women warriors of the military's Female Engagement Teams (FET) it was dangerous, courageous, and sometimes heartbreaking work.

Beyond the Call follows the groundbreaking journeys of three women as they first fight military brass and culture and then enemy fire and tradition. And like the men with whom they served, their battles were not over when they returned home.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lorena on November 23, 2019

Great book! Made me wish I could go back to my younger self and enlist in the military and accomplish what many of these women did. I loved the first person and third person perspectives. Happy that the author was prior military herself, and not just a journalist as that added some insight and milit......more

Goodreads review by Peter on March 10, 2019

An illuminating read about so many challenges faced by women in Afghanistan - and by women in the U.S. military. Rivers’ reporting is fast-moving and engaging. A must read for for those interested in learning about the shamefully under-reported and misinformed role of our women in uniform.......more

Goodreads review by Nicola on April 03, 2023

15th August 2021 the Taliban Roll into Kabul Afghanistan & mass panic ensues intelligence was lost and the folding of Afghanistan military units & the Afghanistan president flees and leaves a void. Knowing this in recent events and reading this book is heartbreaking for the hard work of the FET teams......more

Goodreads review by Saleena on August 16, 2019

This book is so important. Reading each woman's story really opened my eyes to what it's like fighting in combat, and the struggles woman still face today. Being a feminist, this book definitely suited my taste of current issues I enjoy learning about. It's so disappointing that a country that claim......more

Goodreads review by Gerri on September 08, 2023

Found this gem at the Dollar Tree and what a fantastic read is was! This book is an in-depth true story view of our women in combat especially the three highlighted in the book. It was quite an education learning about the inner workings of the military and politics that had to be dealt with while......more


Quotes

"A riveting story about three remarkable women soldiers and the incredible impact their service as a Female Engagement Team (FET) had on the war efforts in Afghanistan. They were able to win the trust of Afghan women and children, restoring faith in the future and improving quality of life...all this while still doing the heavy lifting required of a United States soldier in combat."--General Ann Dunwoody(U.S. Army, Ret.), author of A Higher Standard

"A compelling story, too long untold. Eileen Rivers reveals the power of women--of women in the U.S. military in Afghanistan, playing a crucial role in intelligence gathering that was impossible for their male counterparts. And the power of the Afghan women with whom they forged a bond. For the Afghan women, the war isn't over, of course. And the American women faced battles of their own when they got home. If you start reading Eileen Rivers's book, you won't be able to stop. Some of it will make you angry. Much of it will make you proud."--Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, USA TODAY

"Today, women are on the front lines of our nation's wars all over the globe. Yet little has been written about them or the struggles they endure--both on and off the battlefield. Until now. Eileen Rivers's account of three women who served in Afghanistan is both a gripping narrative and a sharp analysis of a historic cultural shift in our nation's military. We owe it to the men and women who serve in our armed forces to understand this pressing issue. This book is a great place to start."--Jim Michaels, author of A Chance in Hell: The Men Who Triumphed Over Iraq's Deadliest City and Turned the Tide of War

"[The] story of the fight for women's rights in a country where the male power structure opposes them...Compelling. The author's own military experience gives the book a perspective that is especially useful. A solid, fact-filled look at an underreported piece of the American military."—Kirkus Reviews