7 Top memoir books like The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan by Elliot Ackerman

Cover of The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan by Elliot Ackerman

The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

By: Elliot Ackerman

4.37

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A powerful and revelatory eyewitness account of the American collapse in Afghanistan, its desperate…

If you liked the memoir plot in The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan by Elliot Ackerman , here is a list of 7 books like this:

Cover of What It is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes

1. What It is Like to Go to War

By: Karl Marlantes

4.00

Format: 257 pages, Hardcover

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Matterhorn, this is a powerful nonfiction book abo… read more

Similar categories in Karl Marlantes's What It is Like to Go to War book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"Thinking you might be crazy can drive you crazy."

-Karl Marlantes, What It is Like to Go to War

"The time for debilitating fear is before and after the mission."

-Karl Marlantes, What It is Like to Go to War

"Quitting is unthinkable and pain is just weakness leaving the body"

-Karl Marlantes, What It is Like to Go to War

"Everything is touched by the holy when it is in the presence of death."

-Karl Marlantes, What It is Like to Go to War

Cover of Fields of Fire by James Webb

2. Fields of Fire

By: James Webb

4.07

Format: 213 pages, Paperback

Originally published in 1978, Webb's classic novel of the Vietnam War follows three soldiers from d… read more

Similar categories in James Webb's Fields of Fire book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history

3. Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad

By: Mark Deakins , Peter L. Bergen

3.82

Format: 160 pages, Audio

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Holy War, Inc., this is the definitive account of… read more

Similar categories in Mark Deakins's Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

4. The Forever War

By: Dexter Filkins

3.82

Format: 160 pages,

An instant classic of war reporting, The Forever Waris the definitive account of America's conflict… read more

Similar categories in Dexter Filkins's The Forever War book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

Cover of Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West by Calder Walton

5. Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West

By: Calder Walton

4.30

Format: 688 pages, Hardcover

The riveting, untold story of the hundred-year intelligence war between Russia and the West with le… read more

Similar categories in Calder Walton's Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris   Miller

6. Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

By: Chris Miller

4.44

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

An epic account of the decades-long battle to control what has emerged as the world's most critical… read more

Similar categories in Chris Miller's Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • politics
  • history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"Comrade, we have built the world’s biggest microprocessor!"

-Chris Miller, Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

Cover of Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen

7. Nuclear War: A Scenario

By: Annie Jacobsen

4.47

Format: 400 pages, Hardcover

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in … read more

Similar categories in Annie Jacobsen's Nuclear War: A Scenario book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"The fundamental idea behind this book is to demonstrate, in appalling detail, just how horrifying nuclear war would be."

-Annie Jacobsen, Nuclear War: A Scenario

"Humans are wired to advance. Humans do whatever it takes. And yet, nuclear war zeros it all out. Nuclear weapons reduce human brilliance and ingenuity, love and desire, empathy and intellect, to ash."

-Annie Jacobsen, Nuclear War: A Scenario

Cover of Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead by Jim Mattis

8. Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

By: Jim Mattis

4.30

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A clear-eyed account of learning how to lead in a chaotic world, by … read more

Similar categories in Jim Mattis's Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
Cover of The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll

9. The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq

By: Steve Coll

4.44

Format: 576 pages, Hardcover

From bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Coll, the definitive story of the decades-… read more

Similar categories in Steve Coll's The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016 by Steve Coll

10. Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016

By: Steve Coll

4.21

Format: 779 pages, Kindle Edition

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction • Nominated for the National Book A… read more

Similar categories in Steve Coll's Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016 book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination by Stuart A. Reid

11. The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination

By: Stuart A. Reid

4.40

Format: 640 pages, Hardcover

A spellbinding work of history that reads like a Cold War spy thriller—about the US-sanctioned plot… read more

Similar categories in Stuart A. Reid's The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine by David H. Petraeus

12. Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine

By: David H. Petraeus

4.06

Format: 544 pages, Hardcover

Two leading authorities—an acclaimed historian and the outstanding battlefield commander and strate… read more

Similar categories in David H. Petraeus's Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"A recurring theme of this book is that money spent on deterrence is seldom wasted, especially when considered against the costs incurred when the deterrence fails."

-David H. Petraeus, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine

"Hybrid warfare particularly appeals to China and Russia, since they are much more able to control the information their populaces receive than are their Western adversaries. A 1999 book, Unrestricted…"

-David H. Petraeus, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine

Cover of The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock

13. The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War

By: Craig Whitlock

4.26

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

A Washington Post Best Book of 2021 The #1 New York Times bestselling investigative story of how th… read more

Similar categories in Craig Whitlock's The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"To reinforce the message, Obama administration officials touted statistics that distorted what was really happening on the ground. The Bush administration had done the same, but Obama staffers in the…"

-Craig Whitlock, The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War

"Ryan Crocker, who served as the top U.S. diplomat in Kabul under both Bush and Obama, said the gusher of contracts to support U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan virtually guaranteed that extortion, …"

-Craig Whitlock, The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War

Cover of The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan by Elliot Ackerman

14. The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

By: Elliot Ackerman

4.37

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A powerful and revelatory eyewitness account of the American collapse in Afghanistan, its desperate… read more

Similar categories in Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • the united states of america
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter by Thomas Schueman

15. Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter

By: Thomas Schueman

4.53

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Band of Brothers  meets  Argo  in this dramatic and heartfelt dual memoir of the war in Afghanistan… read more

Similar categories in Thomas Schueman's Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • military fiction
  • war
  • nonfiction
Cover of White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan by Mick Ryan

16. White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan

By: Mick Ryan

3.92

Format: 352 pages, Paperback

This book "is entertaining, thought-provoking and quite possibly prescient. Not just an engaging ta… read more

Similar categories in Mick Ryan's White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
Cover of Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate by Mary Elise Sarotte

17. Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate

By: Mary Elise Sarotte

4.25

Format: 568 pages, Hardcover

A leading expert on Cold War foreign policy reveals how tensions between America, NATO, and Russia … read more

Similar categories in Mary Elise Sarotte's Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • the united states of america
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China by Hal Brands

18. Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China

By: Hal Brands

4.09

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

A provocative and urgent analysis of the U.S.–China rivalry. It has become conventional wisdom that… read more

Similar categories in Hal Brands's Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • nonfiction
Cover of Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream by David Leonhardt

19. Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream

By: David Leonhardt

4.28

Format: 528 pages, Hardcover

The clear-eyed, definitive history of the modern American economy and the decline of the American D… read more

Similar categories in David Leonhardt's Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • politics
  • history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy by Michael G. Vickers

20. By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy

By: Michael G. Vickers

4.17

Format: 576 pages, Hardcover

A vivid narrative of a life in intelligence and special operations, from the Cold War to the war on… read more

Similar categories in Michael G. Vickers's By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel by Matti Friedman

21. Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel

By: Matti Friedman

3.93

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

Award-winning writer Matti Friedman’s tale of Israel’s first spies has all the tropes of an espiona… read more

Similar categories in Matti Friedman's Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • politics
  • war
  • nonfiction
"You need the instinct of a person who knows how to fit in, to remove the sharp edges and curve into the society." But when he wasn't a spy yet, just a proud youth perceptive enough to notice condesce…"

-Matti Friedman, Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel

Cover of Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan by Scott Mann

22. Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan

By: Scott Mann

4.51

Format: 408 pages, Kindle Edition

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An edge-of-your-seat thriller about a group of retired Green Bere… read more

Similar categories in Scott Mann's Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy by Craig Whitlock

23. Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy

By: Craig Whitlock

4.39

Format: 480 pages, Hardcover

#1 New York Times bestselling author Craig Whitlock’s masterful account of one of the biggest publi… read more

Similar categories in Craig Whitlock's Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"After a decade of U.S. wars and surging defense budgets, an expectation of special treatment had taken root in the Navy. Many officers felt they were owed something extra for enduring long deployment…"

-Craig Whitlock, Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy

Cover of Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War by Phil Klay

24. Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War

By: Phil Klay

4.24

Format: 272 pages, Kindle Edition

When Phil Klay left the Marines a decade ago after serving as an officer in Iraq, he found himself … read more

Similar categories in Phil Klay's Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times by Mark T. Esper

25. A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times

By: Mark T. Esper

3.88

Format: 752 pages, Hardcover

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Former Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper reveals the shocking de… read more

Similar categories in Mark T. Esper's A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • nonfiction
Cover of What the Taliban Told Me by Ian Fritz

26. What the Taliban Told Me

By: Ian Fritz

3.48

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

A powerful, timely memoir of a young Air Force linguist coming-of-age in a war that is lost. When … read more

Similar categories in Ian Fritz's What the Taliban Told Me book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • memoir
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free by Pete Hegseth

27. The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free

By: Pete Hegseth

4.48

Format: 250 pages, Kindle Edition

Real men fought for our freedoms. It’s time we fought for theirs. Pete Hegseth joined the Army t… read more

Similar categories in Pete Hegseth's The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"Rights are not rights when they are contingent on the favor of government or political leaders."

-Pete Hegseth, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free

Cover of Crisis of Command: How We Lost Trust and Confidence in America's Generals and Politicians by Stuart Scheller

28. Crisis of Command: How We Lost Trust and Confidence in America's Generals and Politicians

By: Stuart Scheller

4.16

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

Wall Street Journal Bestseller USA Today Bestseller Publishers Weekly Bestseller As Seen on Tucker… read more

Similar categories in Stuart Scheller's Crisis of Command: How We Lost Trust and Confidence in America's Generals and Politicians book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • military fiction
  • nonfiction
Cover of First Platoon: A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance by Annie Jacobsen

29. First Platoon: A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance

By: Annie Jacobsen

4.16

Format: 399 pages, ebook

An urgent investigation into warfare, good, and evil in the age of biometrics, the technology that … read more

Similar categories in Annie Jacobsen's First Platoon: A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • military history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and Its Aftermath by Ben Kesling

30. Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and Its Aftermath

By: Ben Kesling

4.17

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

A timely and searing account of the American war in Afghanistan. In Bravo Company , journalist and… read more

Similar categories in Ben Kesling's Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and Its Aftermath book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • history
  • politics
  • military fiction
  • war
  • nonfiction
Cover of Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum

31. Autocracy, Inc.

By: Anne Applebaum

4.28

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

All of us have in our minds a cartoon image of what an autocratic state looks like, with a bad man … read more

Similar categories in Anne Applebaum's Autocracy, Inc. book and Elliot Ackerman's The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan

  • politics
  • history
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"Americans who rarely think about Russia would be stunned to learn how much time Russian state television devotes to America’s culture wars, especially arguments over gender. Putin himself has display…"

-Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.

"Isolationism is an instinctive and even understandable reaction to the ugliness of the modern interconnected world. For some politicians in democracies, it will continue to offer a successful path to…"

-Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.

"The temptation of what is sometimes called realism—the belief that nations are solely motivated by a struggle for power, that they have eternal interests and permanent geopolitical orientations—is as…"

-Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.

20 Best audiobook books like The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan by Elliot Ackerman

Transform Your Habits

What It is Like to Go to War

Karl Marlantes

4.00

Transform Your Habits

Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West

Calder Walton

4.30

Transform Your Habits

Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

Chris Miller

4.44

Transform Your Habits

Nuclear War: A Scenario

Annie Jacobsen

4.47

View all the books

21 Best audiobook books like The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination by Stuart A. Reid

Transform Your Habits

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives

Siddharth Kara

4.37

Transform Your Habits

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook

Hampton Sides

4.51

Transform Your Habits

King: A Life

Jonathan Eig

4.67

Transform Your Habits

Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849

Christopher Clark

4.18

View all the books

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