Picked up Rick Atkinson's The Long Gray Line at a yard sale. Since I knew/know many of the protagonists, thought it might be interesting to see how they fared under Atkinson's pen nearly 20 yrs ago.

1. The human interest I was looking for is certainly there.

2. Personalities aside, there are very interesting insights into COIN, the war in Vietnam, and how big Army dealt w/the challenges.

3. Check out the insights on force generation, troop rotations, tactics and a host of other topics.

In short, I encountered a depth of information I had not anticipated.

Word of warning -- I believe that this was RA's first major book. Full of factual or contextual hiccups. Work your way through them.

It is heartening to see that the Army has in fact learned some valuable lessons. Flip side -- you know...