Patrick J. Sloyan - When Reagan Sent In The Marines

Written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Patrick J. Sloyan, When Reagan Sent In The Marines is an in-depth view of the war in Lebanon in the early 80’s, of why the US was involved, and what the repercussions of this decision were on the US, and the rest of the world. Repercussions that are still felt to this day. Sloyan, who passed away at 82 earlier this year, covered the conflict at the time, and had first person contact with many of the people involved (including the marines who were sent into Lebanon and killed there). Sloyan, never one to conceal the truth, even if it put the US in an unfavorable light, provides us with important details on why the US should never have been in Lebanon in the first place, but also gives us a wide background on the tensions in the Middle East at the time, and how they can be translated into what we see today.

There is a lot of detail in this book, and sometimes it may feel like Sloyan is giving us too much backstory, but it is all relevant. Every little detail is relevant in understanding how misguided and wrong so the actions and policies were at the time (and how no one seems to have learnt a lesson from what happened seeing as the same scenarios just keep happening over and over again in different countries).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.