Where Men Win Glory The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

by
Edition: Revised
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2010-07-27
Publisher(s): Anchor
List Price: $19.00

Buy New

Usually Ships in 2-3 Business Days.
$18.81

Buy Used

In Stock
$14.25

Rent Book

Select for Price
There was a problem. Please try again later.

eBook

We're Sorry
Not Available

How Marketplace Works:

  • This item is offered by an independent seller and not shipped from our warehouse
  • Item details like edition and cover design may differ from our description; see seller's comments before ordering.
  • Sellers much confirm and ship within two business days; otherwise, the order will be cancelled and refunded.
  • Marketplace purchases cannot be returned to eCampus.com. Contact the seller directly for inquiries; if no response within two days, contact customer service.
  • Additional shipping costs apply to Marketplace purchases. Review shipping costs at checkout.

Customer Reviews

Wonderfully Tragic  April 15, 2011
by
Rating StarRating StarRating StarRating StarRating Star

This is a remarkable account of Pat Tillman's life and death. Pat was a complicated and remarkable individual with incredibly strong character and moral values. Krakauer's examination of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the foundations of modern conflict in Afghanistan made for an interesting and thought-provoking read that serves extremely well at setting the backdrop for this tragedy. The most interesting part is the reflections of Pat Tillman on life and the military, in his own words: "My heart goes out to those who will suffer. Whatever your politics, whatever you believe is right or wrong, the fact is most of those who will feel the wrath of this ordeal [invasion of Iraq] want nothing more than to live peacefully" (p. 198). Contrary to my expectations, Krakauer's textbook ends up to be so much more than just a biography of Pat Tillman. Read it now, it’s a cheap textbook and very worthy for you to read it.






Where Men Win Glory The Odyssey of Pat Tillman: 5 out of 5 stars based on 1 user reviews.

Summary

This edition has been updated to reflect new developments and includes new material obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army and became an icon of post-9/11 patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, a legend was born. But the real Pat Tillman was much more remarkable, and considerably more complicated than the public knew...

A stunning account of a remarkable young man's heroic life and death, from the bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven.

“Gripping, heartbreaking reading. . . . At once unique and universal. . . . A fitting tribute.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“The first deeply reported book about Tillman by a first-rate journalist.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A riveting examination of another American idealist's startling path and haunting death.” —The Daily Beast

“The combination of Krakauer and Tillman seems hard to resist. . . . Krakauer is a masterly writer and reporter. . He skillfully sketches Tillman’s singular personality.” —The New York Times Book Review

Author Biography

JON KRAKAUER is the author of Eiger Dreams, Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven and is the editor of the Modern Library Exploration series.


From the Hardcover edition.

Excerpts

CHAPTER ONE
During Pat Tillman's stint in the Army he intermittently kept a diary. In an entry dated July 28, 2002--three weeks after he arrived at boot camp--he wrote, "It is amazing the turns one's life can take. Major events or decisions that completely change a life. In my life there have been a number." He then cataloged several. Foremost on his mind at the time, predictably, was his decision to join the military. But the incident he put at the top of the list, which occurred when he was eleven years old, comes as a surprise. "As odd as this sounds," the journal revealed, "a diving catch I made in the 11-12 all-stars was a take-off point. I excelled the rest of the tournament and gained incredible confidence. It sounds tacky but it was big."


As a child growing up in Almaden, California (an upscale suburb of San Jose), Pat had started playing baseball at the age of seven. It quickly became apparent to the adults who watched him throw a ball and swing a bat that he possessed extraordinary talent, but Pat seems not to have been particularly cognizant of his own athletic gifts until he was selected for the aforementioned all-star team in the summer of 1988. As the tournament against teams of other standout middle-school athletes got under way, he mostly sat on the bench. When the coach eventually put Pat into a game, however, he clobbered a home run and made a spectacular catch of a long fly ball hit into the outfield. Fourteen years later, as he contemplated life from the perspective of an Army barracks, he regarded that catch as a pivotal moment--a confidence booster that contributed significantly to one of his defining traits: unwavering self-assurance.

In 1990, Pat matriculated at Almaden's Leland High School, one of the top public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, both academically and athletically. Before entering Leland he had resolved to become the catcher on the varsity baseball team, but the head coach, Paul Ugenti, informed Pat that he wasn't ready to play varsity baseball and would have to settle for a position on the freshman-sophomore team. Irked and perhaps insulted by Ugenti's failure to recognize his potential, Pat resolved to quit baseball and focus on football instead, even though he'd taken up the latter sport barely a year earlier and had badly fractured his right tibia in his initial season when a much larger teammate fell on his leg during practice.

With a November birthday, Pat was among the youngest kids in Leland's freshman class, and when he started high school, he was only thirteen years old. He also happened to be small for his age, standing five feet five inches tall and weighing just 120 pounds. When he let it be known that he was going to abandon baseball for football, an assistant coach named Terry Hardtke explained to Pat that he wasn't "built like a football player" and strongly urged him to stick with baseball. Once Tillman set his sights on a goal, however, he wasn't easily diverted. He told the coach he intended to start lifting weights to build up his muscles. Then he assured Hardtke that not only would he make the Leland football team but he intended to play college football after graduating from high school. Hardtke replied that Pat was making a huge mistake--that his size would make it difficult for him ever to win a starting position on the Leland team, and that he stood virtually no chance of ever playing college ball.

Pat, however, trusted his own sense of his abilities over the coach's bleak predictions, and tried out for the Leland football team regardless. Six years later he would be a star linebacker playing in the Rose Bowl for a national collegiate championship. Twenty months after that he began a distinguished career in the National Football League.


Midway between San Jose and Oakland, the municipality of Fremont rises above the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, a city of 240,000 that's always existed in the shadow of its

Excerpted from Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

An electronic version of this book is available through VitalSource.

This book is viewable on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and most smartphones.

By purchasing, you will be able to view this book online, as well as download it, for the chosen number of days.

Digital License

You are licensing a digital product for a set duration. Durations are set forth in the product description, with "Lifetime" typically meaning five (5) years of online access and permanent download to a supported device. All licenses are non-transferable.

More details can be found here.

A downloadable version of this book is available through the eCampus Reader or compatible Adobe readers.

Applications are available on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Windows Mobile platforms.

Please view the compatibility matrix prior to purchase.