Author: Elliot Ackerman
Elliot Ackerman’s The Fifth Act is an astonishing human document that brings the weight of 20 years of war to bear on a single week at its bitter end.
Using the dramatic rescue efforts in Kabul as his lattice, Ackerman weaves in a personal history of the war’s long progress, beginning with the initial invasion in the months after 9/11. It is a play in five acts, the fifth act being the story’s tragic denouement, a prelude to Afghanistan’s dark future.
The Fifth Act is not an exercise in finger-pointing: it brings readers into close contact with a remarkable group of characters, American and Afghan, who fought the war with courage and dedication, in good faith and at great personal cost.
