The Devil's Secret Name

By Jim Morris

Book Overview

A highly decorated Green Beret commander and acclaimed military writer, Jim Morris spent his post-Vietnam years as a journalist on assignment in the world's most dangerous battle zones. Armed only with a reporter's eye and a soldier's heart, he covered the Third World conflicts that served to forge a post-Cold War world, shaping both lasting peace and sowing the seeds of global terrorism. An embedded journalist, years before the term was coined, he bore witness to the fierce realities and uncertain outcomes of guerilla warfare. From the jungles of Southeast Asia to the shattered peace of the Middle East and the violent twilight world of El Salvador, here are the frontline dispatches of a veteran reporter and seasoned soldier. Inevitably the only reporter on the scene, Morris chronicles more than combat shrouded in the fog of war. Living among the soldiers, these remarkable battlefield reports capture the extraordinary courage, unwavering faith, and the dark humor common to all combat troops.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312993412
• ISBN13: 9780312993412
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Brilliantly written and courageously lived.

From the war in Vietnam to conflict in the Middle East, hero soldier and war correspondent Jim Morris has lived and written about it in a way that gives a reader a brilliantly worded portrait of the violence that threatens all of us and the attitude needed to combat it. After you finish reading this book you have the feeling that if you ever have to go in battle you hope there is a Jim Morris by your side.

A Unique Perspective

A journalist with an assault rifle and more, Jim Morris is one of the most interesting authors on modern warfare and the media. Quote from Chapter 26: "Brown, I've been in three wars in the last six months..." "I know. I sent you." "Everywhere I go the bad guys went to the same schools, use the same gear, exchange personnel, and read the same books. ...It's everywhere, and it's all the same war." Morris gives readers an appreciation of the changes in the nature of the challenge facing a world that wants peace and freedom but constantly finds itself involved in new wars over old causes. Other than some specific sources of support for terrorists, not much has changed since the days of the Soviet Union even before the Iran hostages of 1979. The Devil's Secret Name offers no magic cure, it presents a perspective of familiar and also of unreported international events that is far more real than most Americans ever get an opportunity to know in the mainstream media. Some readers might find an end of innocence; for others this is masterful storytelling in an enjoyable easy read. So enjoyable that I read it twice.

Devil's Secret Name

As an ex-Special Forces Viet Nam Vet, no author shares my view of combat in South East Asia better than Jim Morris. Easy to read, every word rings true. Great book. Not to be missed.

Informative Look at things that happened before my time

I have never, ever read anything that provided so much information in one space that is quite difficult to find today anywhere else. This is without a doubt, and tied with his memoirs, the most informative, enjoyable and effective book I have read to this date.

Another damn good book!

Jim Morris is one of the better military writers out there who not only knows his craft but is intimate with the subject matter. He, along with Kenn Miller, represent the warrior/scholar approach to writing and provide more than just history. They know how to tell a story and keep you glued to the pages. In the Devil's Secret Name you get Morris in the thick of the Cold War and short accounts of the little wars in between. This is an excellent book and one you should own.