New Dawn
This award–winning “powerful narrative history” presents a vividly detailed chronicle of grueling combat operations in Fallujah during the Iraq War (Midwest Book Review).
Few places are as closely associated with blood, sacrifice, and valor as the ancient city Fallujah, forty miles west of Baghdad. This sprawling concrete jungle was the scene of two major U.S. combat operations in 2004. The first, Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an aborted effort by U.S. Marines to punish the city’s insurgents. The second, Operation Phantom Fury, was launched seven months later.
Also known as the Second Battle for Fallujah, Operation Phantom Fury was a protracted house-to-house and street-to-street conflict that began on November 7th and continued unabated for seven bloody weeks. It was the largest fight of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the heaviest urban combat since the Battle of Hue City, Vietnam in 1968. By the time the fighting ended, more than 1,400 insurgents were dead, along with ninety-five Americans (and another 1,000 wounded).
In New Dawn, military historian Richard Lowry draws on archival research, as well as the personal recollections of nearly 200 soldiers and Marines who participated in the battles for Fallujah, from the commanding generals who planned the operations to the privates who kicked in the doors. The result is a gripping narrative of individual sacrifice and valor that also documents the battles for future military historians.
Winner of the Military Writers Society of America Gold Medal for History
Richard S. Lowry
Richard S. Lowry is an internationally recognized military historian, public speaker, and author. He is a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States Submarine Service, husband, father of three sons, and longtime resident of Orlando, Florida. He has published The Gulf War Chronicles (iUniverse, 2003 and iUniverse Star, 2008), Marines in the Garden of Eden (Berkley Caliber, 2006 and 2007), and US Marine in Iraq: Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 (Osprey, 2006). Additionally, he contributed to Small Unit Actions (United States Marine Corps History Division, 2008) and was commissioned by the History Division to write a battle study of Task Force Tarawa’s involvement in the 2003 invasion. He has been published in The Weekly Standard, Armchair General, Military Magazine, and The Marine Corps Gazette. In 2008, Richard was the military consultant for David C. Taylor’s award-winning documentary film, “Perfect Valor.” The majority of the stories in “Perfect Valor” are pulled from the pages of New Dawn. In 2006, Marines in the Garden of Eden won the Silver Medal for history from the Military Writers Society of America. The Gulf War Chronicles also received recognition from MWSA in 2006 and has achieved Editor’s Choice, Reader’s Choice, and STAR distinction from iUniverse. “Perfect Valor” earned the Best Feature Documentary Award at the 2009 GI Film Festival. A compelling writer and captivating public speaker, Richard has established himself as a contemporary expert on the war in Iraq with a substantial radio, television, and internet following.
