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|summary=A short, powerful novel summing up the frustrations and horror of war without sensationalism. In years to come ''The Yellow Birds'' will mean 'Iraq' just as the movie ''Apocalypse Now'' has come to mean 'Vietnam'.

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Daniel Murphy ('Murph') is 18, in the American army and about to embark on his first tour of duty in Iraq. By his side is John Bartle, three years older and more experienced in the army. However neither of them has any notion of the sort of life or job they will face when they get there. The fighting is dirty, unpredictable and not set out in any text book. Their commanding officer, Sergeant Sterling, is sadistic and without any apparent humanity. But everything will be alright: Bartle has made a promise to Murph's mother, a promise that will ricochet from the US to Iraq and back again.