Unremitting

The Marine “Bastard” Battalion and the Savage Battle that Marked the True Start of America’s War in Iraq

By: Gregg Zoroya

Former USA Today journalist and author of The Chosen Few, Gregg Zoroya, reveals the untold story of The Battle of Ramadi, the true start of the war in Iraq that would last seven years, claim thousands of lives and evolve into a traumatic legacy for the US military and its veterans.

Their nickname was the Magnificent Bastards and they were warriors without a war. Kept stateside after 9/11 and left floating in the Pacific during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the thousand Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment were told they were bench-warmers as America sent troops into combat. But war was waiting.

Iraq would explode in violence exactly one year after a U.S.-led Coalition swept into Baghdad and the Magnificent Bastards would find themselves at the epicenter. Yet when the battalion first arrived in the provincial capital of Ramadi, Iraq, in February of 2004, the assigned mission for the Marines and sailors would be little more than handing out candy, smiling and making friends with a conquered people. Instead, they were thrust into a savage battle where hundreds of insurgents organized a three-day offensive aimed at driving the Marines out of their city of 400,000. Along with the violence that broke out across Iraq in April of 2004, the fight in Ramadi marked the true beginning of a war that would go on for another seven years and claim thousands of American lives.

In Unremitting, journalist Gregg Zoroya tells the fast-paced, dramatic, meticulously researched, and poignant story of the battle that truly began the Iraq War. Capturing the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle, Zoroya explores this vital part of American military history and beyond, showing how Ramadi was not just a game-changer for the Iraq War, but also for the marines, sailors, and soldiers who fought it, the trauma remaining with survivors more than two decades later.

©2025 Gregg Zoroya (P)2025 Hachette Books

Critic reviews

"Zoroya delivers the adrenaline of combat right to the reader's easy chair. His prose is direct and clear, and never upstages the action. He also brings the warriors to life, chronicling their trials and triumphs."—USA Today

"For readers with preconceived notions of what it means to engage in the 'forever war,' this book is a necessary addition to the bookshelf."—Military Review