American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan; March 2019 by Penguin Press; finalist for the 2020 William E. Colby Award.

“A riveting journalistic account of Bowe Bergdahl’s disastrous–and weirdly poignant–choice to walk off his military base in Afghanistan. . . . A spectacularly good book about an incredibly painful and important topic.”—Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, Tribe, and War.

“American Cipher is haunting and moving, a deeply human study of an inhuman conflict. It is one of the most important books I’ve read about the Afghan war.” —Anand Gopal, author of No Good Men Among the Living

“American Cipher sets the record straight on a tragic subject and will strongly appeal to a wide audience.” —Booklist

“…a vitally important book. As an account of Bowe Bergdahl’s captivity and eventual release, American Cipher is compelling. Yet it’s the backstory that really matters: The crippling dysfunction that permeates the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan, beginning in the combat zone and extending all the way back to Washington.” —Andrew Bacevich, author of Twilight of the American Century

“Bowe Bergdahl’s story should be required reading for all Americans, illuminating as it does so many aspects of an ill-conceived conflict.”—Andrew Cockburn, author of Kill Chain 

“This excellent book is a cautionary tale about what happens when a confused and misguided young soldier is sent off to fight for an equally confused and misguided foreign policy.” —Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn and What It Is Like To Go To War

“An unsettling and riveting book filled with the mysteries of human nature.”—Kirkus

“In its understated but poignant way, American Cipher paints a picture of the United States as a country that has forever been imprisoned by its imperialist impulse to expand.” —The Nation

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American Cipher is based on a combined 15 years reporting between myself and former U.S. Army infantryman Matt Farwell. We present the only definitive account of Bergdahl’s life, his decision to leave his combat post, and the five-year international ordeal that followed. Following his dramatic recovery through a controversial prisoner swap in May 2014, we were the only journalists who interviewed Bergdahl’s family. American Cipher is available at Amazon, Abe Books, and, better yet, your local bookstore.

I’ve been working as a journalist for more than twenty years and have spent most of the last decade reporting on national and state politics, U.S. foreign policy, hostage recovery, government malfeasance, criminal justice reform, and environmental issues. I covered these issues for Harper’s Magazine, The New Yorker, Newsweek, The Believer, The Daily Beast and others. My first and best job was reporting on local sports for the Idaho Mountain Express, one of the West’s greatest small town papers.

Now I am in Brooklyn, where I tend a small pepper patch and dream of Idaho winters.

Please send letters, news tips, and soup recipes to mga@michael-ames.com

Thanks for reading!

-- michael