In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. 'Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,' he told a sceptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them. Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home - forever changed.

What is the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions that the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washing Post reporter David Finkle grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. The Good Soldiers is simply essential reading.

Please join us as Tom Hyland, international editor of The Sunday Age, talks through the book with David.

Free, but please book on 9819 1917 or by email.