The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor is a powerful book based on the United States’ war in Afghanistan. This non-fiction military book is based off of real battles, and the soldiers that lost their lives in Afghanistan. The author, Jake Tapper, did extensive research into the operations that the United States Armed Forces performed, and he listed every soldier by name in this book. I could not think of a better way to honor these brave men than through a best-selling novel that will immortalize them and their sacrifices. This book was very moving and is a great example of writing. It is written with great clarity, making it quite easy to read, despite being very complex. Tapper gives clear, precise descriptions of the events, characters, and settings in the novel. Not once during this book was I confused about what was going on or what the location looked like. The inclusion of pictures that were provided by the soldiers also added to the clarity. I abhor reading books that aren’t clear, and I was not disappointed when I read The Outpost. The target audience is for adults, but the language and writing is so clear that it can be read by people of all ages. If a person has the desire to read this book and a moderate education, they should be able to read it. Tapper uses terms that are either easy to understand, or possess an explanation in the book. The abundance of military terms, callsigns, and jargon would have severely affected the clarity of this novel for the average reader if these explanations had not been included. Overall, Tapper wrote a clear, easy-to-follow novel that can be read quite easily. In addition to the literary clarity, this book had amazing artistry. The word choice in this novel is incredible, and it helped me gain a better picture of the struggles of the soldiers in Afghanistan. The landscapes description painted a vivid picture in my mind, and I was drawn into the province of Nuristan through Tapper’s amazing writing. This artistry was also skillfully applied to the soldiers, giving great detail on the scars and battle-weary men during and after their fights, and gave precise details on their appearances. Comparing the written descriptions to the pictures that were included, I found a vast amount of similarity to the pictures I had created in my mind to the faces of the men that were described. There were, however, very gruesome parts to this story that had been described in great detail, and are not for the squeamish or faint of heart. This artistry painted a vivid picture of the landscape, soldiers, and battles that Tapper so pain-stakingly reported on. All-in-all, The Outpost is an amazing story of the war in Afghanistan, and how this conflict has affected the lives of the brave men and women serving there, and the people who hold them in their hearts back home.