Story Seeks Meaning in How Brutality Arises

• By Jeremy B. White
• Roll Call Staff
• March 2, 2010, Midnight

War rarely yields any sort of moral certitude. For soldiers immersed in a climate where violence is not only condoned but mandated, the distinction between acts committed in the name of duty and decisions borne out of something darker can become dangerously blurred. This seems to be the takeaway from Jim Frederick’s new work of narrative nonfiction, “Black Hearts.”