A Turning Point in Ukraine?
After four years of reporting from Ukraine, Elliot Ackerman returned from Kyiv and Kharkiv with a different assessment of the war. Writing in The Free Press, he examines drone warfare,...
Elliot Ackerman
New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and commentator on conflict, politics, and culture.
About
Elliot Ackerman is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel 2034 and numerous acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Fifth Act, 2084, Dark at the Crossing, and Places and Names. His work explores war, politics, culture, and the human condition through fiction, journalism, and commentary.
Books
A selection of fiction and nonfiction exploring war, politics, culture, technology, and the human condition.
Featured Essays
Heroes Still Walk Among Us
Twenty-five years after 9/11, Elliot Ackerman reflects on Band of Brothers, his own wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what he learned about the enduring nature of heroism.
The Cynical Coverage of the USS Lincoln
In this essay for The Free Press, Elliot Ackerman examines coverage of conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during the Iran war and argues that military suicide and the strain...
The Veterans Who Become Novelists
Elliot Ackerman reflects on Karl Marlantes, war literature, memory, and the enduring relationship between storytelling and combat.
Featured Conversations
When Does an Airstrike Become a War Crime?
CBS News contributor Elliot Ackerman joins Major Garrett to discuss U.N. findings concerning U.S. airstrikes in Iran, the role of intent in assessing potential war crimes, and the difficult distinction...
How War Reporting Changed After 9/11
Elliot Ackerman joins Steve Coll, Azadeh Moaveni, Joby Warrick and Kimberly Dozier at the Future Security Forum to reflect on 25 years of reporting from America’s post-9/11 wars and how...
Ukraine and Russia Target Energy Infrastructure
Recently returned from Ukraine, Elliot Ackerman joins CBS News to discuss attacks on energy infrastructure, conditions at the front, the approaching winter, and drone incursions near NATO territory.
When Military Leadership Is in Flux
In this CBS News conversation, Elliot discusses the latest U.S.-Iran hostilities and what leadership turnover at the Pentagon can mean for military morale and institutional stability during a conflict.
Book Club
October 2026 Book Club Pick - Shadow Before the Flame
Catherine Grace Katz explores the Hindenburg disaster through individual lives, technological ambition, and the political world of the 1930s.
September 2026 Book Club Pick - Catch-22
Discuss Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 with Elliot Ackerman’s verified reading context and questions about military bureaucracy, institutional absurdity, and survival.
August 2026 Book Club Pick - Biological War: A Scenario
Elliot Ackerman's August 2026 Book Club selection is Biological War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. Drawing on extensive interviews with military, intelligence, medical, and government experts, Jacobsen presents a realistic...
July 2026 Book Club Pick - Alexander the Great
Elliot Ackerman's July 2026 Book Club selection is Alexander the Great by Robin Lane Fox. This acclaimed biography combines rigorous historical scholarship with psychological insight to examine the military genius,...
Upcoming Events
Catherine Grace Katz with Elliot Ackerman
September 24, 2026, Catherine Grace Katz celebrates the release of Shadow Before the Flame in conversation with Elliot Ackerman at Barnes & Noble on New York City's Upper West Side.
Elliot Ackerman at Charleston Literary Festival
Elliot Ackerman interviews 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Kraus about his World War I novel Angel Down at the Charleston Literary Festival on November 12, 2026.