Faculty News

Coburn's Book Shines Light on Defense Contracting Industry

In September, Noah Coburn published his fourth book, Under Contract: The Invisible Workers of America's Global War.

Part memoir, part travelogue, and part retelling of the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of workers, Under Contract unspools a complex global web of how modern wars are fought and supported, narrating war stories unlike any other. 

Under Contract cover

The Diplomat

"The book’s strength lies in the quantity and variety of personal stories it contains. There is the Turkish businessman who survived kidnapping by the Haqqani network, the Indian IT worker who fended off Pakistani intelligence agents in Afghanistan, the female translator from Georgia who worked in Kabul, and the many young Nepali men who went to the country to work as guards, cooks, mechanics, or laborers (the majority of the book focuses on Nepalis). Coburn also draws on his own experiences working in Afghanistan for five years, as well as visits and sojourns in Third Country Nationals’ home countries."

Publishers Weekly

"This work contains some excellent insights into and personal stories about the risk-laden employment and economic opportunities facing those who assume the many ancillary roles afforded by America’s 'endless war.'"

800 CEO Read

Under Contract named "Business Book to Watch in September" by 800 CEO Read's "In the Books."