For 40 years, Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury has been at the forefront of political and social commentary, often to much praise and controversy (Trudeau won a Pulitzer Prize for the strip in 1975, but has pissed off a lot of people over the years,  including the Roman Catholic Church). In 2004, Trudeau began a groundbreaking storyline that saw longtime character B.D., an Army lieutenant stationed in Iraq, personally face the  tragic consequences of war. That storyline is collected in 2005’s The Long Road Home.

The Long Road Home begins in Fallujah, shortly after B.D.’s Humvee is hit by a RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). B.D. survives, thanks to the quick actions of his unit and their field doctors, but not without losing most of his left leg. From there, the book tracks B.D.’s recovery, from Landstuhl in Germany for surgery; to Walter Reed and Fisher House in Maryland for therapy; and finally, seven months later, to his home in Walden. Throughout the book, Trudeau tells B.D.’s story with warmth, grace, and humor, and gives readers insights into the experiences of a soldier’s life as he comes to terms with a horrific, all too common injury, and tries to rebuild his life in the wake of profound changes.

The foreword to The Long Road Home was written by Senator John McCain, who, in 1995, denounced Trudeau on the floor of the Senate after Trudeau published a strip criticizing Senator Bob Dole for leveraging his war record in his failed presidential campaign against President Clinton. Proceeds from the sale of the book benefit Fisher House, a non-profit organization that provides housing for the families of injured soldiers receiving treatment at military and VA medical facilities.

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