Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Releases Timely Glimpse Into the Life of a Navy SEAL


BOSTON – In light of Osama bin Laden’s death in a daring mission by U.S. Navy SEALs, Eric Greitens’s military memoir The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL, published just three weeks ago by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is especially timely and generating high demand. The book includes several chapters on the astonishing rigors of SEAL training, and Greitens discusses his work as a cell commander targeting Al Qaeda when he served with the Joint Special Operations Command in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Greitens has been all over the airwaves this week, including NBC’s Nightly News, the Today show, Imus in the Morning, The Early Show, Anderson Cooper, Piers Morgan, Hannity, Fox & Friends, NPR, and elsewhere. The Heart and the Fist is currently in its sixth printing.

The book recounts Greitens’s experiences on the frontlines of humanitarian service overseas, military training and war, and public leadership in the United States. As a Rhodes Scholar and a Navy SEAL, Greitens worked alongside volunteers on the streets of Bolivia and led U.S. Marines who hunted terrorists in Iraq. He learned from refugees in Bosnia and Croatia, from survivors of the genocide in Rwanda, and from Navy SEALs who fought in Afghanistan. Upon returning from Iraq in 2007, after serving four tours on three continents, Greitens founded The Mission Continues, America’s leading organization for helping wounded and disabled veterans continue their service at home.

Says Tom Brokaw: "If you're in despair about America's future, meet my hero, Eric Greitens. His life and this book reminds us that America remains the land of the brave and generous. The heart and fist are just the combination we need."


About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
With education products and services used by 57 million students throughout all 50 U.S. states and 120 countries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global education and learning company. The world's largest provider of materials for pre-K–12 learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is leading the way with innovative solutions and approaches to the challenges facing education today. Through curricula excellence coupled with technology innovations and professional services, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt collaborates with school districts, administrators, teachers, parents and students, providing interactive, results-driven learning solutions. Its Educational Consulting Services group works to increase student achievement in underperforming schools by developing, implementing and supporting education transformation through sustained district partnerships.  With origins dating back to 1832, the Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.