Fiasco The American Military Adventure in Iraq 2003 to 2005

Fiasco is a more strongly worded title than you might expect a seasoned military reporter such as Thomas E. Ricks to use, accustomed as he is to the even-handed style of daily newspaper journalism. But Ricks, the Pentagon correspondent for the Washington Post and the author of the acclaimed account of Marine Corps boot camp, Making the Corps (released in a 10th anniversary edition to accompany the paperback release of Fiasco), has written a thorough and devastating history of the war in Iraq from the planning stages through the continued insurgency in early 2006, and he does not shy away from naming those he finds responsible. His tragic story is divided in two. The first part–the runup to the war and the invasion in 2003–is familiar from books like Cobra II and Plan of Attack, although Ricks uses his many military sources to portray an officer class that was far more skeptical of the war beforehand than generally reported. But the heart of his book is the second half, beginning in August 2003, when, as he writes, the war really began, with the bombing of the Jordanian embassy and the emergence of the insurgency. His strongest critique is that the U.S. military failed to anticipate–and then failed to recognize–the insurgency, and tried to fight it with conventional methods that only fanned its flames. What makes his portrait particularly damning are the dozens of military sources–most of them on record–who join in his critique, and the thousands of pages of internal documents he uses to make his case for a war poorly planned and bravely but blindly fought.

The paperback edition of Fiasco includes a new postscript in which Ricks looks back on the year since the book’s release, a year in which the intensity and frequency of attacks on American soldiers only increased and in which Ricks’s challenging account became accepted as conventional wisdom, with many of the dissident officers in his story given the reins of leadership, although Ricks still finds the prospects for the conflict grim. –Tom Nissley

A Fiasco, a Year Later

With the paperback release of Thomas Ricks’s Fiasco, a year after the book became a #1 New York Times bestseller and an influential force in transforming the public perception (and the perception within the military and the civilian government as well) of the war in Iraq, we asked Ricks in the questions below to look back on the book and the year of conflict that have followed. On our page for the hardcover edition of Fiasco you can see our earlier Q&A with Ricks, and you can also see two lists he prepared for Amazon customers: his choices for the 10 books for understanding Iraq that aren’t about Iraq, a collection of studies of counterinsurgency warfare that became surprisingly popular last year as soldiers and civilians tried to understand the nature of the new conflict, and, as a glimpse into his writing process, a playlist of the music he listened to while writing and researching the book.

Amazon.com: When we spoke with you a year ago, you said that you thought you were done going back to Baghdad. But that dateline is still showing up in your reports. How have things changed in the city over the past year?

Thomas E. Ricks: Yes, I had promised my wife that I wouldn

The Long Walk The True Story of a Trek to Freedom

Cavalry officer Slavomir Rawicz was captured by the Red Army in 1939 during the German-Soviet partition of Poland and was sent to the Siberian Gulag along with other captive Poles, Finns, Ukranians, Czechs, Greeks, and even a few English, French, and American unfortunates who had been caught up in the fighting. A year later, he and six comrades from various countries escaped from a labor camp in Yakutsk and made their way, on foot, thousands of miles south to British India, where Rawicz reenlisted in the Polish army and fought against the Germans. The Long Walk recounts that adventure, which is surely one of the most curious treks in history.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A Cult Favorite with Kids in 1958
I’m not sure that every guy at McClintock Jr. High School read “The Long Walk” in 1958, but Slavomir Rawicz’s 1956 book definitely enjoyed a cult following there. After all, almost every kid’s old man had played some part in the War, South Pacific or Europe; and there was a ton of wartime pulp to be read, and I believe we must have read the better part of it. We read books like: “God is my Co-Pilot,” “Thirty Seconds over Tokyo,” “The Longest Day,” “Guadalcanal Diary,” “The Naked and the Dead.” The list could go on. There were the books with a slightly forbidden flavor by our former enemies: “Zero,” “Commando Extraordinary,” “The Road to Stalingrad.” But “The Long Walk,” stood in its own special category. I found it hard to put down at age fourteen, and, rereading it fifty jaded years later, I still couldn’t put this one down.

Only now I’m wondering if perhaps I’ve just read a great novel by a certain Ronald Downing.

Back in ‘58 we didn’t have the 1997 afterword in which Slav Rawicz uses the term: “read between the lines.” We didn’t have the 1993 introduction to the Polish edition in which Slav writes, “If this little book has served in a small way as propaganda to understand the past years of our history under the Soviets, then my words will have achieved their purpose.” The structure of the book does make for the perfect road story, a framework upon which to hang a string of episodes: capture, imprisonment, torture, deportation, the camp, the escape, the journey. The assemblage of seven compatriots is reminiscent of the “Seven Samurai,” or “The Magnificent Seven.” Consider the character types of the escapees: the gentle giant, the little jokester, the American–and the girl Kristina. Add the superbly generous character of the Tibetans–by then weren’t the Chinese kicking them around? In short: read this book and you will not like communists, but then, you didn’t in the first place, did you?

Having said all that, what a pleasure it is to learn that Slav lived to a ripe old age, raising five children with a devoted wife, living to see Poland independent again, living to see the USSR dissolve. And if Slav and Ronald Downing chose to insert a few whoppers along the way, I say: who are we to let facts stand in the way of a good story?

Slav wrote in his 1997 afterword that he had received many letters over the years, and that he enjoyed answering them. I wish I’d been a little sooner rediscovering “The Long Walk.” I might have written Mr. Rawicz myself, and here’s what I would have said:

Dear Mr. Rawicz, I know you have received many letters over the years and mine will probably eco much of what those others have said. However, if I might add anything, it is that since reading your book fifty years ago at age fourteen I have never to my memory left a plate of food un-cleaned; countless times I have been disgusted by the sight of unfinished plates being scraped into the garbage by others. Many times I have thought of you and your companions as I passed trash left by the roadside, trash that you could have used. (A few plastic soda bottles might have made all the difference on the Gobi.) I like to wear a thing out before discarding it. I do hate to be cold, but I try to refrain from complaining about it. So thank you, Mr. Rawicz, for inspiring the boy I was fifty years ago to take up frugal ways. I’m sure my bankroll is thicker for it. I would observe that, while you may have aimed a blow at communism, you also made a good hit at consumer capitalism!

5 Stars Book was as described, in GREAT condition.
It’s a wonderful book (so far). Easy reading, very moving. It’s quite inspiring to know what people are willing to struggle through and endure for freedom and will to live.

1 Star A great story but Unture!
Although I really enjoyed reading this book, I was extremely disappointed to find out later that it was an unture story. The BBC investigated this story several years ago and found it was false. The title of this book should be changed so future readers will know it is fiction before they pay their money to purchase it.

3 Stars Interesting but should be fiction
This is a very interesting story, and although parts of the story may be based in fact, it is clear that large portions of the book are fabricated. It should be read as a work of fiction.

1 Star Made up
Walking through a blazing desert for days without food or water, crossing mountain-terrain in minus degrees for days without food or water. The author was probably a prisoner who managed to escape a Gulag-camp, but after that the book is made up fiction, and when I read a book stating it’s a real life memoir and it becomes painfully obvious it’s not true I rate one star everytime.

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See No Evil The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIAs War on Terrorism

?See No Evil is a compelling account of America?s failed efforts to ?listen in? on the rest of the world, especially the parts of it that intend to do us harm.?
?Wall Street Journal

?Robert Baer was considered perhaps the best on-the-ground field
officer in the Middle East.?
?Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker — Review

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars let down
I’m surprised at the large number of favorable reviews. I was very excited to read this book from the description but ended up disappointed. It started out great – describing what it was like to join the CIA and the training etc. Then it begins to get dense with names and details and the bigger picture gets obscured.

There is a whole lot of complaining in the book and when I read a book like this I must always remember that hindsight is 20/20. It is very easy to criticize decisions in the past when the outcomes have already been determined. Nonetheless, the author does present some valid overarching criticisms of the CIA and I’m sure the CIA would do well to heed them.

The author does not give a lot of historical context to his situations and I think that hurts the quality of this work.

Unless you are a die-hard CIA enthusiast, you may want to pass on this one. There are other better books that expose the CIA.

4 Stars See No Evil
See No Evil is a fascinating true view of 20 years of life in the CIA….including the frustration of how “political correctness” has changed the role of the CIA and how America is so vulnerable today. A really eye-opening and thought provoking book….I am so glad I read it!

5 Stars An excellent book detailing the CIA’s Past and Possible Future
See No Evil is by most accounts an excellent read. For anyone interested in the real world of intelligence and espionage it tells a riveting tale complete with close calls and the dangers of intelligence collection without glamorizing it to the point of a Flemming-esq satire. Of course the book’s real value comes from the insight provided by Robert Baer and his twenty plus years working for the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence as an Operations Officer. His detailing of the CIA’s gradual movement away from its origins with the OSS and towards a very politically correct intelligence agency in a dangerous world in important for anyone evaluating the current world climate. It also provides weighty insights into the lapses in the US intelligence community that lead to the eventual rise of international terrorism and the development of multinational terror networks, mostly from the perspective of a foot soldier evaluating the continually changing cultural and socio-political landscape of the Near East. In my mind though the greatest knowledge the book offered up were the subtle insights into the international intelligence community and the lesions able to be garnered from past short comings which may allow us to prevent history from repeating itself once more. It should be noted though that the book only details events prior to 9/11 and doesn’t detail any number of changes which were said to occur in the US Intelligence community in the following seven years. If you’re looking for a more high level review of that you may want to check out The CIA at War by Ronald Kessler. Defiantly a recommended read though for anyone who is curious what life is like for a spy in modern society.

5 Stars as usual, Goverment promates those who don’t dare to make waves.
I work for the Federal government and I can feel Robert Baer’s frustration with management. Management does not listen to the little guy who is out in the feld actually doing the leg work and who has an actual feel for what is really going on. Most managers sit in their Ivory tower and relish in thier “Superior Self”,I know everything and can kiss off.

5 Stars Jason Bourne meets D.C. burearcracy
Robert Baer delivers a full throttle textual punch with See No Evil. He weaves the story of his 21 years in the CIA, drawing from years of journals and files he has kept. His storytelling is supurb, and the fact that these stories relly happened (unlike the Bourne movies referenced in my review title) make the book all the more gripping. I found his stories very detailed and well written, and I was particularly fascinated with what he had to say about Iraq in the mid-1990s.

From India and Lebanon during the Cold War to Tajikistan and Iraq in the 1990s, Robert Baer truly was one of the CIA’s main operatives in the Middle East. Some here have commented that Baer speaks with a sort of “been there, done that” attitude, especially towards the end of the book. In one respect they are right, but in a way, I think he, and those with the field experience like him, have earned the right to say what should have been done.

When Baer was reassigned to Washington, D.C. in 1995, he got a quick course in how D.C. politics worked. He found himself under investigation by the FBI for allegedly trying to kill Saddam Hussein, (assassinations being against the rules at the CIA, despite what Hollywood tells us). Once beating that wrap, he quickly became embroiled in a shady campaign fundraising scandal involving a shifty Lebanese businessman, former KGB officials, Caspian Sea oil money, and President Clinton’s national security team and re-election campaign. It was all a dizzying experience for him, and he decided to get out before he was implicated in anything that would end in a jail sentence. The irony of the books is that Washington politics proved to be too much for a man who made a living discovering the secrets behind the worlds most evil and powerful terrorist organizations.

I relate his story to that of General Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian General in charge of the UN force in Rwanda in the days leading up to the Rwandan genocide of April 1994. Dallaire knew what was about to go down, and frequently told his superiors at the UN that his troops were under manned and under supplied, but his voice was drowned out through the deafening roar of government bureaucracy and political correctness. The events of April 1994 spoke for themselves, and General Dallaire, now a successful author and public speaker, lived to talk about that incident as well as what he feels should be done in regards to other threats to world security. When I recently saw Dallaire at a speaking engagement, he began, towards the end of his speech, to blast the UN for not acting properly to stop the genocide from ever happening. At first I didn’t agree with his accusations. But in retrospect, he was the one left holding down the fort while the rest of the world watched it go up in flames, so if anyone earned the right to speak out, it was Dallaire.

Baer is much the same way. He witnessed first hand the situations in Iraq and Lebanon go to hell, so although his readers may not entirely agree with his opinions, he, more than anyone else, should be considered an authority on the subject. Should his stories be taken with a grain of salt? Perhaps. You don’t need to agree with everything he has to say at the end of the book. It is obvious that he is a great storyteller and a supurb and detailed notetaker. But no one can deny that what he did working for the CIA was heroic, and it has earned him the right to speak with authority about the situations in the Middle East. See No Evil is a must read for anyone interested in the Middle East, the CIA, the Cold War, or anyone who just wants a lesson in how mindless bureaucrats can fumble important situations, often at the most important times.

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The Art of War Shambhala classics

The Art of War is the Swiss army knife of military theory–pop out a different tool for any situation. Folded into this small package are compact views on resourcefulness, momentum, cunning, the profit motive, flexibility, integrity, secrecy, speed, positioning, surprise, deception, manipulation, responsibility, and practicality. Thomas Cleary’s translation keeps the package tight, with crisp language and short sections. Commentaries from the Chinese tradition trail Sun-tzu’s words, elaborating and picking up on puzzling lines. Take the solitary passage: “Do not eat food for their soldiers.” Elsewhere, Sun-tzu has told us to plunder the enemy’s stores, but now we’re not supposed to eat the food? The Tang dynasty commentator Du Mu solves the puzzle nicely, “If the enemy suddenly abandons their food supplies, they should be tested first before eating, lest they be poisoned.” Most passages, however, are the pinnacle of succinct clarity: “Lure them in with the prospect of gain, take them by confusion” or “Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability is in the opponent.” Sun-tzu’s maxims are widely applicable beyond the military because they speak directly to the exigencies of survival. Your new tools will serve you well, but don’t flaunt them. Remember Sun-tzu’s advice: “Though effective, appear to be ineffective.” –Brian Bruya

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars outstanding
I can not speak intelligently about the quality of this translation. Given the accuracy of translation / I found that this was a brilliant summary of tactics used in ground warfare in China several thousand years ago. Still poignant today across battlefields. It does not of course include ana/lysis of naval and air and ground technological advances. Excellent reading and it comes highly recommended.

4 Stars The art of war
This book will provide you the knowledge to declare war on Amazon – against a corporation who has chosen to silently and stupidly to censore the offerings online. They will not sell books that they deem as perceived ‘gay’ works. Welcome to Am-carthy-son.

4 Stars My first purchase book review
The Art of War by Sun Tzu is an excellent book especially for those people who are in the military or law enforcement. The language of the book refers to ancient and not modern times. Based on my readings the author seems to be an aggressor, since in modern times we strive for peace and not war-like in the ancient times.

2 Stars Introductory material is not so introductory
At the outset, let me say that Sun Tzu gets 5 stars. Having withstood at least two millennia, his thirteen chapters of warlike proverbs are beyond any reproach I can provide.

I’m giving two stars to this book’s introductory material. If I was more familiar with Chinese history, then perhaps I would have appreciated the introductory material more. Unfortunately, the introduction’s academic pitch was oftentimes beyond my reach. I picked this book up hoping to read a great Chinese work placed accessibly within historical context. In the end, I can say that I have read Sun Tzu, but I still can’t put him into context.

5 Stars The Best Traslation I got in many years!!
The permanent and global chinese military theory from a classical author. Its style and content characteristics support the idea of one unique author. It is of very easy reading and very long full comprehension. It is like to be defoliating an artichoke or an onion. With each useful reading, more shades and perspectives are caught. That come to fruition in major richness, reading pleasure, agility and depth of thought.

Other “Chinese” books give you a number of strategies (the 33, the 36, the 100, etc.). Its utilization is based on its constant memorization or on its permanent application. I consider them to be slight practical, for the profuse, diffuse and still confused character of many ancient authors of the Han etnia. What does happen if a different case, that is not in your supposed check list, arises? It seems as if they wanted to conceal their supposed wisdom from the not initiated ones.

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Never Surrender A Soldiers Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom

In 1978, Jerry Boykin joined what would become the world’s premier Special Operations unit, Delta Force. The only promise: “A medal and a body bag.” What followed was a .50 caliber round in the chest and a life spent with America’s elite forces bringing down warlords and war criminals, despots, and dictators. In Colombia, his task force hunted the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. In Panama, he helped capture the brutal dictator Manuel Noriega, liberating a nation. From Vietnam to Iran to Mogadishu, Lt. General Jerry Boykin’s life reads like an action-adventure novel. Boykin’s powerful story will keep you riveted as he reveals how his military duty worked in tandem with his faith to bring him through the bloody storms of foreign battle-and through the political firestorm that ambushed him in his own country.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Great insight into the way the govt and media work.
This book was fascinating, as well as very informative. My admiration for the Delta Force has grown immensly. I never knew just how exceptional these men were. They have sacrificed so much for freedom.

This world needs more men like General Boykin. I highly recommend this for informative, as well as inspirational.

1 Star Nothing but a Christian apologetic
Don’t expect anything new on Delta Force that hasn’t already been written about much better and in fuller detail than in this warmed-over Christian apologetic. The only purpose for this book is to further evangelize and explain how god continually inserts himself in Gen. Boykin’s life to heal him, while failing to explain why so many others around him died. He questions his faith throughout, but gives no rationale for why he continues to believe (because there is no rational explanation). He expresses his unhappiness with his critics who question why he spoke at 28 prayer meetings in full uniform, and really only strengthens their case against the general that he was promoting the war on terror in religious terms as Christian vs. Muslim. No deep thought here. Even George Bush disavowed the general’s prayer meetings while in uniform. Delta’s exploits are much better told in Mike Bowden’s Blackhawk Down, Eric Haney’s Inside Delta Force, and Dalton Fury’s Kill Bin Laden.

5 Stars Prepare to be Surprised!
LTG(R) Jerry Boykin’s autobiography is not just an insider’s guide to Delta Force’s tactics, techniques, and procedures. Nor is it simply a contemporary chronicle of Delta’s exploits in the Global War on Terrorism. Instead, it is one man’s account of serving at the crossroads of faith and freedom… combat and Christianity. In his 36 years of service in the U.S. Army (15 of those with Delta), Boykin finds himself at the tip of the spear, facing off against sworn enemies of the United States during the 1980s and 90s.

But his battles do not end there.

Never Surrender is the inspirational story of General Boykin’s struggles not only against those enemies – all vicious, most dangerous, and a few even sociopathic – but also against those individuals found on our own soil who would condescend to question his motives. And those who would find fault with his faith.

Sadly, in the waning years of his career, Boykin fights to defend himself against accusations that he is a religious fanatic intent on characterizing America’s global war on terror as a holy war pitting Christians against Muslims. There were also those who believed (and who may still believe) that he was using his senior position in the Pentagon as a bully pulpit to proselytize and gain converts. A careful analysis of comments he made as a speaker in these religious gatherings easily refutes these allegations made by overzealous reporters typically representing left-leaning national news media. His words were clearly taken out of context. (Incidentally, Boykin was later exonerated by the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General.)

A fast-paced book co-written with Lynn Vincent, Never Surrender both entertains and edifies. Readers are treated to the character and uncommon valor of one of America’s most elite warriors. As one of the original 3 officers to complete the physically and mentally punishing Delta selection course in 1978, General Boykin embarks on a fascinating career in special operations that takes him to the four corners of the globe.

Strap in for the ride!

From the desert expanses of Iran (Operation ‘Eagle Claw’) to the powdery white beaches and turquoise waters of Grenada (’Urgent Fury’)… from the steamy, lush jungles of Panama (’Just Cause’) and Columbia to the Mad Max-esque badlands of Somalia (’Battle of the Black Sea’), we follow Boykin and the men of Delta as they take down one petty despot and bloodthirsty murderer after another. These men are fearless and strike like lightning with ruthless efficiency as they fulfill the vision Delta’s founder, Colonel Charlie Beckwith, set out for them – to be the world’s most effective direct action and counter-terrorism force. Page by page we learn new facts about how these missions went down without being inundated with operational details, many of which (thankfully) remain classified.

But there is much more to Never Surrender than mere war stories.

True to character, before each operation Boykin prays that he and his men are delivered through fire and horrific violence. His prayers are miraculously answered as time and again he wages war not against Evil, but against evil individuals. That this man should ask God for the strength to combat foes accused of murdering, torturing, and raping says a lot more about his compassion than it does about how he views the world. Asking God that both his men and America’s imprisoned hostages be spared is a far cry from asking God to destroy the enemy – Muslim or otherwise. As Boykin ably points out, those enemies who hide behind a cloak of religion while murdering and maiming should not be confused with peace-loving, religious zealots.

Boykin’s story is of a humble, God-fearing man who embodies Christian virtues and endeavors to live a Christ-like life. We even witness the author struggle with his faith as he loses good men on the battlefield and watches the national news media turn against him. Yet always he finds a way back to God while vowing again to never surrender.

This kind of faith is not controversial – it’s inspirational!

It says much about the times we live in that a man of LTG(R) Jerry Boykin’s stature and of whom we as a nation have asked so much should be second-guessed, even vilified. That his motives should be called into question, particularly during time of war, defies rational explanation. His term of service included enormous personal sacrifice: He was twice wounded and would eventually lose his marriage. Rather than doubt his motives, we should thank him. Is it not enough that this man for 36 years selflessly served his country and repeatedly risked his life while saving Americans and battling terrorists and criminals the world over?

General Jerry Boykin’s life can be summed up by the following Bible verse:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. (ISAIAH 6:8)

We are blessed to have such men who willingly go into harm’s way to serve the cause of freedom. We owe them a profound debt of gratitude… a debt that can never be repaid.

Thank you, Sir, for answering the call!

4 Stars Leftist character assassination
There have been many other books of this genre by many other authors that have preceded this book. Thus for many readers who are well read on military events since the Viet-Nam era, there is nothing new here. A mildly different twist is added given the authors reliance on faith. However for the secular reader, there is not the burdensome proselytizing that some evangelical authors put forth. What is very interesting, to which only a small part of the book is devoted, is the calumny, lies, and character assassination the left wing press will resort to when the have targeted one of their enemies. In the case of General Boykin, his only offense seems to be that he was devoted in equal measure to his country and to his God. It is sickening and appalling to what lengths the liberal media will go to get someone that they oppose. Factual differences of opinion count for nothing when they have the power to totally distort the truth, and create fiction out of whole cloth. The media’s Goebbels-esque tactics, the big lie told often enough and big enough becomes the truth, are so beyond the pale as to make one wonder if anyone is safe from the pen wielding and television bullies once they have the bit between the teeth. The authors’ experience brings to mind the Clarence Thomas lynching and the persecution of the Duke University La Crosse team. Thus for one who is unaware of some of the crisis events of the last 30 years, this book makes for an excellent overview, especially if that reader does not wish to be bogged down in details and minutiae.

5 Stars Good read
I just finished this book, i actually was expecting something more “Unit” like, but found this to be a story of struggle and prayer.

I was impressed to read how much he prayed and that he did it for his men that followed him into some of the worst places in the world under some of the worst cases. He description of the “BlackHawk Down” event was extremely touching.

I’m not a hard core religious person, but this was inspiring enough to send me to the chapel. later!

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The Day of Battle The War in Sicily and Italy 1943 1944 The Liberation Trilogy

Amazon Best of the Month, November 2007: Topping a Pulitzer Prize-winning effort is tough; finding originality in a World War II narrative is even tougher. Yet Rick Atkinson accomplishes both with The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944. His previous work, An Army at Dawn, won the 2003 Pulitzer in history, but Atkinson has managed to set the bar even higher with his second installment in “The Liberation Trilogy.” He descends upon each battlefield with rich historical perspective, tactical analysis, and chilling frontline observations. Cocksure Hollywood bravado is sparse, as Atkinson depicts soldiers fighting for honor, not glory. “We did it because we could not bear the shame of being less than the man beside us,” explains one soldier’s diary. “We fought because he fought; we died because he died.” The result is an incredible portrayal of the courage, sorrow, and determination that came to define our greatest generation. –Dave Callanan

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Another Excellent Book On The American Army In World War II
Day of Battle is the follow-up to Army At Dawn which detailed the North African campaign. This book continues the story of the American Army as it learns how to fight the Germans and all the details of war. While the focus is on the Americans, the British, Free French, and Polish soldiers are also discussed to show how they all interacted.

This book does a good job of presenting all the difficulties of an allied command where national interests and glory do not agree with military needs. Both the American and British generals were trying to get the better honors for their country even when it made the overall battle harder or longer.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about what went on behind the scenes and headlines of a little know campaign in World War II. This is not where the glory was, but where a lot of hard lessons were learned and some careers made and broken. Can not wait for the third book in the series.

5 Stars An excellent account on the war in Italy
The battle of Sicily and Italy is commonly overshadowed by the invasion of Europe. Atkinson has produced an excellent account of this part of the war. He covers the invasion of Sicily, the battle for the Gustav line, the beaching at Anzio and the race for Rome from the highest ranking generals to the foot soldier on the ground. The book is full of quotes and interesting stories that makes it hard to put away. I think that this second part of his trilogy is the best so far. A must read for all war buffs!

4 Stars A wonderful sequel.
An Army at Dawn completely changed my perception of what military history writing could be. Perhaps because of the magnificent experience of reading Atkinson’s first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, I found The Day of Battle to be somewhat less enjoyable a read. Perhaps the experience of reading the first book made me hope for the second to yet again shatter my expectation.

The Day of Battle is, nonetheless, a spectacular book. Once again, Atkinson gives us an account of a campaign in all its geopolitical nuance and context while never losing touch with the individual human experience of the men, women and civilians who lived the horrors of battle.

A more extensive campaign, perhaps, than North Africa, Atkinson’s account of the Italian campaign is a significantly longer text, but the publishers once again gave us a book format that is easy on the eyes, with large-enough-to-be-legible font and a lines spaced out enough to avoid that fatiguing cluttered look.

This book is absolutely wonderful in every way. It gets four stars only because I cannot help but compare it to An Army at Dawn.

This book was not only well written and intimate, but brought me through the entire emotional experience of battle (which I have experienced first-hand, so I’m not just talking out my 4th point of contact) and its aftermath.

5 Stars Excellent account of Sicilian and Italian campaigns
I enjoyed this book immensely; it managed to capture very well the campaign on several levels:

1)Formulation of the “big picture” by the Allied leaders: Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin

2)Interplay among all the personalities of the Allied Forces: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, Clark, etc.

3)The tedium, terror, and routine of the frontline troops.

4)Development and execution of strategies and tactics as the campaign progresses.

As he did in the first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Atkinson paints a vivid picture of how things happened during these tremendous undertakings. He manages to convey much of the frontline and logistical detail, and creates terrific images of the “little guy” forced to carry out the orders (often quite flawed) of the Allied leaders.

Both books of the trilogy were very enjoyable. I consider myself a semi-novice historian, and would recommend these works to anyone with an interest in the WWII European campaign.

5 Stars The Day of Battle
Atkinson’s work is the most comprehensive and honest presentation of the Campaign in Italy available. It gives a top down view of the planning and execution of this campaign, and it pulls no punches about the quality of the military leadership and about the effects of decisions made. I’ve read this in preparation for participation in the Stephen Ambrose Historic Tour of the Italian Campaign later this year, and I feel that it gave me the insight I need to fully understand the difficulties of this part of the War.

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The Generalissimo Chiang Kai shek and the Struggle for Modern China Belknap Press

Starred Review. American historians tend to portray Chiang Kai-Shek (1887–-1975) as an inept dictator who mismanaged China until Mao Zedong expelled him in 1945 and he finished his life ruling Taiwan under the protection of the U.S. military. But this thick, heavily researched but lucid biography by Taylor, a research associate at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, describes an impressive figure who left China a greater legacy than he has been given credit for. An ambitious officer, Chiang took power when Sun Yat-sen died in 1925. Attempting to unify a chaotic nation, he fought warlords and rival Communists and then spent nine even bloodier years fighting the Japanese. Those expecting the traditional account of how Chiang hoarded American military aid in preparation for a postwar showdown with the Communists will read instead of the massive losses his troops suffered fighting the Japanese while Mao husbanded his forces. Taylor does not conceal Chiang’s brutality and diplomatic failures, but he is an admirer who makes a good case that Chiang governed an almost ungovernable country with reasonable skill and understood his enemies better than American advisers did. 41 b&w illus., 4 maps. (Apr.)
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One Bullet Away The Making of a Marine Officer

The global war on terrorism has spawned some excellent combat narratives—mostly by journalists. Warriors, like Marine Corps officer Fick, bring a different and essential perspective to the story. A classics major at Dartmouth, Fick joined the Marines in 1998 because he “wanted to go on a great adventure… to do something so hard that no one could ever talk shit to me.” Thus begins his odyssey through the grueling regimen of Marine training and wartime deployments—an odyssey that he recounts in vivid detail in this candid and fast-paced memoir. Fick was first deployed to Afghanistan, where he saw little combat, but his Operation [Iraqi] Freedom unit, the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, helped spearhead the invasion of Iraq and “battled through every town on Highway 7″ from Nasiriyah to al Kut. (Rolling Stone writer Evan Wright’s provocative Generation Kill is based on his travels with Fick’s unit.) Like the best combat memoirs, Fick’s focuses on the men doing the fighting and avoids hyperbole and sensationalism. He does not shrink from the truth—however personal or unpleasant. “I was aware enough,” he admits after a firefight, “to be concerned that I was starting to enjoy it.”
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars One Bullet Away
I am enjoying reading this book. It is very informative as to the making of a Marine officer.

5 Stars What was I missing all these years?
OMG…. Where was this book before? Why did I not notice this? I had no clue about this book until I came across it accidentally in my neighborhood’s bookstore a few days ago and started reading. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. My respect for the US Marines is now doubled. No tripled. no no, it is beyond words and numbers. The book is the story of a college graduate who knows in his heart he wants to be somebody, a warrior, a character larger than life. So he joins the Marines. And what a fine choice. The book is written so eloquently and intelligently that it is hard not to read it. It’s a fine fine book. I am hopeful that Mr. Fick writes more books and I will be his reader. I liked this book and the style of it. If you want an exciting book about the US Military and the US Marines in particular, get this one. Do not miss it. You may not agree with Mr. Fick’s politics or beliefs but this is a story that should be told/read. Loved it and highly recommend it. 5/5

5 Stars “No BS, sir. Marines appreciate that.”
There’s little more I can add to what other reviewers have already said of Nate Fick’s One Bullet Away. All I can say is that, of the scores of military novels, memoirs, and histories that I’ve read over the years, One Bullet Away is one of the best, if not the best. Fick combines obviously well-read literacy, a sharp mind, and the thrills and action of the best fictional novels into a compelling meditation on leadership in the modern military. I came away from this book not only more informed about the boots-on-the-ground experience of the Iraq War, but wanting to be a better person and a stronger leader.

Highly recommended.

5 Stars Great book on leadership
Fick describes his training and experiences in combat with One Bullet Away. He, as the reluctant warrior, provides insight into his transformation from college student to Marine Officer. This book is a great read for anyone interested in military history and modern leadership.

5 Stars Excellent Reading!
I’m thankful that this was an assigned book for a college class. Very enjoyable, even for the causal reader! Met Nathaniel Fick, great guy, powerful speaker, extremely knowledgeable in the content of foreign affair matters.

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The Power Broker Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

“Surely the greatest book ever written about a city.” –David Halberstam

“A masterpiece of American reporting. It’s more than the story of a tragic figure or the exploration of the unknown politics of our time. It’s an elegantly written and enthralling work of art.” –Theodore H. White

“The most absorbing, detailed, instructive, provocative book ever published about the making and raping of modern New York City and environs and the man who did it, about the hidden plumbing of New York City and State politics over the last half-century, about the force of personality and the nature of political power in a democracy. A monumental work, a political biography and political history of the first magnitude.” –Eliot Fremont-Smith, New York

“One of the most exciting, un-put-downable books I have ever read. This is definitive biography, urban history, and investigative journalism. This is a study of the corruption which power exerts on those who wield it to set beside Tacitus and his emperors, Shakespeare and his kings.” –Daniel Berger, Baltimore Evening Sun

“Fascinating, every oversize page of it.” –Peter S. Prescott, Newsweek

“A study of municipal power that will change the way any reader of the book hereafter peruses his newspaper.” –Philip Herrera, Time

“A triumph, brilliant and totally fascinating. A majestic, even Shakespearean, drama about the interplay of power and personality.” –Justin Kaplan

“In the future, the scholar who writes the history of American cities in the twentieth century will doubtless begin with this extraordinary effort.” –Richard C. Wade, The New York Times Book Review

“The feverish hype that dominates the merchandising of arts and letters in America has so debased the language that, when a truly exceptional achievement comes along, there are no words left to praise it. Important, awesome, compelling–these no longer summon the full flourish of trumpets this book deserves. It is extraordinary on many levels and certain to endure.” –William Greider, The Washington Post Book World

“Apart from the book’s being so good as biography, as city history, as sheer good reading, The Power Broker is an immense public service.” –Jane Jacobs

“Required reading for all those who hope to make their way in urban politics; for the reformer, the planner, the politician and even the ward heeler.” –Jules L. Wagman, Cleveland Press — Review

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A book that truly deserves Five Stars
Not often is it that a nonfiction book is all of these at once:

1. Well Written

2. Educational

3. Entertaining

4. Clear

5. Comprehensive

6. Fully documented

This book is quite simply the best of it’s kind I have ever seen. It has done more within the first 50 pages to clearly illustrate certain aspects and personalities of the late 1870s to early 1900s than many other books I have recently read, and that is simply in preparation to the book’s true focus.

Both interesting and intuitive, Caro’s book manages to make history both clear and persuasive. Further, while this book is thick, it does not have the “plodding” feeling many other nonfiction/historical books generally do.

Overall, I cannot recommend this enough, if you are interested at all in any of these:

1. The historical period

2. Civic justice

3. New York

4. The history of parkways or highways

5. Nonfiction in general

and so forth.

This book clearly won the Pulitzer for a good reason.

5 Stars Incredible story of an incredible man
There is no denying the massive influence that Robert Caro had on our perception of Robert Moses. In addition, the years and years of copious research that went into ‘The Power Broker’ makes it a monumental biography that speaks the truth about a man who for years had used the press and political influence to gather more power in NY than practically anyone else.

The book is amazing and the only reason I would consider giving it 4 stars is because the book is fairly heavy and bcomes tedious to hold while reading…

4 Stars An important book to read
Having grown up in upstate NY and having lived in Long Island recently I saw much evidence of Robert Moses’ mark upon the NY metropolitan area. This book is a well-written and thoroughly researched biography on the life of this pivotal figure who shaped modern NYC and state, for the better, and in many cases, for the worse. Published in 1974 and winner of the prestigious Pulitzer prize, author Robert Caro researched and wrote this book at a time when Robert Moses’ legacy was being called into question, NYC was in a fiscal crisis, and many were reconsidering the process by which we should remake our cities.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the urban design and an interest in the kind of tactics this powerful personality used to achieve his objectives.

4 Stars How Old Man Moses Kept Rolling Along
When Shea Stadium is demolished later this year, it will mark another diminishment of the legacy of Robert Moses, the man who built the stadium along with so many of the parks, highways, and buildings that made New York City the city that never sleeps.

But the first and most devastating blow came 34 years ago, when Robert A. Caro wrote this book.

“As long as you’re on the side of the parks, you’re on the side of angels,” Moses would often say. “You can’t lose.”

Others did lose, though, Long Island farmers whose lands Moses confiscated for state highways, middle-class neighborhoods in the way of his superhighways, and the city’s poor who were at best nuisances to the elitist Moses during his decades in power. Combining his management of city affairs with his longer-standing role as state Parks Commission president, Moses was a Nietzschean nightmare of will-to-power pragmatism run amok. As Caro explains it, power was a path to glory, and glory a path to power, in a way that made Moses deaf to all other considerations, both idealistic and practical.

Eventually it made him corrupt, though not in the way it’s more commonly understood. “Some men aren’t satisfied unless they have caviar,” said John A. Coleman, a broker of considerable power himself. “Moses would have been happy with a ham sandwich – and power.”

Caro’s book is an engaging landmark account of Moses’ path, full of vibrant characters like Al Smith and Nelson Rockefeller with whom Moses dealt and clashed. It presents a sense of New York City as an almost living thing, an infrastructure challenge not only because of its developed landscape but because of its unique demands of demographics and geography – only one of its five boroughs, the Bronx, is on the American mainland. Moses’ solutions, however, were often worse than the problems.

Caro spends a long time on Moses’ foibles but never really explains how he amassed such a collection of structural triumphs. Shea Stadium, for example, is only touched upon as background to the failure of Moses’ 1964-65 World’s Fair. His state work, especially upstate, is almost entirely ignored. In damning Moses, Caro leans on some well-researched critical facts as well as some points about Moses’ resistance to mass transit that doesn’t allow for the fact Moses was not the only believer in the power of the automobile. The book reads like quicksilver at points, yet drags in others, especially when Caro is beating home the point of how little Moses cared about other people.

I’m glad I read “Power Broker”, but I can’t ever see myself trying to read it in toto again. It’s exhaustive, single-minded, and giant in scope – much like the man it’s about.

5 Stars Power Reveals
Robert Caro’s THE POWER BROKER is a lession in the use of power in the life and career of Robert Moses, and the consequent effects upon the people and substructure of New York City. Moses is such a disgusting figure, such a tyrant, that I literally found myself shaking at points. The press was in his pocket, elitest and racist, Moses painted himself as the selfless public servant. In reality, he cast people aside by the thousands in order to increase his power and accomplish what he wants. What a vile man. I’ll never look at New York City the same again and I pray that I would never treat people the way he did.

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The U S Army Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual

“Just in time for the renewal of the war debate in Congress, the University of Chicago Press has released The U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual. . . . It’s a nifty volume, not only because it gives you a sense of what our most highly regarded military theorists are thinking but because sometimes what they’re thinking is the last thing you’d expect. Especially interesting is a section called ”Paradoxes of Counterinsurgency Operations,” which tells us: ”Sometimes doing nothing is the best reaction” and ”Sometimes, the more force is used, the less effective it is.””-David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times (David L. Ulin Los Angeles Times )

“The military doctrine set forth in our field manual matters, but because it is usually only available to those in the military, it is not widely known or available outside that small audience. . . . By publishing the new Army/Marine Corps counterinsurgency field manual, the U. of C. is correcting that situation with this, probably the most important piece of doctrine written in the past 20 years. . . . It is also, probably, the single most important document one can read to make sense out of what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.”–Robert Bateman, Chicago Tribune (Robert Bateman Chicago Tribune )

“An attempt by our military to redefine itself in the aftermath of 9/11 and the new world of international terrorism, [the Manual] will play a vital role in American military campaigns for years to come.” (Freshfiction.com )

“[This] book has helped make counterinsurgency part of the zeitgeist. It has become a coffee-table staple in Washington. . . . In short, this is not your parents” military field manual.”-Colin H. Kahl, Foreign Affairs (Colin H. Kahl Foreign Affairs )

“The book to begin with in looking for a revised 21st-century strategy [in our war on terror] is, unexpectedly, the landmark U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual. It was released as a government document in December 2006, but owing to its enormous popularity . . . it has now been published by a university press, with a provocative, highly readable new foreword and introduction that testify to the manual’s `paradigm-shattering’ content. . . . Sarah Sewall, a former Pentagon official who teaches at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard . . . has contributed an introduction that should be required reading for anybody who wants to understand the huge demands effective counterinsurgency will place on the military and the voting public.”-Samantha Power, New York Times (Samantha Power New York Times )

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Factually On Target…Excruciating Detail
I am a former US Army Special Forces “Green Beret” who worked counterinsurgency in Latin America during the early 1990’s White Passage: Red Sun. I can tell you that this manual is technically correct and on target, but unfortunately…as frequently happens with military manuals…it dives into the weeds quickly and goes into excruciating detail. It is a dry read for even the most enthusiastic counterinsurgents in us. However, the multiple forwards in the civilian version are worth the read and distill up the really important principles of counterinsurgency for those readers looking for a higher level introduction to counterinsurgency.

5 Stars Had a shipping problem, but Amazon fixed it!
This review is more about the product return service than the book itself, though it is excellent. The book was first shipped to me damaged, but amazon had a very easy to use and straightforward return policy, and they replaced the book with no charge. Other than the wait, there was very little inconvenence. Well done Amazon.

5 Stars Best in Class MILITARY Manual–Need Civilian Peace SOP
The publisher should load the table of contents and nominate this important book for “Inside the Book” digitization.

Since the publisher has failed to do that, for now (pending my substantive summative review) I will just list the top level table of contents.

Chapter 1. Insurgency & Counterinsurgency

Chapter 2. Unity of Effort: Integrating Civilian and Military Activities

[This is fine for a military cursory glance, but what we really need are two other volumes: a civilian counterpart to this military manual; and a strategic planning mannual that includes both resources we control and resources we can influence with unclassified multinational decision support]

Chapter 3. Intelligence in Counterinsurgency

[This chapter is deep and broad--someone tried very hard to get it right and at first glance, it appears vastly superior to the tripe that has been published before.]

Chapter 4. Designing Counterinsurgency Campaigns and Operations

[This is new thinking and demands careful reading]

Chapter 5. Executing Counterinsurgency Operations

Chapter 6. Developing Host-Nation Security Forces

[This will need development, perhaps in the strategic manual. Apart from the obvious that the professionals knew but the political lightweights refused: go in strong enough to keep the peace, do not disband the armed forces and police, pay them first, it seems to me we need to do much much more with Ambassador Bob Oakley's original thinking on Policing the New World Disorder, and invest heavily in REGIONAL stability forces and REGIONAL gendarme reserve forces.]

Chapter 7. Leadership and Ethics for Counterinsurgency

[Important, but I continue to be shocked at the way we vacuum people into confinement, and by the reality that stupid kids with camaras not-withstanding, we cannot overcome an unethical White House or Secretary of Defense in the field--this section could use discussion of what constitutes an illegal order and what each level of operations can do to refuse an illegal order.]

Chapter 8. Sustainment

[Good start but already out of date. Army is doing some extraordinary things in "eating the tail" by implementing renewable power solutions at the outposts so that ground-based heavy logistics are dramatically reduced. Very positive focus on logistics preparation of the battlefield but misses the larger issue: secret intelligence could care less about logisticians, who have a legitimate need for bridge weights, tunnel clearance, ferry times, pierside outlet specifications, cross-country trafficability, line of sight distances along the supply line, and so on. The fact is that intelligence support to both acquisition and to logistics STINKS, and this needs draconian scorched earth management.]

Appendix A. A Guide for Action

Appendix B. Social Network Analysis and Other Analytical Tools

Appendix C. Linguist Support

Appendix D. Legal Considerations

Appendic E. Airpower in Counterinsurgency

I like this book, very much. It’s is a really good first step, but it is only a UNILATERAL MILITARY first step.

The U.S. Government is still not serious–in the White House or in Congress–about deep sustained interagency and coalition operations.

They have no idea how to create a Global Range of Gifts Table down to the household level, how to call in Peace from the Sea and Peace from Above, how to use decision support to influence $500 billion a year in investments by others, how to encourage call centers in China and India (each of which have 1.5 billion for a total of 3 billion of the 5 billion poor) that can both provide instant translation support to operators and free education to the poor, in their own language, “one cell call at a time.”

Bottom line: General Al Gray nailed it in 1989, in his article “Global Intelligence Challenges in the 1990’s.” Key words: “peaceful preventive measures, non-state actors, and open source intelligence.” No one wanted to listen then, and most are still conceptually-challenged now.

See also:

Policing the New World Disorder: Peace Operations and Public Security

Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict

The Search for Security: A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century

Uncomfortable Wars Revisited

Modern irregular warfare: In defense policy and as a military phenomenon

Guerrilla Warfare: Irregular Warfare in the Twentieth Century (Stackpole Military History Series)

Counterinsurgency and the Global War on Terror: Military Culture and Irregular War (Stanford Security Studies)

Asymmetric Warfare: Threat and Response in the 21st Century

Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future

The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People

5 Stars A good place to begin learning about counterinsurgency warfare
This US Army / Marine Corps manual reads far more like a book than a dry piece of doctrine. This recent manual draws heavily on US experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as lessons from US and British experience in the Philippines, Malaya, El Salvador and Vietnam. I have read several other COIN manuals and papers before (Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife and Resisting Rebelion) and this manual contains a good summary of these books and other papers. It would be a good place for anyone looking to study insurgencies and counterinsurgencies to begin their study.

The book begins by cover basic aspects of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies. The book then goes in to integrating military and civilian agencies, the role of intelligence, designing and executing campaigns and training host nation forces.

One area that the book does not focus on is in depth case studies. Numerous examples are cited to illustrate points, but to really look at a conflict one will need to go to one of the numerous books listed in reading lists provided at the end.

4 Stars for soldiers or graduate students?
I’ve long nutured a private grievance against FM 3-24, which suddenly broke surface when I read this delicious comment by Steve Cole in The New Yorker this week: “Its reception reflected … the appeal of counter-insurgency among sections of the country’s liberal-minded intelligentsia. This was warfare for northeastern graduate students–complex, blended with politics, designed to build countries rather than destroy them, and fashioned to minimize violence. It was a doctrine with particular appeal to people who would never own a gun.”

A more scholarly analysis of FM 3-24’s failings, by Andrew Salamone, appears in the August edition of the online Small Wars Journal. He thinks that the historical examples in the manual are too selective, and warns: “While the current application of the new doctrine appears to be showing signs of success in Iraq, at least in terms of metrics measuring levels of violence and U.S. casualties, our enemy’s well documented strategic, operational, and tactical adaptability all but guarantees that current doctrine will be out of date for the next conflict and result in the well known axiom of trying to ‘fight the last war again’.”

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