All in : the education of General David Petraeus

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Title:

All in : the education of General David Petraeus

Author:

Broadwell, Paula

ISBN:

9781594203183

Publication Information:

New York : Penguin Press, 2012.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 394 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.

Contents:

Ground truth -- Results, boy -- True believers -- Screaming eagles -- Anaconda -- Clear, hold and build -- Lines of operation -- Washington and back -- High stakes -- Transition -- Drawdown -- Mask of command -- Still all in -- Appendix A: Counterinsurgency guidance letter -- Appendix B: COMISAF's COIN contracting guidance -- Appendix C: Anaconda strategy -- Appendix D: Engine of change.

Personal Subject:

Petraeus, David Howell.

Corporate Subject:

United States. Army -- Biography.

Subject Term:

Generals -- United States -- Biography.

Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Biography.

Added Author:

Loeb, Vernon

Summary:

General David Petraeus is the most transformative leader the American military has seen since the generation of Marshall. In this book, military expert Paula Broadwell examines Petraeus's career, his intellectual development as a military officer, and his impact on the U.S. military. Afforded extensive access by General Petraeus, his mentors, his subordinates, and his longtime friends, Broadwell embedded with the general, his headquarters staff, and his soldiers on the front lines of fighting and at the strategic command in Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American general in the terrible crucible of war. She draws on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with Petraeus and his top officers and soldiers to tell the inside story of this commander's development and leadership from every vantage point. Broadwell ultimately appraises Petraeus's impact on the entire U.S. military: Thanks to this man's influence, the military is better prepared to fight using a comprehensive blend of civil-military activities.--From publisher description.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	355.0092 BRO	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

General David Petraeus is the most transformative leader the American military has seen since the generation of Marshall. In the New York Times bestseller All In , military expert Paula Broadwell examines Petraeus's career, his intellectual development as a military officer, and his impact on the U.S. military.

Afforded extensive access by General Petraeus, his mentors, his subordinates, and his longtime friends, Broadwell reported on the front lines of fighting and at the strategic command in Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American general as they were brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war. All In draws on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with Petraeus and his top officers and soldiers to tell the inside story of this commander's development and leadership in war.

When Petraeus assumed command in Afghanistan in July 2010, the conflict looked as bleak as at any moment in America's nine years on the ground there. Petraeus's defining idea--counterinsurgency--was immediate put to its most difficult test: the hard lessons learned during the surge in Iraq were to be applied in a radically different theater. All In examines the impact in Afghanistan of new counterinsurgency as well as counterterrorism strategies through the commands of several Petraeus protégés.

Broadwell examines his evolution as a solider from his education at West Point in the wake of Vietnam to his earlier service in Central America, Haiti, Kuwait, Bosnia, and Iraq. All In also documents the general's role in the war in Washington, going behind the scenes of negotiations during policy reviews of the war in Afghanistan in Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House.

Broadwell ultimately appraises Petraeus's impact on the entire U.S. military: Thanks to this man's influence, the military is better prepared to fight using a comprehensive blend of civil-military activities. As America surveys a decade of untraditional warfare, this much is clear: The career of General David Petraeus profoundly shaped our military and left an indelible mark on its rising leaders.

Author Notes

Paula Broadwell has more than a decade of military service and nearly two decades of work in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. She is a PhD candidate at the University of London. Broadwell received an MPA degree from Harvard. She graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy. She lives with her husband and their two children in North Carolina.

Vernon Loeb is the Metro editor at The Washington Post . In 2003, he embedded with the 101st Airborne Division under Petraeus's command.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This is an authoritative and engrossing look at General David Petraeus-now director of the CIA-, his impact on the Army (particularly in terms of counterinsurgency tactics), and his command of the NATO and U.S. forces during the surge in Afghanistan, including accounts from his battalion commanders and others. Broadwell gives what Petraeus himself might term a "granular understanding" of the general, detailing his life, motivations, mentors, education, postings, and command style in an engaging manner, only slightly marred by the copious use of acronyms (though the book does feature a three-page guide to the latter). Broadwell, a West Point graduate, veteran, and counterterrorism policy expert, first met Petraeus in 2006 as a graduate student and later conducted a case study in Petraeus' leadership which concurrently became a thesis for her University of London Ph.D. in public policy and this book. She had unique access to Petraeus, his staff and his colleagues, and it shows in the details-from his father's exhortations to focus on "Results, boy!," to the informal, handwritten note of appreciation Petraeus received from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The book veers from biography to military history to counterinsurgency manual, and though Broadwell fails to sufficiently explore criticisms of Petraeus, the back-and-forth in topic and theme ultimately render a fuller context within which readers might understand the general and his remarkable impact. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review

Broadwell, a former U.S. Army officer, presents a firsthand account of the appointment of General Petraeus as commander of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan in June 2010 and the subsequent challenges and successes he has faced. Written with formerly embedded journalist Loeb (Washington Post) and based on Broadwell's doctoral dissertation, the book succeeds as both a biography of Petraeus and a history of the war in Afghanistan from mid-2010 to the present. Broadwell had access to Petraeus before and since his appointment, thus giving readers an insider's narrative that is not based on printed sources but comes from her own experiences with key players right in Afghanistan as she studied Petraeus's military innovations there. Her style is readable and refreshingly lacking in the gung-ho or gut-wrenching tones that many accounts of recent military activity include. She sticks to facts and does not glorify war. Broadwell makes it clear that it is too early to judge the ultimate effect of Petraeus's oversight in Afghanistan or whether it will change the outcome of the war. Verdict This full account is highly recommended to readers in military studies and current affairs and all who want a better understanding of the key players and engagements in the current U.S. war in Afghanistan.-Jenny Contakos, Wolford Coll. Lib., Naples, FL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review

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