All In

by Broadwell, Paula; Loeb, Vernon (CON)

• ISBN13: 9781594203183
• ISBN10: 1594203180
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-24
• Publisher: Penguin Pr

Summary

An unprecedented examination of General David Petraeus, the greatest military mind of his generation, over the course of his career, his command in Afghanistan, and his ascent to the CIA. General David Petraeus bears the mantle of Grant, Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and Eisenhower. In All In, military expert Paula Broadwell examines Petraeus's career, his intellectual development as a commander, and his impact as a transformative leader in the military, to give us a deeper understanding of the greatest soldier of our time than ever before. Broadwell embedded with the commander and his subordinates on the front lines of fighting and at the epicenter of the strategic command in Afghanistan to chronicle the education of this American general as it is brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war. All Inuses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with Petraeus and his top officers and soldiers to tell the inside story of this commander's war from every vantage point, with particular emphasis on viewing the war through Petraeus's eyes. 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 immediately 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 Intraces the origins and applications in Afghanistan of the principles of counterinsurgency through the commands of Lieutenant Colonel David Fivecoat, Petraeus's aide in Bosnia and during the invasion of Iraq, and that of other officers who have served with him over the years. Broadwell also examines Petraeus's evolution as a counterinsurgent from his education at West Point in the wake of Vietnam to his earlier service in El Salvador and Iraq. In this exclusive-access account, Broadwell ultimately appraises Petraeus's impact on the entire U.S. military: thanks to this most remarkable soldier, war in the near future will be fought as a complex blend of offense, defense, counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and interagency intelligence operations. As he leaves Afghanistan for his new post at the CIA, Petraeus's theory of warfare will redefine our military and our intelligence community for decades to come.