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Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army
Crown
October 2009
On Sale: October 13, 2009
336 pages
ISBN: 0307409066
EAN: 9780307409065
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
They were four exceptional soldiers, a new generation asked
to save an army that had been hollowed out after Vietnam.
They survived the military's brutal winnowing to reach its
top echelon. They became the Army's most influential
generals in the crucible of Iraq.
Collectively,
their lives tell the story of the Army over the last four
decades and illuminate the path it must travel to protect
the nation over the next century. Theirs is a story of
successes and failures, of ambitions achieved and thwarted,
of the responsibilities and perils of command. The careers
of this elite quartet show how the most powerful military
force in the world entered a major war unprepared, and how
the Army, drawing on a reservoir of talent that few thought
it possessed, saved itself from crushing defeat against a
ruthless, low-tech foe. In The Fourth Star, you'll
follow:
•Gen. John Abizaid, one of the Army's most
brilliant minds. Fluent in Arabic, he forged an
unconventional path in the military to make himself an
expert on the Middle East, but this unique background made
him skeptical of the war he found himself leading.
•Gen. George Casey Jr., the son of the
highest-ranking general to be killed in the Vietnam War.
Casey had grown up in the Army and won praise for his common
touch and skill as a soldier. He was determined not to
repeat the mistakes of Vietnam but would take much of the
blame as Iraq collapsed around him.
•Gen. Peter
Chiarelli, an emotional, take-charge leader who, more than
any other senior officer, felt the sting of the Army's
failures in Iraq. He drove his soldiers, the chain of
command, and the U.S. government to rethink the occupation
plans–yet rarely achieved the results he
sought.
•Gen. David Petraeus, a driven
soldier-scholar. Determined to reach the Army's summit
almost since the day he entered West Point, he sometimes
alienated peers with his ambition and competitiveness. When
he finally got his chance in Iraq, he–more than
anyone–changed the Army's conception of what was possible.
Masterfully written and richly reported, The
Fourth Star ranges far beyond today's battlefields,
evoking the Army's tumultuous history since Vietnam through
these four captivating lives and ultimately revealing a
fascinating irony: In an institution that prizes obedience,
the most effective warriors are often those who dare to
question the prevailing orthodoxy and in doing so redefine
the American way of war.
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