Synopses & Reviews
Surge is an insiderand#8217;s view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. After exploring the dynamics of the war during its first three years, the book takes the reader on a journey to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the controversial new U.S. Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency doctrine was developed; to Washington, D.C., and the halls of the Pentagon, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff struggled to understand the conflict; to the streets of Baghdad, where soldiers worked to implement the surge and reenergize the flagging war effort before the Iraqi state splintered; and to the halls of Congress, where Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus testified in some of the most contentious hearings in recent memory.
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Using newly declassified documents, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, author notes, and published sources, Surge explains how President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, and other U.S. and Iraqi political and military leaders shaped the surge from the center of the maelstrom in Baghdad and Washington.
Review
and#8220;By far the best account of the decisive campaign of the Iraq War, and the conduct of modern American counterinsurgency, and also the best account anywhere about the inner workings of contemporary Iraqi politics. This book will remain the seminal work on this important part of the American experience in Iraq for many years.and#8221;and#8212;Conrad Crane, lead author of Army/Marine Corps Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency
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"Fewand#8212;VERY fewand#8212;studies of military operations are authored by someone who combines the qualities of an outstanding scholar with the experience of having been the commanding general's executive officer. Mansoor tells the story of a very rare type of military operation: creating victory in the context not merely of ongoing defeat but imminent catastrophe. And he tells it like a scholar: no hero-worship, no pointing with pride and viewing with alarm."and#8212;Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century
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and#8220;Peter Mansoor has shed fresh light and understanding on the U.S. experience in Iraq, illuminating warand#8217;s political nature as well as its human and psychological dimensions. Surge is a story of adaptation, which highlights the importance of continuously assessing complex situations and acting to seize and retain the initiative. It will be thought-provoking not only to all interested in the Iraq War, but also to those interested in how to lead change in large organizations and enterprises.and#8221;and#8212;H. R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam
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and#8220;This is one of the best books to emerge from the Iraq War. I expect it will be remembered as one of the most insightful accounts from an insider of the key and#8216;surgeand#8217; phase of that conflict. The chapter on the Sunni Awakening especially stands out as a terrific overview of that critical development.and#8221;and#8212;Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco, The Gamble and The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today
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"Lively and vivid. Recommended for readers with an interest in military history and strategy or the challenges of nation building."and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
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Runner-up for the 2013 Southern California Book Festival, in the Biography/Autobiography category, sponored by JM Northern Media LLC.
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"The subsequent failures in Iraq shouldn't take away from what American troops accomplished during what may well be the biggest comeback ever in a guerrilla war. . . . Mansoor provides the definitive account of how it was accomplished. . . . A fascinating combination of grand strategy and personal vignettes."—Max Boot, Wall Street Journal Max Boot
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"Scholars of military history and students of national security affairs will find Surge an invaluable resource. The book is highly readable despite its impressive scholarship and sourcing, and benefits from its authorand#8217;s professional training as an historian and his rigorous analytical approach . . . . No one seriously interested in the complexities of strategic thinking in general or this conflict, and Americaand#8217;s ongoing struggle to coherently link its policy aims to actionable plans, can overlook Mansoorand#8217;s analysis or conclusions."and#8212;War on the Rocks blog
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"The definitive account. . . . A fascinating combination of grand strategy and personal vignettes."and#8212;Max Boot, Wall Street Journal
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Won a Honorable Mention for the 2014 Los Angeles Book Festival in the General Non-Fiction Category.
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Finalist for the 2013 Guggenheim-Prize in Military History. Los Angeles Book Festival - JM Northern Media LLC
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"Indispensable. . . . Surge should be in any serious reader's short stack of books on the war in Iraq."—Mark Kukis, Michigan War Studies Review Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History - The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
Synopsis
The first full insider account of the troop surge in Iraq, told by a member of General David Petraeusand#8217;s personal staff
About the Author
Praise for
Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War and#160;
and#147;Surge is an extraordinary account of a decisive campaign in the Iraq War by one who is uniquely qualified to write it. Colonel (Ret.) Pete Mansoor not only is a history professor, he also was a brigade commander in Iraq during our first year there and then was my executive officer for the first fifteen months of the surge. I am confident that his firsthand account of that chapter of our involvement in Iraq will contribute enormously to the understanding of what our military men and womenand#151;and their coalition, Iraqi, and civilian partnersand#151;accomplished in 2007 and 2008. It is gratifying to see their exceptional work recounted by one who was there and who has the academic expertise and military understanding to provide context to their achievements and depth of understanding to their sacrifices. This superb account ofand#160;a critical periodand#160;will inform scholarship on the Iraq War for years to come.and#8221;and#151;General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus
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Praise for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq
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"Unflinching. . . . [Mansoor] tells the story of that fateful first year in Iraq from the point of view of one who saw decisions being made at the highest echelons, yet led soldiers in executing those orders day by day."and#151;Bill Murphy, Washington Post
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"Colonel Mansoor displays the knowledge of a soldier alongside the narrative gifts of a true historian, weaving dramatic events together, capturing the thoughts and emotions of street-level fighters, and describing Iraqi society as it tries to emerge from the maelstrom of war."and#151;Mark Moyar, Wall Street Journal
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and#147;Destined to be studied in war colleges for generations. . . . A far better guide to counterinsurgency warfare than the official manual published by the Army and Marines."and#151;Ralph Peters, New York Post
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