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. From the Hardcover
edition.
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