Surge
My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
In February 2007, U.S. Army General David Petraeus took command of the multinational coalition forces in Iraq, some 140,000 troops, to be joined by 20,000 additional American soldiers newly deployed to support the controversial strategy known as the surge. This penetrating book provides a uniquely intimate view of the unfolding of the surge and its impact on the violence that was devastating Iraq. Colonel (Ret.) Peter R. Mansoor, an acclaimed historian and a member of General Petraeus' inner circle during the surge, offers the first comprehensive and fully researched account of the years preceding the surge, the execution of the strategy, and its outcome written by a person who lived through it. After exploring the dynamics of the Iraq War during its first three years, Surge takes us to the critical sites where the controversial counterinsurgency strategy was developed, struggled over, implemented and argued about: Fort Leavenworth, the Pentagon, Baghdad, and the halls of Congress. Mansoor employs newly declassified documents and an array of other sources, including his own recollections, to illuminate how President George W. Bush, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, General Petraeus, and other leaders shaped the surge and successfully altered Iraq's downward spiral into chaos.
About the Author
Peter R. Mansoor is the General Raymond E. Mason, Jr., Chair of Military History, Ohio State University, and a retired U.S. Army colonel. During the surge of 2007-2008 he served as executive officer to General David Petraeus, the Commanding General of Multi-National Force-Iraq. He lives in Dublin, OH.
Reviews
"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 'surge' phase of that conflict. The chapter on the Sunni Awakening especially stands out as a terrific overview of that critical development" – Thomas E. Ricks, author of "Fiasco, The Gamble and The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today"