The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq Tapa dura - 2005

Información de la editorial

THE ASSASSINS' GATE: AMERICA IN IRAQ recounts how the United States set about changing the history of the Middle East and became ensnared in a guerilla war in Iraq. It brings to life the people and ideas that created the Bush administration's war policy and led America to the Assassins' Gate--the main point of entry into the American zone in Baghdad. The consequences of that policy are shown in the author's brilliant reporting on the ground in Iraq, where he made four tours on assignment for "The New Yorker." We see up close the struggles of American soldiers and civilians and Iraqis from all backgrounds, thrown together by a war that followed none of the preconceived scripts.
"The Assassins' Gate" also describes the place of the war in American life: the ideological battles in Washington that led to chaos in Iraq, the ordeal of a fallen soldier's family, and the political culture of a country too bitterly polarized to realize such a vast and morally complex undertaking. George Packer's first-person narrative combines the scope of an epic history with the depth and intimacy of a novel, creating a masterful account of America's most controversial foreign venture since Vietnam. George Packer is a staff writer for "The New Yorker" and the author of several books, most recently "Blood of the Liberals," winner of the 2001 Robert F. Kennedy Award. He is also the editor of the anthology "The Fight Is for Democracy"."" He lives in Brooklyn. Winner of the Overseas Press Club's Cornelius Ryan Award for Best Nonfiction Book on International Affairs
Winner of the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book AwardA "New York Times" Best Book of the YearA "New York Times "Notable BookA "Chicago Tribune "Best Book of the YearA "Boston Globe "Best Book of the YearA "Washington Post" Best Book of the YearA "San Francisco Chronicle "Best Book of the Year "The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq" recounts how the United States set about changing the history of the Middle East and became ensnared in a guerilla war in Iraq. It brings to life the people and ideas that created the Bush administration's war policy and led America to the Assassins' Gate--the main point of entry into the American zone in Baghdad. The consequences of that policy are shown in the author's reporting on the ground in Iraq, where he made four tours on assignment for "The New Yorker." We see up close the struggles of American soldiers and civilians and Iraqis from all backgrounds, thrown together by a war that followed none of the preconceived scripts. "The Assassins' Gate" also describes the place of the war in America life: the ideological battles in Washington that led to chaos in Iraq, the ordeal of a fallen soldier's family, and the political culture of a country too bitterly polarized to realize such a vast and morally complex undertaking. George Packer's first-person narrative combines the scope of an epic history with the depth and intimacy of a novel, creating a masterful account of America's most controversial foreign venture since Vietnam. "A comprehensive look at the largest foreign policy gamble in a generation, by a "New Yorker" reporter who traces the full arc of the war, from the pre-invasion debate through the action on the ground."--"The New York Time Book Review" "A comprehensive look at the largest foreign policy gamble in a generation, by a "New Yorker" reporter who traces the full arc of the war, from the pre-invasion debate through the action on the ground."--"The New York Time Book Review" "Masterful . . . Packer's sketch of the prewar debates is subtle, sharp and poignant . . . His reporting from Iraq was always good, but the book is even better, putting the reader at the side of Walter Benjamin's angel of history, watching helplessly as the wrechage unfolds at his feet."--Gideon Rose, "The Washington Post Book World" "A deftly constructed and eloquently told account of the war's origins and aftermath . . . Although he works in snapshots and anecdotes, every time an image might allow him to settle into a simple conclusion about the war's worthiness, he turns his attention--and his considerable powers of description and dramatization--to another image that points to the opposite conclusion. The cumulative effect is a wrenching cognitive dissonance--the kind, Packer observes, that few Americans can stand but with which Iraqis live every day . . . Packer makes it deeply human and maddeningly vivid."--Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, "Los Angeles Book Review" "[Packer] has succeeded in creating a book that is not only relevant but discerning and provocative. Using on-the-ground reporting and a talent for storytelling, he offers the vivid detail and balanced analysis that have made him one of the leading chroniclers of the Iraq war."--Yonatan Lupu, "San Francisco Chronicle" "Packer covers the same ground as the other authors -- the war dreamed up by fevered minds in Washington, the strange world of diaspora politics, the lack of planning in the Department of Defense, the occupation, and the insurgency -- but he does it from the perspective of a journalist rather than of a participant. The result is a beautifully written, poignant, and fair-minded narrative of two dreams deferred."--Mark Leonard, "The Chronicle of Higher Education" "Read George Packer's book "The Assassin's Gate ." . . And I wish . . . I had been able to help George Packer write that book. In some places I could have given him a hell of a lot more specifics . . . But if you want to read how the Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal flummoxed the process, read that book. And, of course, there are other names in there, Under Secretary of Defense Doug Feith, whom most of you probably know Tommy Frank said was the 'stupidest blankety blank man in the world.' He was. Let me testify to that. He was. Seldom in my life have I met a dumber man. And yet, and yet, after the Secretary of State agrees to a $400 billion department, rather than a $30 billion department, having con