Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005 Summary and Reviews

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005
by Thomas E. Ricks

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005
List Price: $16.00
Our Price: $4.55
You Save: $11.45 (72%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.97 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-07-31
ISBN: 0143038915
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Book Reviews of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005

Book Review: Lions led by donkeys
Summary: 5 Stars

Thomas E. Ricks, Senior Pentagon Corrspondent of the Washington Post is the latest in a distinguished line of American journalists to offer a brilliant documentary account of the US army's build-up to the Iraq war, the triumphant dash to Baghdad and the subsequent spiral into a vicious war against an insurrection it did not understand and for which it was entirely unprepared. His familiarity with and access to all levels of the American military have enabled him to tell his story largely through the direct experiences and voices of soldiers of all ranks. The reader is left gasping that an invasion on such a scale could have been undertaken with, it seems, absolutely no plan for Iraq once the first invasion had succeeded. The tone of the writing is cool and unjudgemental but Ricks leaves us in no doubt that it is the civilian leadership including Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith,Donald Rumsfeld and of course George W Bush with whom the responsibility lies for what he bluntly describes as the Fiasco of the American adventure in Iraq. English readers will be reminded of the famous description of the British army in 1914-18 'Lions led by donkeys'and I imagine the book will be read and thoroughly pondered in today's British army. It should be: it is journalism of the highest order. As Iraq descends into the night of civil war in 2006, the tragedy continues. Ricks' book is unputdownable, indispensable reading for everyone seeking to understand the real facts of life, largely hidden in the daily mainstream media, of a tragedy which will haunt the world now for decades.

History Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in George W Overdrive
The World According to Tomdispatch: America and the Age of Empire ImageThe World According to Tomdispatch: America and the Age of Empire
Verso; Published: 2008-05-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.05
Price in other shops: $19.95
The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 ImageThe One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/ 11
by Ron Suskind
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2007-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.37
Price in other shops: $15.00
Fields of Honor: The Pat Tillman Story ImageFields of Honor: The Pat Tillman Story
by Jonathan Rand
Chamberlain Bros.; Published: 2004-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.68
Price in other shops: $9.95
Rise Of The Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet ImageRise Of The Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet
by Jim Mann
Published: 2004-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.92
Price in other shops: $16.00
The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot ImageThe End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot
by Naomi Wolf
Chelsea Green Publishing; Published: 2007-09-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $13.95
Bush Versus the Environment ImageBush Versus the Environment
by Robert S. Devine
Anchor; Published: 2004-06-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions ImageThe Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions
Touchstone; Published: 2003-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $67.79
The Hammer Comes Down: The Nasty, Brutish, and Shortened Political Life of Tom DeLay ImageThe Hammer Comes Down: The Nasty, Brutish, and Shortened Political Life of Tom DeLay
by Lou Dubose, Jan Reid
PublicAffairs; Published: 2006-01-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $13.95
When the Levees Broke - A Requiem In Four Acts (Documentary) ImageWhen the Levees Broke - A Requiem In Four Acts (Documentary)
LEE,SPIKE; Release date: 2006-12-19; DVD
Best price: $13.98
Price in other shops: $19.98
They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons ImageThey Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons
by Jacob Heilbrunn
Anchor; Published: 2009-01-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.45
Price in other shops: $15.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One ImageThe Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One
by David Kilcullen
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-03-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.06
Price in other shops: $27.95
The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End ImageThe End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End
by Peter W. Galbraith
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2007-06-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.10
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq ImageThe Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq
by George Packer
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2006-09-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.57
Price in other shops: $15.00
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 ImageGhost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
by Steve Coll
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2004-02-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.29
Price in other shops: $29.95
Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War ImageHubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War
by Michael Isikoff, David Corn
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2007-05-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.24
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 ImageThe Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/ 11
by Lawrence Wright
Knopf; Published: 2006-08-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.18
Price in other shops: $27.95
State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III ImageState of Denial: Bush at War, Part III
by Bob Woodward
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2007-09-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq ImageCobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
by Michael R. Gordon, Bernard E. Trainor
Vintage; Published: 2007-02-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops: $16.00
Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone (Vintage) ImageImperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone (Vintage)
by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Vintage; Published: 2007-09-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 ImageThe Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008
by Thomas E. Ricks
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2009-02-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.90
Price in other shops: $27.95