The Gamble

This is an excellent look at the US Army's reinvention of its counter-insurgency strategy and tactics after being on the brink of defeat in Iraq. It is a journalistic recent history which means that the main historical narrative is peppered with interviews and biographical or geographic sketches.returnreturnThe author has excellent access to the principals and a lot of the documents and the result is a politically neutral look at a large organisation re-inventing its approach and radically rethinking what it is prepared to do and say to achieve some form of victory in the face of defeat.returnreturnAlthough the central figure in the narrative is David Petraeus the portrait is balanced and the contributions, influence and leadership of others is given due weight.returnreturnIt's an interesting read to understand contemporary politics and the thinking behind recent military strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan.