Named One of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review Named one of the Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post Book World, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, TheSan Francisco Chronicle Book Review, Los Angeles Times Book Review, USA Today, Time, and New York magazine. 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 Award for Excellence in Journalism 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 guerrilla 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 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 best-selling 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.

This exploration of Powell's career and character reveals several broad themes crucial to American foreign policy and yields insights into the evolution of American foreign and defense policy in the post-Vietnam, post-Cold War eras. This book explains Powell's diplomatic style and its place in the American foreign policy tradition and his involvement in the most important debates over foreign and defense policy during the past two decades.

The must-read summary of George Packer's book: “The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq”. This complete summary of "The Assassins' Gate" by George Packer, a renowned American journalist, presents his explanation of the creation of the Bush administration's war policy and how this led to America's invasion of Iraq. He explains how the US became ensnared in a guerrilla war and the impacts this had at home too, from the grief of the families of fallen soldiers to the bitterly polarized political culture of America. Added-value of this summary: • Save time • Understand the Iraq War, its motivations and its implications • Expand your knowledge of American politics and policy To learn more, read "The Assassins' Gate" and discover what ultimately led the Bush administration into the Iraq War.

In wide-ranging and innovative criticism, Stan Persky examines international non-fiction and fiction to engage with both the triumphs and tensions of reading and writing today. Evaluating works by established authors Philip Roth, Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, and José Saramago, as well as emerging writers like Naomi Klein, Javier Cercas, and Chimamanda Adichie, Persky also showcases a remarkable group of reporters - Steve Coll, Dexter Filkins, and Rajiv Chandrasekaran - who have written essential books about global issues. An illuminating and accessible work about the present age, Reading the 21st Century introduces new ways of thinking about the world's most significant cultural, political, and moral problems.

The Bush administration planned the invasion of Iraq to be a quick “in and out” operation without dedicating a large force for the invasion and the aftermath. The “honeymoon period” immediately after the invasion closed and the insurgency movement emerged and grew when the Coalition Provisional Authority disbanded the army and banned the Ba’ath Party and most of its members from participating in the new government. The results of the orders created an insurgency war that the U.S. and Coalition forces had not planned to fight. The war created numerous domestic and foreign insurgency groups and militias as well as a largely under-governed area in Western Iraq on the Syrian border. The Syrian Civil War drew a number of groups into the country to fight along the pro-Shi`a and pro-Sunni factions. The insurgency war born in the aftermath of the invasion has created regional instability and conflict. The war has also crippled the U.S. in reacting to other global conflicts at a time when Russia is increasing its involvement in world affairs.

“An absolutely sensational historical thriller—with an ending so shocking that I literally jumped up out of my chair!”—Max Byrd, author of Grant New Year’s Eve, 1945. The assassin steps out of the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of a raging nor’easter. Cool and efficient, she’s a weapon of war superbly trained in the ancient arts of subterfuge and murder. And even though she’s outnumbered, she’s got one major advantage: No one knows she’s coming. Professor Mikhal Lammeck’ s specialty is the history and weaponry of assassins. But even Lammeck is caught off guard when the Secret Service urgently requests his help: A gruesome double murder and suicide in Massachusetts has set off alarm bells. It’s only a hunch, but all too soon Lammeck suspects the unthinkable. In the waning days of the war, someone wants one last shot to alter history. An assassin is headed to Washington, D.C., to kill the most important soldier of them all: the U.S. commander in chief. As Lammeck and a killer at the top of her profession circle the streets of the capital in the hunt for FDR, one of them will attempt to kill the world’s most powerful man; the other, to save him. And between them, for an instant, history will hang in the balance. . . . Praise for The Assassins Gallery “Provide[s] thriller readers with one of their best reads of the year. . . . The powerful climax deserves the term 'heart-stopping.'”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Ingenious . . . A solid, satisfying treat for the armchair historian.”—Kirkus Reviews “An exciting thriller that rings so true it's difficult to tell where fact ends and fiction begins. Robbins is a master—at the top of his game with this one.”—Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Templar Legacy “If you read one book this year, make it The Assassins Gallery. Mesmerizing plotting, characters you'll never forget, and a wealth of invaluable historical seasoning that make you wonder ... did it actually happen this way? Only one word will do to describe this novel: masterpiece.”—Brian Haig, bestselling author of Man in the Middle “Nobody is better than David L. Robbins at making yesterday feel like today and fiction feel like fact. This is his most audacious book yet and probably his best.”—Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of One Shot

Trapped within the dead city of Marandur, Master Mechanic Mari and Mage Alain must escape both merciless barbarians and the pitiless Imperial Legion. Beyond those dangers lie the mightiest and most unforgiving powers in the world of Dematr: the Great Guilds that rule the world with iron fists. Mari's Mechanics Guild and Alain's Mage Guild have always been enemies, but they are united in wanting to kill their rogue members before Mari can fulfill the ancient prophecy of being the one who will finally overthrow their power. Mari and Alain must risk those dangers because halfway across their world lies a place where truth has long been hidden. A place that could explain why their world's history begins abruptly, with no hints of what came before. A place where they might learn how the Mechanics Guild came to control all technology and how the Mages manage to alter reality temporarily. A place that might tell them how to achieve a task that appears to be impossible. Never before have a Mage and a Mechanic worked together, and their combined talents offer their only hope. But she and Alain must first survive the deadly and implacable Assassins of Altis.

Six master assassins—each a legend in the dark corners of international espionage—band together to steal a fortune from the middle of a war zone. But the mission goes tragically wrong, and they retreat into the shadows. Now THE ASSASSINS are back. Former military spy Judd Ryder is walking to his D.C. home when he spots a man coming out of his row house, who looks like Ryder and is wearing his clothes. As Ryder slows to follow, the imposter is killed in a hit-and-run that's no accident. Was the man the intended victim, or was it Ryder himself? Soon Ryder learns that the key to the mysterious events of the past and to his double's murder is an infamous Cold War assassin, the Carnivore. Two of the last people to see the Carnivore were Ryder and CIA trainee Eva Blake, and someone is using them to lure him out. From Washington D.C. to Marrakech and Baghdad, the assassins wage a final battle—this time against one another—fighting for their reputations and Saddam Hussein's long-missing billion-dollar fortune. In the end, only one can be left standing. Caught in the crossfire, Judd and Eva go on the run while desperately unraveling the tangled past and battling not only for their lives, but for their destinies.

A scathing critique of President Bush's legal advisors, who expanded the reach of his executive powers while creating highly controversial policies for fighting the War on Terror. Argues that these advisors, blinded by ideology, provided largely bad legal advice that caused great harm, and ultimately was unnecessary for national security.