Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
by Peter R. Mansoor
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Surge is an insider's view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. After exploring the dynamics of the war during its first three years, the book takes the reader on a journey to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the controversial new U.S. Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency doctrine was developed; to Washington, D.C., and the halls of the Pentagon, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff struggled to understand the conflict; to the streets of Baghdad, where soldiers worked to implement the show more surge and reenergize the flagging war effort before the Iraqi state splintered; and to the halls of Congress, where Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus testified in some of the most contentious hearings in recent memory. Using newly declassified documents, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, author notes, and published sources, Surge explains how President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, and other U.S. and Iraqi political and military leaders shaped the surge from the center of the maelstrom in Baghdad and Washington. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
While the book is rich in details and very informative, it also feels a little repetitive. At times, it seems like the author struggled to reach the assigned number of pages.
Some thoughts and ideas are repeated throughout the book without any clear reason. This issue becomes more noticeable in the final chapter, the retrospect, which feels like a condensed version of what came before.
Content-wise, the book feels somewhat self-congratulatory and biased, especially for something written by a historian. Some bias might be expected, as Mansoor is sharing his experience as part of the surge. However, the book often resembles an '80s or '90s movie. There's a stark divide between characters: the "good guys" (the MNF-I under Petraeus and the show more Republicans) doing everything right, and the "bad guys" (the MNF-I under Petraeus' predecessor, the Democrats, the rest of the U.S. military not under Petraeus, and, of course, the insurgents).
This simplistic divide and lack of nuance suggest cherry-picking, which is unfortunate, given the overall quality of the book. show less
Some thoughts and ideas are repeated throughout the book without any clear reason. This issue becomes more noticeable in the final chapter, the retrospect, which feels like a condensed version of what came before.
Content-wise, the book feels somewhat self-congratulatory and biased, especially for something written by a historian. Some bias might be expected, as Mansoor is sharing his experience as part of the surge. However, the book often resembles an '80s or '90s movie. There's a stark divide between characters: the "good guys" (the MNF-I under Petraeus and the show more Republicans) doing everything right, and the "bad guys" (the MNF-I under Petraeus' predecessor, the Democrats, the rest of the U.S. military not under Petraeus, and, of course, the insurgents).
This simplistic divide and lack of nuance suggest cherry-picking, which is unfortunate, given the overall quality of the book. show less
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Remember Shuffle Podcast| Iraq War Series: Parts I - VI
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Peter R. Mansoor is the General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair of Military History at the Ohio State University and a retired U.S. Army colonel.
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- Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
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