Trump and His Generals

“As Bergen, the author of several books on national security, shows, Donald Trump’s relationship to the American military is fraught because he has no understanding of the martial virtues and seems to assume that soldiering is simply a matter of violence, even uncaged brutality.” —The New York Times (Editor’s Choice, week of Jan. 9)

“America is on the brink of war with Iran, largely as a result of President Trump’s reckless decision to assassinate Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani. An excellent way to understand how and why this happened is to read Peter Bergen’s new book, Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos (Penguin Press) … Now, after the killing of Soleimani, Bergen’s book reads like an all-too prescient guidebook of how Trump would take America to war in the Middle East.” —Rolling Stone

“Bergen provides a deeply informed study, written with clarity and flair. Reflecting fresh research and nearly 100 interviews with some key players, his retelling of Trump’s foreign policy skillfully synthesizes what’s already known and adds gossipy tidbits… . it is the best single account of Trump’s foreign policy to date.” —The Washington Post

“Timely … insightful … Through meticulously documented interviews and research, the author amply shows how the Trump administration has stubbornly stuck with this free-wheeling playbook of slash and burn.” —Kirkus

“A fair and comprehensive overview of Trump’s foreign policy.” —Max Boot, Foreign Affairs

Peter Bergen is a vice president at New America in Washington, DC, as well as national security analyst for CNN, where he writes a weekly online column. He is also a professor and codirector of the Center on the Future of War at Arizona State University and has held teaching positions at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Bergen is the author of five previous books about national security, including three New York Times bestsellers and four Washington Post nonfiction books of the year. In 1997, as a producer for CNN, Bergen produced Osama bin Laden’s first television interview, in which bin Laden declared war against the United States for the first time to a Western audience.

He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, documentary producer Tresha Mabile, and their children, Pierre and Grace.

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