All In, Broadwell, Paula

An unprecedented examination of General David Petraeus, the greatest military mind of his generation, over the course of his career, his command in Afghanistan, and his ascent to the CIA.

General David Petraeus bears the mantle of Grant, Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and Eisenhower. In All In, military expert Paula Broadwell examines Petraeuss career, his intellectual development as a commander, and his impact as a transformative leader in the military, to give us a deeper understanding of the greatest soldier of our time than ever before.

Broadwell embedded with the commander and his subordinates on the front lines of fighting and at the epicenter of the strategic command in Afghanistan to chronicle the education of this American general as it is brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war. All In uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with Petraeus and his top officers and soldiers to tell the inside story of this commanders war from every vantage point, with particular emphasis on viewing the war through Petraeuss eyes.

When Petraeus assumed command in Afghanistan in July 2010, the conflict looked as bleak as at any moment in Americas nine years on the ground there. Petraeuss defining idea- counterinsurgency-was immediately put to its most difficult test: the hard lessons learned during the surge in Iraq were to be applied in a radically different theater. All In traces the origins and applications in Afghanistan of the principles of counterinsurgency through the commands of Lieutenant Colonel David Fivecoat, Petraeuss aide in Bosnia and during the invasion of Iraq, and that of other officers who have served with him over the years. Broadwell also examines Petraeuss evolution as a counterinsurgent from his education at West Point in the wake of Vietnam to his earlier service in El Salvador and Iraq.