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Thomas Ricks: General Petraeus and the American Military in Iraq

February 1, 2010
Thomas E. Ricks reporter, 2000 and 2002 Pulitzer Prize

Washington Post correspondent Thomas E. Ricks discusses his newly in paperback exploration of the Iraq war, The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq.

Now updated to fully document the inside story of the Iraq war since late 2005, The Gamble is the definitive account of the insurgency within the US military that led to a radical shift in America's strategy. Based on unprecedented real-time access to the military's entire chain of command, Ricks examines the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began. His conclusion, stated in the last line of the book, is that "the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered probably have not yet happened."

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Image of The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008
Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The (2009)
Binding: Hardcover, 400 pages
Image of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The (2006)
Binding: Hardcover, 496 pages
Image of A Soldier's Duty: A Novel
Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (2002)
Binding: Paperback, 272 pages
Image of Making the Corps: 10th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author
Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Publisher: Scribner (2007)
Binding: Paperback, 336 pages