War in a Time of Peace : Bush, Clinton and the Generals

“The Best and the Brightest” was David Halberstam’s classic account of how America became involved in Vietnam. In “War in a Time of Peace”, he brilliantly evokes the internecine conflicts, the untrammelled egos, and the struggles for dominance among the key figures in the White House, the State department, and the military in the post-Soviet period. He shows how in the last ten years the Vietnam war has shaped American politics and policy makers and especially the decisions of men who served in the war, such as General Colin Powell and presidential advisors Richard Holbrooke and Anthony Lake as well as those who did not. Sweeping in scope and impressive in its depth, “War in a Time of Peace” provides fascinating portraits of the main players including Clinton, Bush, Reagan and Kissinger and a stunning view of what lies behind the US government over which George W. Bush now presides. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand America in the twenty-first century. “Halbertsam’s most important book, more ambitious and revealing than “The Best and the Brightest” Just as Vietnam was the test case for our elders, the Balkans and other tragic conflicts became the proving ground for the Bush and Clinton administrations. What Halberstam has written is nothing less than a “War and Peace” for our generation” – Leslie H. Gelb, President, Council on Foreign Relations.