First published 2012
Michael Hastings follows General Stanley McChrystal across Europe and Afghanistan during spring 2010. McChrystal commands international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. His staff calls him nicknames like Big Stan, M4, and Stan. They see him as a rock star. Hastings watches McChrystal and his team party and criticize the Obama administration. They complain about weak leadership from Washington. Hastings publishes his observations in Rolling Stone months later. The article creates a political firestorm. Obama fires McChrystal immediately. Hastings expands his reporting into this book. He takes readers on patrol missions through Afghan villages. He sits in on late night strategy sessions with senior military advisors. He visits hotel bars where spies and prostitutes mix with nation builders. Hastings examines old school generals and counterintelligence experts called COINdinistas. He reveals the bitter fights between military commanders and bureaucrats. The book exposes the complex machinery of an unwinnable war.
Genres: political-science, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, military-history, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, power-dynamics
Setting: Afghanistan, Europe
Period: 2010
417 pages · Hardcover · Blue Rider Press
Content warnings: violence