  | Book Details Title: The Great Rift: Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship That Defined an Era |
Book DescriptionReview “Illuminating [and] insightful . . . A significant work of American history.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Pick up this engaging book for its insights into Cheney and Powell, but take away the two visions for American leadership they embodied.” ―The New York Times Book Review“In his excellent recounting of the rise and fall of the friendship of two major figures in the two Bush presidencies, James Mann tells, in a vivid and compelling way, the story of the American response to twenty years of earthshaking global events: the end of the Cold War, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and especially the two wars against Saddam Hussein.” ―Michael Mandelbaum, author of The Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth“The Great Rift cements James Mann’s reputation as an essential historian of U.S. foreign policy in modern times. This riveting character study shows how two of the Bush family’s foremost advisers went from allies to adversaries―and what their split tells us about the Republican party in the age of Trump. Mann has done that rare thing: he has captured history in motion.” ―David Greenberg, author of Republic of Spin and Nixon’s Shadow“In James Mann’s powerful new book, The Great Rift, Iraq bookends the fraught and consequential relationship between Colin Powell and Dick Cheney. Deftly using their cooperation and competition as his lens, Mann provides a trenchant, engrossing, and ultimately sad chronicle of the rise and fall of American global leadership after the Cold War.” ―Timothy Naftali, author of George H. W. Bush and founding director of the federal Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum“More than an account of an intimate Washington partnership that degenerated into mutual loathing, this is a study of the limits of unswerving conviction on the one hand, and anti-conceptual pragmatism on the other. As such, it is a warning for the future no less than an account of the past.” ―Eliot A. Cohen, former counselor of the Department of State and author of The Big Stick and Supreme Command“James Mann’s gripping account of the rise and fall of Dick Cheney and Colin Powell is almost Shakespearean in its pitch-perfect portrayal of two close friends turned bitter foes, whose ambition and internecine warfare played a key role in America’s disastrous involvement in the war in Iraq, with grievous effects that continue to this day.” ―Lynne Olson, bestselling author of Madame Fourcade’s Secret War and Citizens of London“In this brisk, penetrating narrative, James Mann offers a thoroughly original way of understanding critical events at the highest levels of government over the last three decades. The Great Rift is outstanding.” ―Jonathan Alter, author of The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope and The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies Read more About the Author James Mann is the author of several books on American politics and national security issues, including Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush’s War Cabinet and The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power. A longtime correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, he is currently a fellow in residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in Washington, D.C. Read more Customers Review: This book was a terrific read for me. I lived through this “Era” and paid close attention to it. On the one hand the book affirmed my belief that Cheney is a criminal – however much anyone may ascribe his intentions as good he never took account of what he wrought, never took responsibility for what is clearly a mistake with regard to our involvement in Iraq and how we got there and planned for it, and it’s any wonder how many lives he was responsible for negatively affecting or losing due to his arrogance and war lust – the ultimate chickenhawk, along with a number of his cronies. And how much treasur, in lives and gold, has been squandered due to this war, and while Bush was president, and surely he was the “decider”, this book makes clear what anyone who’s followed this chapter in our history already knows, it was Cheney and Rumsfeld who got us to where we’re at now with regard to this fiasco.Powell is scorched by this, too, and it’s interesting to see how two men who considered themselves friends, who could literally finish each other’s sentences at one point in their relationship, could diverge, or have a “rift” to the degree that they did. Did they REALLY know each other as well as they seemed to think? Likely not, and with them both in very different places now it’s hard to see how they ever really shared that much from the start.Not sure that this covers much in the way of new ground, but as I said for me it was gripping. We’re dealing with a very different world now and Cheney and Powell seem removed from that, but I think this helps one understand how we got to where we’re at, in particular with regard to the bog of our Iraq involvement, and provides insight into how the gears of government work in DC, or don’t work as the case may be. | |
4 reviews