MixedThe Washington PostWhile ambitious and astute, the book is also diffuse and in some important ways misses its targets. The author offers an insightful history of the progressive efforts to formally circumscribe the domain of war and curb its most horrifying excesses ... To work across so many genres is challenging, and perhaps only a writer of Brooks’s caliber and experience should attempt it. But the risk of this approach is that one may engage a few of the intended target audiences but fail to reach others ... while her essential argument is fairly clear, there are times when Brooks still seems to be debating where she comes down.
Andrew J. Bacevich
MixedThe Washington PostThose familiar with Bacevich’s work will recognize the clarity of expression, the devastating directness and the coruscating wit that characterize the writing of one of the most articulate and incisive living critics of American foreign policy ... Bacevich does not explain how different decisions by U.S. policymakers over time would have delivered a more satisfactory outcome to this 'war for the Greater Middle East.' His critique would also have been strengthened by a greater empathy for decision-makers facing radical uncertainty and complexity, an unknown future, and few easy choices, and by allowing that smart, patriotic public servants sometimes get it right.
