Soldier Audiobook By Karen DeYoung cover art

Soldier

The Life of Colin Powell

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Soldier

By: Karen DeYoung
Narrated by: Roscoe Orman
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Over the course of a lifetime of service to his country, Colin Powell became a national hero, a beacon of wise leadership and, according to polls, “the most trusted man in America.” From his humble origins as the son of Jamaican immigrants to the highest levels of government in four administrations, he helped guide the nation through some of its most heart-wrenching hours. Now, in the first full biography of one of the most admired men of our time, award-winning Washington Post journalist Karen DeYoung takes us from Powell’s Bronx childhood and meteoric rise through the military ranks to his formative roles in Washington’s corridors of power and his controversial tenure as secretary of state.
With dramatic new information about the inner workings of an administration locked in ideological combat, DeYoung makes clearer than ever before the decision-making process that took the nation to war and addresses the still-unanswered questions about Powell’s departure from his post shortly after the 2004 election. Drawing on interviews with U.S. and foreign sources as well as with Powell himself, and with unprecedented access to his personal and professional papers, Soldier is a revelatory portrait of an American icon: a man at once heroic and all-too-humanly fallible.©2006 Karen Deyoung; (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Presidents & Heads of State Military & War Biographies & Memoirs Politics & Activism American Foreign Policy Politicians Military War Iran Vietnam War Entertainment & Celebrities Social justice Cultural & Regional Middle East Africa Celebrity

Critic reviews

“Judicious, thorough, unstinting . . . Karen DeYoung’s fine new biography, with its privileged glimpses into policy battles and high-level backbiting in the Bush administration, is sure to be one of this year’s top newsmaking books.”
—David Walton, Dallas Morning News

“It becomes clear that Powell--who harbored serious doubts about the wisdom of invasion and who frequently found himself an outsider in an administration dominated by neo-conservative hawks--was prescient about a host of issues, from the difficulties of rebuilding a postwar Iraq to the need for higher troop levels and multilateral support.”
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“DeYoung . . . imbues this story with narrative tension and a steady accumulation of detail that shows exactly how [Powell] allowed himself to be used, mastered and then cast aside by his antagonists in the administration . . . A fascinating study in bureaucratic maneuvering, groupthink and subtle self-deception.”
—George Packer, Washington Post Book World

“The most explosive book of the fall. An early look reveals . . . new information about the White House’s preparation for war, internecine conflicts within the war Cabinet, and—most surprising—Powell’s account of his unceremonious exit from the administration.”
—Esquire

“DeYoung brings nuance and psychological depth to her analysis.”
--Gary Kamiya, Salon

“The story of a good soldier sacrificed . . . An excellent study in leadership--and lack thereof.”
--Kirkus

“Diligent, sympathetic, but not uncritical . . . It doesn’t pull punches.”
--Joseph Lelyveld, New York Review of Books

“DeYoung comes into her own . . . discussing Powell’s brief flirtation with presidential politics and the bureaucratic infighting that has characterized this Bush administration from the start . . . Sheds further light on a story whose broad outlines are well-known.”
--Tim Rutten, The Los Angeles Times

“A consistently interesting recollection of [Powell’s] varied career, shot through with heavy doses of duty, honor, and rectitude.”
--The Atlantic Monthly

“DeYoung covers Powell’s entire career in this nuanced, comprehensively researched first complete biography . . . DeYoung presents her subject as above all a soldier.”
--Publishers Weekly
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Colin Powell's Biography "Soldier" by Karen DeYoung is no doubt a page turner. I gained a ton of inspiration, insight on national security, and perspective on his school of thought. Moreover, by glimpsing the formative years of his time as an Army officer, I was able to understand his reasoning as the architect of Operation Desert Storm and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff under George HW Bush and Bill Clinton. Finally, I gained a clearer understanding on the struggle in the decision to invade Iraq (jaw dropper). (There's so much substance in this book that a Facebook post won't do it justice.)

By the end of Colin Powell's as George Bush's Secretary of State, Powell was ready to hang his hat. He didn't believe that becoming the president was a part of his destiny and wasn't pressured into doing so. He left the Washington with this disposition:

"I want to be remembered as a good public servant... someone who truly believed in his country, loved it and served to the best of his ability. As long as I'm remembered as somebody who served, that's good enough for me." -CP

loved it!

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This was a great book. You can get some good leadership knowledge listening to this.

Great Book

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Great story of a rags to soldier to statesman. Performance is entertaining and well red.

One of the Better Books Written by a Soldier

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