American Soldier

By: General Tommy R. Franks, Malcolm McConnell

Narrated by: Eric Conger

Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Few individuals have the chance to contribute so much of themselves to the American story as General Tommy Franks. In American Soldier, he captures it all.

The Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command from July 2000 through July 2003, General Tommy Franks made history leading American and Coalition forces to victory in Afghanistan and Iraq, the decisive battles that launched the war on terrorism.

General Franks retraces his journey from a small-town boyhood through a lifetime of military service, including his heroic tour as an Artillery officer in Vietnam, where he was wounded three times.

Drawing on military records declassified for this book, Franks offers the first true insider's account of the war on terrorism. He puts you in the Operations Center for the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom just weeks after 9/11, capturing its uncertain early days and the historic victory that followed.

When President Bush focused world attention on the threat of Iraq, Franks seized the moment to implement a bold new vision of joint warfare in planning Operation Iraqi Freedom. Rejecting Desert Storm-style massive troop deployment in favor of flexibility and speed, Franks was questioned by the defense establishment, including Secretary of State Colin Powell. Yet his vision was proven on the ground: Within three weeks, Baghdad had fallen.

Franks describes the covert diplomacy that helped secure international cooperation for the war, and speaks frankly of intelligence shortcomings that endangered our troops, and of the credible WMD threats that influenced every planning decision. He offers an unvarnished portrait of the "disruptive and divisive" Washington bureaucracy, and a candid assessment of the war's aftermath. Yet in the end, as American Soldier demonstrates, the battles in Afghanistan and Iraq remain heroic victories, wars of liberation won by troops whose valor was "unequalled by anything in the annals of war".

©2004 Tommy R. Franks (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers

Not the best book to listen to

This book is too long and could have been shortened had there not been so much detail about military weaponry and equipment. Perhaps this book is better read than listened to. I also found it interesting that Franks focused on his life and the need about respect others. However, in the middle of the book, and for no apparent reason (perhaps political), he takes shots at Richard Clarke, but no one else. While I'm not a big fan of Richard Clarke, I just thought it was random and unnecessary.

True Story well written

Ok... So, why give it a one star? This book is written well... and nearly everything in it is true. However, it is a love story between T Franks and D Rumsfeld. This book just reinforces that the relationship between CENTCOM and the JCS was a disaster and that T Franks did what he wanted. It is the job of CENTCOM to do his job, not acquiesce to everything the OSD wants. Unfortunately, in this case, Franks and Rumsfeld had the same idea... go in fast and furious and extending the lines of operation and logistics without enough troops to handle Phase 4 operations. Franks was the worst Cdr CENTCOM has ever had. The military is way better off without him. I have yet to bump in to someone in the service that has good things to say about Franks.