American Soldier - Softcover

As Commander in Chief of CENTCOM, General Tommy Franks made history by leading American and Coalition forces to victory in Afghanistan and Iraq. In this riveting memoir, General Franks retraces his journey from small-town boyhood to his role as one of history's most effective commanders.

Drawing on his own memories and newly declassified records, Franks offers the first true insider's account of the war on terrorism. He traces the development of the lean, flexible new approach to warfare he evolved with Donald Rumsfeld -- and chronicles how these principles helped to win two swift, decisive wars within two years. He reveals the secret "Turkish deception," which he used to trick Saddam into preparing for a northern ground invasion that never came, and speaks frankly of intelligence shortcomings and of the WMD threats that shaped each battle plan. And, while he writes candidly of the war's aftermath, Franks shows that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq remain heroic victories -- wars of liberation won by troops "unequalled," he writes, "by anything in the annals of war."