Duty

The former secretary of defense offers a candid look at his experiences serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Secretary Gates, who thought he'd left Washington politics behind when he became president of Texas A&M University, found himself answering the call of duty when he was asked to help the nation mired in two wars. In this unsparing memoir, meticulously fair in its assessments, he takes readers behind the scenes of his nearly five years as a secretary at war: re-creating the battles with Congress, both presidents he served, the military itself, and the vast Pentagon bureaucracy; and his efforts to turn the tide in Iraq, provide guidance for President Obama's new administration, and outline a plan for Afghanistan that still serves as a template for NATO forces fighting there today.