Running Critical: The Silent War, Rickover, and General Dynamics

Based on diaries, tape recordings, confidential documents, and exclusive interviews, this expose illustrates fundamental weaknesses in the defense industry by chronicling the scandalous dealings between the U.S. Navy and General Dynamics

Business & Money

Tyler, Patrick

Processes & Infrastructure

Harper&Row

Biography & History

"Once in the military system, Israelis never fully exit," writes the prizewinning journalist Patrick Tyler in the prologue to Fortress Israel. "They carry the military identity for life, not just through service in the reserves until age forty-nine . . . but through lifelong expectations of loyalty and secrecy." The military is the country to a great extent, and peace will only come, Tyler argues, when Israel's military elite adopt it as the national strategy.
Fortress Israel is an epic portrayal of Israel's martial culture―of Sparta presenting itself as Athens. From Israel's founding in 1948, we see a leadership class engaged in an intense ideological struggle over whether to become the "light unto nations," as envisioned by the early Zionists, or to embrace an ideology of state militarism with the objective of expanding borders and exploiting the weaknesses of the Arabs. In his first decade as prime minister, David Ben-Gurion conceived of a militarized society, dominated by a powerful defense establishment and capable of defeating the Arabs in serial warfare over many decades. Bound by self-reliance and a stern resolve never to forget the Holocaust, Israel's military elite has prevailed in war but has also at times overpowered Israel's democracy. Tyler takes us inside the military culture of Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, and Benjamin Netanyahu, introducing us to generals who make decisions that trump those of elected leaders and who disdain diplomacy as appeasement or surrender.
Fortress Israel shows us how this martial culture envelops every family. Israeli youth go through three years of compulsory military service after high school, and acceptance into elite commando units or air force squadrons brings lasting prestige and a network for life. So ingrained is the martial outlook and identity, Tyler argues, that Israelis are missing opportunities to make peace even when it is possible to do so. "The Zionist movement had survived the onslaught of world wars, the Holocaust, and clashes of ideology," writes Tyler, "but in the modern era of statehood, Israel seemed incapable of fielding a generation of leaders who could adapt to the times, who were dedicated to ending . . . [Israel's] isolation, or to changing the paradigm of military preeminence."
Based on a vast array of sources, declassified documents, personal archives, and interviews across the spectrum of Israel's ruling class, Fortress Israel is a remarkable story of character, rivalry, conflict, and the competing impulses for war and for peace in the Middle East.

Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country--and Why They Can't Make Peace

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Farrar. Straus and Giroux

A World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East--from the Cold War to the War on Terror

The White House and the Middle East—from the Cold War to the War on Terror The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so—and as Patrick Tyler shows in this thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the region, the story of American presidents’ dealings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, as well as of policymaking and diplomacy. Tyler draws on newly opened presidential archives to dramatize the approach to the Middle East across U.S. presidencies from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. He takes us into the Oval Office and shows how our leaders made momentous decisions; at the same time, the sweep of this narrative—from the Suez crisis to the Iran hostage crisis to George W. Bush’s catastrophe in Iraq—lets us see the big picture as never before. Tyler tells a story of presidents being drawn into the affairs of the region against their will, being kept in the dark by local potentates, being led astray by grasping subordinates, and making decisions about the internal affairs of countries they hardly understand. Above all, he shows how each president has managed to undo the policies of his predecessor, often fomenting both anger against America on the streets of the region and confusion at home. A World of Trouble is the Middle East book we need now: compulsively readable, free of cant and ideology, and rich in insight about the very human challenges a new president will face as he or she tries to restore America’s standing in the region.

History

Americas

A spellbinding narrative account of America in the Middle East that "reads almost like a thriller" (The Economist)
The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so―and as Patrick Tyler shows in A World of Trouble, a thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the region. The story of American presidents' dealings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, as well as of policymaking and diplomacy. 
Tyler draws on newly opened presidential archives to dramatize the approach to the Middle East across U.S. presidencies from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. He takes us into the Oval Office and shows how our leaders made momentous decisions; at the same time, the sweep of this narrative―from the Suez crisis to the Iran hostage crisis to George W. Bush's catastrophe in Iraq―lets us see the big picture as never before. Tyler tells a story of presidents being drawn into the affairs of the region against their will, being kept in the dark by local potentates, being led astray by grasping subordinates, and making decisions about the internal affairs of countries they hardly understand. Above all, he shows how each president has managed to undo the policies of his predecessor, often fomenting both anger against America on the streets of the region and confusion at home. 
A World of Trouble is the Middle East book we need now: compulsively readable, free of cant and ideology, and rich in insight about the very human challenges a new president will face as he or she tries to restore America's standing in the region.

Fortress Israel

Middle East

Farrar. Straus & Giroux

Hailed as "absorbing" by the New York Times and "suspense-filled" by Foreign Affairs, Patrick Tyler's A Great Wall became an instant classic; a must-read for anyone concerned with the complicated and combative relationship between the world's biggest and the world's most powerful nations. And no one could tell this story better than Patrick Tyler, veteran journalist and former Beijing bureau chief of the New York Times. Using brilliant original reporting from his years in China; interviews with presidents, secretaries of state, Chinese officials, and other key leaders; and 15,000 pages of newly declassified documents, Tyler illuminates a relationship usually shrouded in secrecy, miscommunication, rivalry, fascination, and fear. A Great Wall is essential reading for anyone interested in China and anyone concerned with the shifting dynamics of post-Cold War geopolitics.

A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China

Asia

PublicAffairs

Today America's role as the dominant power in international relations is anchored in the Middle East as never before, but there has never yet been a single broadly accessible narrative of how American administrations since Eisenhower's have approached the region following the creating of the Israeli state. This book tells that story for the first time. Drawing on three decades of first-hand experience both close to the circle of power in Washington and on the ground in the Middle East, Patrick Tyler will show how the region has emerged as the focus of American national interests, a battleground and morgue for thousands of American troops, and a fount of global terrorism. "A World of Trouble" begins with the rise of the new secular nationalism among the Arabs and Eisenhower's orchestration of the Suez fiasco, and takes in the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the antics of OPEC, relations with the Saudi Royal Family, the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran, the Iran - Iraq war, Israel's invasion of Lebanon, the spread of Islamic fervour through the region and the waves of violence that have followed. At each point, Tyler examines the motivation behind US policy decisions, from attempts to limit Soviet expansion to the slippery compromises made in pursuit of oil security.

World of Trouble: America in the Middle East

Portobello Books Ltd

Today America's role as the dominant power in international relations is anchored in the Middle East as never before, but there has never yet been a single broadly accessible narrative of how American administrations since Nixon's have approached the region. This book tells that story for the first time. Drawing on three decades of first-hand experience both close to the circle of power in Washington and on the ground in the Middle East, Patrick Tyler will show how the region has emerged as the focus of American national interests, a battleground and occupation zone for 150,000 American troops, and a fount of global terrorism. "A World of Trouble" begins with the rise of the new secular nationalism among the Arabs and Nixon's entry into the Middle East, and takes in the fluctuating oil market, relations with the Saudi Royal Family, the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran, the Iran-Iraq war, the spread of Islamic fervor through the region and the waves of violence that have followed. At each point, Tyler examines the motivation behind US policy decisions, from attempts to limit Soviet expansion to the slippery compromises made in pursuit of oil.

A World Of Trouble: America In The Middle East

Granta Books

Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country - and Why They Can't Make Peace

Telling the story of the military elite who run the country and why they can't make peace with its neighbours, Tyler reveals the inner workings and innermost fears of the embattled Israeli state.

Portobello Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Tyler, Patrick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Tyler, Patrick

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Tyler, Patrick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Running Critical: The Silent War, Rickover, and General Dynamics

Running Critical: The Silent War, Rickover, and General Dynamics

Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country--and Why They Can't Make Peace

A World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East--from the Cold War to the War on Terror

A World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East--from the Cold War to the War on Terror

Fortress Israel

A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China

World of Trouble: America in the Middle East

A World Of Trouble: America In The Middle East

Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country - and Why They Can't Make Peace