A sweeping history of Australia. Some of the political maneuvering descriptions were a little slow, but overall, quite worthwhile.

This book explains the story behind the surge - who supported it, who opposed it, and why it was a good move but may not be able to win the war. There's a good discussion on how the war aims have been slowly racheted down from "democracy in the middle east" to "secure and sustainable". Ricks talks about how Gen. Odierno's tactics have evolved over the course of the war. Good stuff!

A great day-by-day read of Col Mansoor's tour in Iraq. His schedule gives you an idea of the pace of life for those deployed to Iraq; from coordinating street patrols to logistics snafus to meetings with local elders, never a dull moment. A great read.

A well documented study of the early days of the Iraq war. Comes down especially hard on L. Paul Bremer; from this account it seems that he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Rumsfeld also comes in for a pummeling. Generally, don't look for kind words in this book for anyone above O-5. But definitely worth a read.

I plodded through this book, but it was kind of a struggle... lots of unfamiliar names and political turmoil and whatnot. A scholarly work, but I found it slow going.