From one of America's greatest non-fiction writers, this epic saga deals with the rise and fall of American power, from Vietnam to Afghanistan, through the life of one man. Awarded the Los Angeles Times Biography Prize 2019 Nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Awards 2020 Richard Holbrooke was one of the most legendary and complex figures in recent American history. Exceptionally talented, self-employed, and with almost inhuman energy and desires, he was both admired and hated. From his days as a young advisor in Vietnam to his final efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, Holbrooke embodied the American desire for leadership on the global stage. He was the driving force behind the Dayton Accords that ended the wars in the Balkans, America's greatest diplomatic success in the post-Cold War era. His strength lay in his absolute belief in himself and the idea of a dynamic and generous foreign policy. However, his bluntness and relentless self-promotion ensured that he never rose to the highest ranks of the government he so desperately desired. Holbrooke's story is the story of America's rise and fall during its era of dominance: the power, drive, and sense of possibility, as well as its tendency for excess and reckless self-confidence. Drawing from Holbrooke's diaries and documents, George Packer's narrative is both intimate and epic in revealing the portrait of this extraordinary and deeply flawed man, as well as the elite sectors of society and government he inhabited.

Masterpiece of the Year from Guardian, Financial Times, Spectator

Pages: 624, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm