Small Wars Journal

Book Review: McChrystal's Way of Fighting Modern War

Thu, 02/28/2013 - 9:19am

The National Interest book review by Gary Hart: Stanley McChrystal, My Share of the Task: A Memoir.

Unlike Tolstoy's families, uninteresting books are uninteresting in their own way; interesting books all operate on several levels. Retired U.S. Army general Stanley McChrystal’s My Share of the Task operates on three levels: first, the level of military memoir; second, as a detailed, even intimate, inside perspective on the concurrent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and third, and perhaps most important historically, as an account of the U.S. military’s transition from traditional wars between nation-states to the unconventional and irregular insurgency warfare of the early twenty-first century...

It would be a great surprise if this book does not become required reading at U.S. (and perhaps other) military academies and even more so in the network of command and staff colleges for rising officers. There is much to be learned here about strategy, tactics and doctrine, as well as the necessity for their adaptability in often rapidly changing circumstances. This is especially true as our military has been transitioning into an era marked by increased integration of services and commands and the rise of special operations...

 

Comments

KathleenAllen

Sat, 04/17/2021 - 2:10am

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davidbfpo

Thu, 02/28/2013 - 1:39pm

Good catch Dave.

Worth reading the entire review, which has some good quotes and an neat ending.

Another observer, Peter Bergen, has commented that the book will change our understanding of what happened in Iraq.

There is now, March 4th 2013, a SWC thread on this, What is McChrystal sharing? Link: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?p=145083#post145083