Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century - 11 weeks
S 2020

Richard Holbrooke may have been the last in a line of free-wheeling, larger-than-life United States diplomats.  He was a central figure in most of this country's foreign entanglements, from Vietnam to Afghanistan.  His greatest success was the Dayton Accord, resolving the wars in the former Yugoslavia.  But his two dreams, winning a Nobel Peace Prize and being named as Secretary of State, eluded him.  George Packer's deeply researched book offers a balanced appraisal of a massively ambitious man as well as a lens through which to view fifty momentous years of United States foreign policy.

1.  Prologue, Dreams so Far Away, and Vietnam (part 1)

2.  Vietnam (part 2)

3.  How Does He Do It?

4.  Swallow Hard

5.  Since I Am Now Hopeless

6.  Bosnia (part 1)

7.  Bosnia (part 2)

8.  We Are Close to Our Dreams

9.  You're Either Going to Win or Fall

10.  Afghanistan (part 1)

11.  Afghanistan (part 2) and Epilogue

George Packer, Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (Knopf)