Condoleezza Rice or Haunted by Combat

Condoleezza Rice: An American Life: A Biography

Author: Elisabeth Bumiller

Condoleezza Rice, one of the most powerful and controversial women in the world, has until now remained a mystery behind an elegant, cool veneer. New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller peels back the layers and presents a revelatory portrait of the first black female secretary of state and President George W. Bush’s national security adviser on September 11, 2001. Drawing on extensive interviews with Rice and more than 150 others, including colleagues, family members, government officials, and critics, the book relates in more intimate detail than ever before the personal voyage of a young black woman out of the segregated American South, and offers dramatic new information about the events and personalities of the Bush administration. In the process, with great insight, Bumiller tells the sweeping story of a tumultuous half-century in the nation’s history.

The Washington Post - Robert L. Beisner

Bumiller shines not in portraying Rice in Washington but in telling her earlier story, meticulously and sensitively describing how she came to play such a significant role in Washington's new era.

The New York Times Book Review - Jacob Heilbrunn

In Condoleezza Rice: An American Life, Elisabeth Bumiller offers a fine opportunity to assess her. Bumiller is well prepared for the task: a Washington reporter for The New York Times, she covered the White House from Sept. 10, 2001, to 2006. She brings a keen eye to Rice, probing not only her tenure as a policy maker and her close ties to George W. Bush, but also her personal and professional past. Bumiller has conducted many interviews, including 10 with Rice herself. Several books about Rice have already appeared, but this one is probably the most measured, insightful and comprehensive.

The New York Times - Robert Dallek

"What distinguishes Ms. Bumiller's book from other initial studies of the Bush administration and its principal actors is its absence of finger pointing or polemics. Ms. Bumiller's biography is scrupulously fair and most notable for its above-the-battle tone. In Ms. Bumiller's rendering Ms. Rice is neither hero nor villain but an ambitious woman whose achievements and shortcomings speak for themselves."

Books about: Thomas Jefferson or Operation Valkyrie

Haunted by Combat: Understanding PTSD in War Veterans Including Women, Reservists, and Those Coming Back from Iraq

Author: Daryl S Paulson

Across history, the condition has been called "soldier's heart," "shell shock," or "combat fatigue." It is now increasingly common as our service men and women return from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other ongoing combat zones. Since 1990, Veterans' centers here have treated more than 1.6 million affected men and women, including an estimated 100,000 from the Gulf War and an untallied total from the Iraq front and fighting in Afghanistan. The number also includes some 35,000 World War II veterans, because PTSD does not fade easily. Regardless of the months, years, and even decades that have passed, the traumatic events can flash back as seemingly real as they were when they occured.In Haunted by Combat Paulson and Krippner range across history and into current experiences and treatments for this haunting disorder.

They take us into the minds of PTSD-affected veterans, as they struggle against the traumatic events lingering in their minds, sometimes exploding into violent behavior. The authors explain how and why PTSD develops--and how we can help service members take the steps to heal today.

Table of Contents:

Preface     ix
Introduction: Private Traumas, Personal Mythologies: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Combat Veterans   Jeffrey Kirkwood     xv
An Overview of Trauma and the Mind/Body     1
History of the Diagnosis and Treatment of PTSD     8
The Phenomenology of PTSD     25
The Experiences of Reserve Soldiers     34
Coming Home from the War     43
Preparing for What Is to Come     50
Civilians at Risk     61
Treatment Approaches to Traumatic Disorders     69
Keys to Treating Trauma     84
Alternative Approaches to Treating PTSD     122
Remembrance     135
Gold Along the Path     141
References     149
Index     165