Soldier, Karen DeYoung
Soldier, Karen DeYoung
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Soldier
The Life of Colin Powell

Author: Karen DeYoung

Narrator: Roscoe Orman

Abridged: 6 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/10/2006

Synopsis

Over the course of a lifetime of service to his country, Colin Powell became a national hero, a beacon of wise leadership and, according to polls, “the most trusted man in America.” From his humble origins as the son of Jamaican immigrants to the highest levels of government in four administrations, he helped guide the nation through some of its most heart-wrenching hours. Now, in the first full biography of one of the most admired men of our time, award-winning Washington Post journalist Karen DeYoung takes us from Powell’s Bronx childhood and meteoric rise through the military ranks to his formative roles in Washington’s corridors of power and his controversial tenure as secretary of state.
With dramatic new information about the inner workings of an administration locked in ideological combat, DeYoung makes clearer than ever before the decision-making process that took the nation to war and addresses the still-unanswered questions about Powell’s departure from his post shortly after the 2004 election. Drawing on interviews with U.S. and foreign sources as well as with Powell himself, and with unprecedented access to his personal and professional papers, Soldier is a revelatory portrait of an American icon: a man at once heroic and all-too-humanly fallible.

About The Author

Karen DeYoung has worked at the Washington Post since 1975. She has held a number of positions, including her current slot as associate editor. She also has served as assistant managing editor for national news, national editor, London bureau chief, foreign editor, and Latin America bureau chief. She has won a number of awards, including the 2003 Edward Weintal Award for Diplomatic Reporting, Sigma Delta Chi awards for investigative reporting and foreign reporting, and a Pulitzer Prize she shared with several Washington Post colleagues for national coverage of the war on terrorism. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and their two children.Roscoe Orman is an American actor best known for his role as Gordon Robinson, a human character on the children’s TV series Sesame Street. He is also an accomplished stage actor and has appeared in several productions at the Public Theater, in the Broadway production of August Wilson’s Fences, and in The Sirens at the Manhattan Theatre Club, among others. Orman's narrating credits include Karen DeYoung’s Soldier and Gary M. Pomerantz’s Wilt.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bob on July 23, 2011

Colin Powell was obviously an astounding fellow. Son of Caribbean immigrants who rises to the top of the military and political systems. He is described as a very bright, extremely self controlled charismatic leader. Reading about the workings of the White House in the 2 Iraq and 1 Afghanistan wars......more

Goodreads review by Julz on April 16, 2007

I have always admired Colin Powell, but as the Iraq debacle unfolded, I had to ask, "WHY??!?" The whole thing is so un-Powell-esque. No clear reason, no attempt at diplomacy, no exit strategy, etc. When I finished this book, I was torn between admiring him for refusing to smear a former employer and......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on June 06, 2012

I really admire Colin Powell. I saw him speak once at a conference and it is clear how much he loved his country. Through all of the nonsense in the Bush administration (and I am a Republican but I do not like the way Cheney and Rumsfeld controlled Bush), Powell remained a good soldier. In a lot of......more

Goodreads review by Javer on September 19, 2011

Portraying in words the life of one of America's most notable military personnel is a very arduous task to accomplish, yet one that the author did very well. The way the story begin with the description of humble beginnings up to the position of Secretary of State in the Bush administration, says a......more

Goodreads review by Eric on October 04, 2017

There is much here for people to admire as well as carp at, I suppose. I served at State under Powell, and found service in his Department to be very enjoyable. I recall some of the career Foreign Service types sharpening their knives almost as soon as he was sworn in. DeYoung describes an exchange......more

Quotes

“Judicious, thorough, unstinting . . . Karen DeYoung’s fine new biography, with its privileged glimpses into policy battles and high-level backbiting in the Bush administration, is sure to be one of this year’s top newsmaking books.”
—David Walton, Dallas Morning News

“It becomes clear that Powell--who harbored serious doubts about the wisdom of invasion and who frequently found himself an outsider in an administration dominated by neo-conservative hawks--was prescient about a host of issues, from the difficulties of rebuilding a postwar Iraq to the need for higher troop levels and multilateral support.”
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“DeYoung . . . imbues this story with narrative tension and a steady accumulation of detail that shows exactly how [Powell] allowed himself to be used, mastered and then cast aside by his antagonists in the administration . . . A fascinating study in bureaucratic maneuvering, groupthink and subtle self-deception.”
—George Packer, Washington Post Book World

“The most explosive book of the fall. An early look reveals . . . new information about the White House’s preparation for war, internecine conflicts within the war Cabinet, and—most surprising—Powell’s account of his unceremonious exit from the administration.”
—Esquire

“DeYoung brings nuance and psychological depth to her analysis.”
--Gary Kamiya, Salon

“The story of a good soldier sacrificed . . . An excellent study in leadership--and lack thereof.”
--Kirkus

“Diligent, sympathetic, but not uncritical . . . It doesn’t pull punches.”
--Joseph Lelyveld, New York Review of Books

“DeYoung comes into her own . . . discussing Powell’s brief flirtation with presidential politics and the bureaucratic infighting that has characterized this Bush administration from the start . . . Sheds further light on a story whose broad outlines are well-known.”
--Tim Rutten, The Los Angeles Times

“A consistently interesting recollection of [Powell’s] varied career, shot through with heavy doses of duty, honor, and rectitude.”
--The Atlantic Monthly

“DeYoung covers Powell’s entire career in this nuanced, comprehensively researched first complete biography . . . DeYoung presents her subject as above all a soldier.”
--Publishers Weekly

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