When I read about the launch of this book, it piqued my interest a bit. I'm not much of a biography or a memoir fan, but Condoleezza Rice's tenure as the American NSA and Secretary of State were one of the most tumultuous of my times. The Indo Pak Karil war, 9/11 , Israel Palestine War, Israel Syria war, Iraq war, Afghanistan war and 26/11 attacks,North Korean Nuclear tests, the worst recession ever and George.W.Bush!!!!!
The book reads like a compilation of world happenings in the first decade of 2000. You get some insight into the way American dealt with many issues that happened and how the discussions to resolve many a dispute played out.
It was an interesting book to read. However, it could have been a lot better if it had not been stuck in a loop about Israel and Iraq.
These two entities make repeated appearances throughout the book that you almost start to believe that Condoleezza Rice did nothing else. This is partly due to the fact that she goes to great lengths to describe the logistics of each Israel - Palestine talks happen or her trips to Iraq. But when it comes to the incidents in the rest of the world, she rushes through the portions as though they were gossip news. I say this purely from observing how much space she devotes to the major incidents in the S.Asian region. Namely, the Lal Mosque siege in Pakistan, 26/11 and the Nuclear deal. These incidents were major ones and played out big time our news. Make no mistake, she has devoted chapters to two of the three items i have quoted here. But they are not described in the level of detail she describes for instance, her dinner with the Saudi King and her meeting with the Matriarch of the Royal family!
Despite all of this, this book is an interesting read in understanding how crucial the role of Secretary of State is.
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