A Pretext for War - by James Bamford (Paperback)

About the Book

The bestselling author of "Body of Secrets" and "The Puzzle Palace" presents a sweeping, authoritative, and fearless account of the failures of America's intelligence agencies and the Bush administration's calculated efforts to sell a war to the American people.

Book Synopsis

A Pretext for War reveals the systematic weaknesses behind the failure to detect or prevent the 9/11 attacks, and details the Bush administration's subsequent misuse of intelligence to sell preemptive war to the American people. Filled with unprecedented revelations, from the sites of "undisclosed locations" to the actual sources of America's Middle East policy, A Pretext for War is essential reading for anyone concerned about the security of the United States.

Acclaimed author James Bamford-whose classic book The Puzzle Palace first revealed the existence of the National Security Agency-draws on his unparalleled access to top intelligence sources to produce a devastating expose of the intelligence community and the Bush administration.

Review Quotes

"Probably the best one-volume companion to the harrowing events in the war on terrorism since 1996." -Time"Highly readable and well-researched. . . . Bamford does a superb job of laying out and tying together threads of the Sept. 11 intelligence failures and their ongoing aftermath, using original research, the public record and a light, fast-paced writing touch." -The Washington Post Book World "A damning portrait of the country's intelligence agencies. . . . Bamford unearths new details . . . to create a vivid, unsettling narrative. . . . Highly persuasive." -The New York Times"Not only contains significant new information, but also combines that information with previously known material to make . . . sense of Sept. 11 and its aftermath. . . . A vital book." -Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

About the Author

James Bamford is the author of Body of Secrets and The Puzzle Palace. He has written on national security for The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. His Rolling Stone article "The Man Who Sold the War" won the 2006 National Magazine Award for reporting. Formerly the Washington investigative producer for ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Bamford lives in Washington, D.C.