Includes index.

Canada go

From the former secretary of defens rendid, vividly wrimen scent of his experien serving Presidents Georges and Barack Obama fluring the wars in Afghan

Before Robert M. Getes reveived a call from the White House in sood, he thought he'd left Washington politics behind after working for si presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, be was happy in his role as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help amation mired in two wars and to all the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty. Now, in this unsparing memoir, metiendously fait in its assessments, he takes us behind the scenes of his nearly five years as a secretary at war: the bat tles with Congress, the two presidenta he served. the military itself, and the vast Pentagon bureaucracy, his efforts to help Bush turn the tide in Iraq: his role as a guiding, and often dissenting, voice for Obama, the ardent devotion to and love for American soldiers his "heroes"-he developed on the job

In relating his personal journey as secretary. Gates draws us into the innermost satictums of gov erument and military power during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, illuminating iconic fugures. vital negotiations, and critical situations in reveal ing, intimate detail. Offering unvarnished apprais als of Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Presidents Bush and Obama, among other key play ers. Gates exposes the full spectrum of behind-closed-doors politicking within both the Bush and Obama administrations

He discusses the great controversies of his tenure surges in both Iraq and Afghanistan, how to deal with Iran and Syria. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Guantánamo Bay, Wikileaks-as they played out behind the television cameras. He brings to life the Situation Room during the Bin Laden raid. And. searingly, he shows how congressional debate and action or inaction on everything from equipment budgeting to troop withdrawals was often motivated. to his increasing despair and anger, more by party politics and media impact than by members' desires to protect our soldiers and ensure their success.

However embroiled he became in the trials of Washington, Gates makes clear that his heart was always in the most important theater of his tenure as secretary: the front lines. We journey with him to both war zones as he meets with active-duty troops and their commanders, awed by their courage, and also witness him greet coffin after flag-draped cof-fin returned to U.S. soil, heartbreakingly aware that he signed every deployment order. In frank and poi-gnant vignettes, Gates conveys the human cost of war. and his admiration for those brave enough to under-take it when necessary.

Duty tells a powerful and deeply personal story that allows us an unprecedented look at two adminis-trations and the wars that have defined them.

ROBERT M. GATES served as secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He also served as an officer in the United States Air Force and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency before being appointed director of the agency by President George H. W. Bush. He was a member of the National Security Council staff in four administrations and served eight presidents of both political parties. Additionally, Gates has a continuing distinguished record in the private sector and in academia, including currently serving as chancellor of the College of William and Mary. He holds a Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University.

Also available from Random House Audio

WITH 32 PAGES OF COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS

Jacket photograph by Platon

Jacket design by Chip Kidd

Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher, New York www.aaknopf.com