Known and Unknown

Former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's highly personal memoir is filled with previously undisclosed and recently declassified details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rumsfeld does a great job of narrating his unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history: his experiences growing up during the Depression and WWII, his service in Congress, his cabinet-level positions in the Nixon and Ford White Houses, his assignments in the Reagan administration, and his years as a successful business executive in the private sector. Rumsfeld is not self-serving as he blends narrative detail with personal judgment and reflection in his self-assured tone. He makes us realize just how much we didn't know. B.C.E. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine