Book cover of How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon

Book description

"A dynamic work of reportage" (The New York Times) written "with clarity and...wit" (The New York Times Book Review) about what happens when the ancient boundary between war and peace is erased.

Once, war was a temporary state of affairs. Today, America's wars are everywhere and forever: our enemies change…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book entertains while recounting the militarization of our foreign policy. Post-retirement, I worked briefly for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and later as a contractor helping to train military units headed for Iraq and Afghanistan. Our professional military is a superb fighting machine but the decisions to invade Iraq and Afghanistan inevitably resulted in challenges diplomats and development workers are best equipped to handle. The budget-slashing reinvention of government during the Clinton years meant there weren’t enough trained civilians to handle existing priorities much less a surge to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. As Rosa Brooks writes, from the…

If you love How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything...

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Want books like How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything.

Browse books like How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything

Book cover of The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III
Book cover of Circle in the Sand: The Bush Dynasty in Iraq
Book cover of The Ambassadors: America's Diplomats on the Front Lines

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,395

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything, you might also like...

Book cover of The Tao of Poison

The Tao of Poison by Isham Cook,

A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.

The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extorts…

Book cover of Draakensky: A Supernatural Tale of Magick and Romance

Draakensky by Paula Cappa,

A wind sorcerer. A dark spirit. An unsolved murder.

On the haunted Draakensky Windmill Estate, sketch artist Charlotte Knight arrives to live on the property, hired to illustrate the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke—a bright and lucrative opportunity to boost her struggling art career. 

She meets the reclusive spinster Jaa…

5 book lists we think you will like!