Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World

Brilliant overview of the problems concerning American foreign policy. The author suggests some solutions. Highly recommended!

Gen McMaster has produced an epic discussion of many significant issues of national policy , both foreign and domestic based on a lifetime of public service in the military and top echelon of government. His writing is extremely well researched, literate and condensed and yet colorful and passionate.Although he served in a critical role in the Trump administration and participated in many of the meetings and in the development of strategies relating to defense and foreign policy he neither defends the administration nor attacks it but rather provides thoughtful analysis and background facts on nuclear proliferation, Iran, N Korea , Russia, China, Japan, and a host of other nations. The critical role of China and Russia in manipulating what US internet viewers see and hear is also covered and very insightful.For those who follow international events the work provides a great background on many of the more troublesome areas of the world and a discussion of why certain issues such as N Korean/Iranian nuclear proliferation are so critical.His writing benefits from his love of history, insights and a style probably developed in the military of focusing on communicating all of the critical information with brevity and at the same time sufficient foundational material to assist understanding the significance of seemingly unrelated events.No doubt the book benefitted , as he acknowledges, from the many who assisted him in its development and fact checking. Incredibly readable (or listenable in AUDIBLE book form) . The narration is by the author which adds greatly to the communication of many ideas where inflection rather than dictation makes a huge difference.Were I to add a wish it would be a few more chapters including some of the issues facing the African continent.Regardless of the reader's stance on the political spectrum the book will probably move their views towards the center.

I am amazed by the depth of McMaster’s knowledge, the intelligence of his geopolitical analysis, the clarity of his exposition, and the illuminating lucidity of his thoughts. This is one of the best books on geopolitics the reader interested in this matter can find.

If we take our individal freedom in western democracies for granted we could face a very unpleasant wake up in the not so distant future. This book describes the threats in a profound and understandable way. The author witnessed the end of the cold war in Germany (like me by the way) and reveals his personal experience which lends authenticity and credibility to his analysis. Very important read for everybody who cares about the future of our open societies.

I’ve followed HR McMaster in podcasts for some time, and he has excellent insight. This book talks about our four key geopolitical challenges: the return of great power competition; trans-national terrorism; rogue states; and cyberwarfare.It’s written not by a commentator, but someone who was there. This is an good follow-on read to The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton.