Michael Burleigh
In His Defence
Born in 1943 in Wichita, Kansas, Robert Gates studied history at William and Mary, Indiana and Georgetown before serving in the CIA for 26 years. Despite being dogged by allegations of involvement in the Iran–Contra affair, Gates became in 1991 the first entry-level employee to be appointed director of the agency. He retired two years later to become a university administrator but in 2006 was plucked from the presidency of Texas A&M University to become US secretary of defense, his chief recommendation being that he was very unlike his maverick predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld. Following the election of Barack Obama in 2008, Gates remained in post, serving until his retirement in the summer of 2011.
When it first appeared, Duty was filleted for headlines and whatever would help Gates promote overseas sales. Gates thought Vice President Biden ‘wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue’ but admired Hillary Clinton as a kindred spirit. His view of Congress, where he had to haggle
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'McCarthy’s portrayal of a cosmos fashioned by God for killing and exploitation, in which angels, perhaps, are predators and paedophiles, is one that continues to haunt me.'
@holland_tom on reading Blood Meridian in the American west (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/devils-own-country
'Perhaps, rather than having diagnosed a real societal malaise, she has merely projected onto an entire generation a neurosis that actually affects only a small number of people.'
@HoumanBarekat on Patricia Lockwood's 'No One is Talking About This'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/culturecrisis
*Offer ends in TWO days*
Take advantage of our February offer: a six-month subscription for only £19.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/literaryfebruary/