My book for December was Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice by Chris Wallace. I saw Wallace talk about the book on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. I read and enjoyed Chris Wallace's other book on the development of the atomic bomb last year.
The book focuses on the final eight months of intelligence gathering, national security strategizing, and meticulous military planning that leads to the climactic mission when SEAL Team Six closed in on bin Laden. It delivers new information collected from in-depth interviews with more than a dozen central figures, including Admiral William H. McRaven—leader of the operation in Pakistan—as well as CIA Director Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, and two members of SEAL Team Six who participate in the raid.
Overall, this book is not as well written as Wallace's first book: Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World. In particular, I felt like the first half of the book dragged. When it shifts to the planning for the raid, I found the book very compelling. Given the strength of the second half of the book, I recommend it.
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