HOUSE OF WAR The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power

Carroll chronicles the rise to power of the Pentagon and the American military. The author's father was a top Pentagon official with the Air Force for more than 20 years. His thesis is that, since its creation, the Pentagon has operated beyond the control of any other arm of government or the American people. It has shaped foreign policy, even domestic policy. As narrator, Carroll's tone is relentlessly dour, and he has a distracting habit of breaking sentences at odd and, at times, awkward places. He does not have a widely recognized voice, so using a more skilled reader would have taken nothing away from the production. This is an important work and deserves a better presentation. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]