Our Man: Richard Holbrook and the End of the American Century by George Packer.
This is a great summer read. It is about the life of Richard Holbrook.
He is best known as the diplomat who ended the Bosnian war. But this biography by George Packer gives us a complex and not so sympathetic view of this bigger than life diplomat. Holbrook was relentless in his ambition. He was no team player. But a lot of his traits lead to his diplomatic successes.
Again in these reviews, I try to get in and out fast so that you are reading the book and not listening to me.
Some quick highlights. Holbrook was on the ground as a diplomat in Vietnam. He was one of many trying to convince LBJ that Vietnam would be a lost cause.

Packer reveals a deadly incident in Bosnia that Holbrook survived but incorrectly embellished years later hurting the career of a military officer.

Packer takes us through the Dayton accords which led to peace in Bosnia. Holbrook gets rave reviews for brow beating all three sides and making them come to an agreement that ended the Civil War in the 1990s. However, we see that the agreement was not perfect, but it ended horrible suffering.
Packer goes into Holbrooks love life which was erratic and thrilling. His last wife was the former wife of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.
Holbrook died of a burst aorta while trying to negotiate peace in Afghanistan during the Obama administration.
Here are two more reasons to read this book. If you have a love of history, especially what happened in the later years of the 20th century, George Packer takes you behind the scenes of American diplomacy. Personally I reported a lot on the Bosnian war, from here in the United States, thanks to some deep intelligence sources who allowed me to see things and report on things, while also giving me many heads up about things that were happening there. For instance, I knew about the massacre at Srebernica days before it hit the news.