From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he'd long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving as president of Texas A & M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.

Includes index.

Summoned to duty -- Iraq, Iraq and Iraq -- Mending fences, finding allies -- Waging war on the Pentagon -- Beyond Iraq: a complicated world -- Good war, bad war -- One damn thing after another -- Transition -- New term, new agenda, old secretary -- Afghanistan: a house divided -- Difficult foes, difficult friends -- Meanwhile, back in Washington -- War, war? and revolution -- At war to the last day -- Reflections.

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