A clear-eyed account of learning how to lead in a chaotic world, by General Jim Mattis-the former Secretary of Defense and one of the most formidable strategic thinkers of our time-and Bing West, a former assistant secretary of defense and combat Marine.
Jim Mattis is a Pacific Northwest native who served more than four
decades as a Marine infantry officer. Following two years as the
Secretary of Defense, he returned to the Northwest and is now the
Davies Family Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at
Stanford University.
Bing Westhas written eleven books, including, with Jim Mattis, the
#1New York Times bestseller Call Sign Chaos. He served as a Marine
grunt in Vietnam and later as an assistant secretary of defense in
the Reagan administration. He has been on hundreds of patrols in
Iraq and Afghanistan, including many operations with General
Mattis. He is a member of the Military History Working Group at the
Hoover Institution. He lives with his wife, Betsy, in Hilton Head,
South Carolina, and Newport, Rhode Island.
“A portrait of [Jim] Mattis’s life-defining love for the Marine
Corps . . . His prose sings. . . . He clearly expresses a
commander’s intent in any situation and gives latitude to adapt to
circumstances. . . . Each mission gives him another body of
knowledge, another strength, greater capacity to live his devotion
to his country.”—David Brooks, The New York Times
“An instructive and entertaining leadership manual for executives,
managers, and military officers . . . Mattis is a gifted
storyteller.”—Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic
“Combining simplicity and thoughtfulness, Jim Mattis has produced a
classic account of a lifetime of service. Call Sign Chaos is a
lesson in leadership and an evocation of humanity in the cause of
peace.”—Henry Kissinger
“In this magnificent memoir, Jim Mattis details many important
events in his career, but he also does much more: He explains how
he is informed by his experiences in a way that teaches you how to
learn from your own. Read, enjoy, and learn.”—George Shultz
“A recurring theme in Call Sign Chaos is the need to understand the
world beyond one’s immediate discipline. . . . The
result is an engaging, insightful study of leadership.”—The Wall
Street Journal
“His book is a compendium of circumstances often beyond his
control. What makes it a compelling read is how this warriormonk
dealt with and learned from the jams he found himself in.”—NPR
“The book’s main concerns . . . are the practical
and ethical challenges of military leadership. Mattis draws on his
deep professionalism and knowledge of military history in
describing the stress of battle and the tough decision to send
soldiers into the field to kill and be killed.”—Foreign Affairs
“In Call Sign Chaos, James Mattis shares a lifetime of learning
from wars that failed to offer a better tomorrow. We need to take
his lessons and do better in the future.”—New Statesman
“A leadership book that should be deeply studied and
absorbed . . . Since he focuses on the three levels
of leadership: direct, executive, and
strategic . . . the book has a place in service
academies and ROTC programs, as well as basic, advanced,
intermediate level and senior service college professional military
education institutions.”—Small Wars Journal
“The book will cement Mattis’s own place in the pantheon of
military reading lists. . . . A nuanced
discussion of leadership and democracy.”—Proceedings: U.S. Naval
Institute
“By presenting his own hard-earned insights on effective leadership
qualities, Mattis encourages fellow Americans themselves to think
more explicitly about leadership benchmarks applicable to civilians
and the military alike.”—Washington Independent Review of Books
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