Soldier (2006)

When Colin Powell's 1995 memoir, My American Journey, was published, the Desert Storm war hero was perhaps the most popular and influential political figure the U.S. had seen in decades. How he fell from those heights to the frustrating position of secretary of state under George W. Bush — where he was undermined by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and fellow neocons — makes up the meatiest sections of Karen DeYoung's bio, Soldier. Those same parts are also the most exhaustingly detailed, resulting in an essential companion to the dozens of recent books about Bush foreign policy, but one that might lead to a war of attrition for casual readers.