Peter Bergen All the President’s Wars review and information book on Twenty-Five Years of America’s War on Terror. W.W. Norton will publish the book by Peter Bergen about the history of war on terror, September 8, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Peter Bergen All the President’s Wars reviews and information

Whenever a review of the book All the President’s Wars, Twenty-Five Years of America’s War on Terror, written by Peter Bergen, the American historian, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

• “Damning and meticulously researched… Bergen is distinctly suited to tell this sprawling story.” (Scott Anderson, New York Times)
• “With an even hand and expert skill, Peter Bergen holds US presidents and policymakers accountable for blunders of historic proportion.” (Jane Mayer, The New Yorker)
• “With his signature clarity and unparalleled insight, Peter Bergen traces the decisions made in the Oval Office and on the battlefield after 9/11–and the lasting consequences that followed. A timely, incisive, and compelling account of a war whose impact is far from over.” (Clarissa Ward, CNN)

All the President’s Wars

Twenty-Five Years of America’s War on Terror

• Author: Peter Bergen (United States)
• Book type: American History
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
• To be released: September 9, 2026
• Length: 432 pages
• Format: hardback / ebook
• Prize: $32.99
• Buying options >

Blub of the book on the American War on Terror written by Peter Bergen

From the New York Times best-selling author, an eye-opening history of the United States’ war on terror across four presidential administrations.

A Council on Foreign Relations Essential Read to Understand Foreign Policy Better.

2026 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11, the most devastating attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Within days, the United States began to declare its war on terror: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,” President George W. Bush proclaimed. The resulting war on terror cost trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, a series of misguided wars, and the damaged perception of American power. And yet despite its blunders, this campaign has kept America safe from large-scale foreign attack.

Based on hundreds of interviews, All the Presidents’ Wars focuses on critical decisions of four successive presidents—Bush, Obama, Biden, and Trump—and their global consequences. One of the few journalists to interview Osama bin Laden and have unparalleled access to the US intelligence community, Peter Bergen covers the history that might have been avoided: the many terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups around the world; the rise of al-Qaeda in Iraq, largely responsible for the Iraqi civil war in the mid-2000s; the birth of ISIS; the resurrection of Afghanistan’s Taliban; and Trump’s war with Iran. From the failure to capture and the eventual killing of Osama bin Laden to the disastrous rise of sectarian violence in the Middle East, Bergen traces the profound ramifications of this epoch in American life.

All the Presidents’ Wars also explores the innovations and unintended consequences of each presidency’s military and political decisions, including debates over military intervention and withdrawal; the tactics of special operations units, armed drones, and armies of counterterrorism partners; and whether the idea of war ever properly captured the defining conflict of recent American foreign policy. All the Presidents’ Wars is essential reading to understand America’s devastating war on terror and to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Peter Bergen is the author of seven books, including Manhunt, one of three New York Times bestsellers. Bergen is vice president at New America, professor at Arizona State University, and CNN national security analyst.

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