Drift: The Unmooring of American Military PowerDrift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
Score Modern
What it's about
Rachel Maddow argues that the United States has drifted into a state of perpetual war. Tracing decisions from the Vietnam era through Reagan to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, she shows how presidents gained the power to wage war with little say from Congress or the public, and how the costs of war became easy to ignore.
Why it's worth reading
It reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It's a sharp, often funny argument about how America goes to war, written for general readers.
You'll love it if you liked
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
The Best and the Brightest
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth CenturyGood to know
It's short and argumentative, written from Maddow's own perspective. It reads quickly despite its subject.
By the numbers
- Readers79 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller41 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #22 of the 44 politics books we rank
- #515 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #992 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
More by Rachel Maddow
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Quick answers
Is Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power worth reading?
Yes. It reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It ranks #992 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 73.1 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power about?
Rachel Maddow argues that the United States has drifted into a state of perpetual war. Tracing decisions from the Vietnam era through Reagan to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, she shows how presidents gained the power to wage war with little say from Congress or the public, and how the costs of war became easy to ignore.
How long does it take to read Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power?
About 7 hours (275 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power?
If you liked it, try The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright, The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam or On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder.