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Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

H. R. McMaster (Narrator, Author), HarperAudio (Publisher)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,724 ratings
4.1 on Goodreads
1,519 ratings
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From Lt. General H.R. McMaster, US Army, ret., the former national security advisor and author of the best-selling classic Dereliction of Duty, comes a bold and provocative re-examination of the most critical foreign policy and national security challenges that face the United States, and an urgent call to compete to preserve America’s standing and security.

Across multiple administrations since the end of the Cold War, American foreign policy has been misconceived, inconsistent, and poorly implemented. As a result, America and the free world have fallen behind rivals in power and influence. Meanwhile threats to security, freedom, and prosperity such as nuclear proliferation and jihadist terrorism have grown. In Battlegrounds, H.R. McMaster describes efforts to reassess and fundamentally shift policies while he was national security advisor. And he provides a clear pathway forward to improve strategic competence and prevail in complex competitions against our adversaries.

Battlegrounds is a groundbreaking reassessment of America’s place in the world, drawing from McMaster’s long engagement with these issues, including 34 years of service in the US Army with multiple tours of duty in battlegrounds overseas and his 13 months as national security advisor in the Trump White House. It is also a powerful call for Americans and citizens of the free world to transcend the vitriol of partisan political discourse, better educate themselves about the most significant challenges to national and international security, and work together to secure peace and prosperity for future generations.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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  1. Listening Length
    17 hours and 30 minutes
  2. Author
    H. R. McMaster
  3. Narrator
    H. R. McMaster
  4. Audible release date
    September 22, 2020
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HarperAudio
  7. ASIN
    B084612V1D
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
1,724 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book provides thoughtful analysis and background facts on nuclear. They also describe the reading experience as excellent, thorough, and detailed. Opinions are mixed on readability, with some finding it well-written and simple, while others say it's not an easy read.

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ContentReading experienceStructureReadability
41 customers mention "Content"41 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content thoughtful, interesting, and approachable. They also say it provides an excellent summary of America's relations around the world for the last few decades. Readers also mention that the book is apolitical, fair, and comprehensive.

"...He is certainly an experienced, and well-informed expert on this subject, through his career in the U.S. Army and from his experience as the U.S...." Read more

"...This book is apolitical." Read more

"...The book is a journey and a embarkation point. Highly recommended...." Read more

"...defends the administration nor attacks it but rather provides thoughtful analysis and background facts on nuclear proliferation, Iran, N Korea ,..." Read more

32 customers mention "Reading experience"32 positive0 negative

Customers find the book excellent, thorough, detailed, and worth the effort. They also say it's well thought out and argued presentation of challenges.

"...This book is that good. A must read for any student of national security and anyone who cares about it, whether American...." Read more

"...And its an amazing book so go buy it." Read more

"Great product" Read more

"...it has some generally well researched history that makes it a good enough read, but if McMaster wanted to touch on the political stuff he should..." Read more

3 customers mention "Structure"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and organized.

"Thoughtful, well-organized, and based in a lifetime of experience as well as study. Timely as well as historically grounded. Highest recommendation." Read more

"...This book is well-written and well-organized, but it just doesn't add anything to the discussion about foreign/defense policy issues." Read more

"...Well thought out and very organized. This one should be on the “required reading” list of everyone in the incoming national security apparatus." Read more

28 customers mention "Readability"15 positive13 negative

Customers are mixed about the readability of the book. Some mention it's well written and simple, while others say it'll take a while to read. They also say the first half is tedious and wordy.

"...The narration is by the author which adds greatly to the communication of many ideas where inflection rather than dictation makes a huge..." Read more

"...It is so thoroughly documented that it can be tedious reading for the average reader, but it should have been read by now, and taken seriously, by..." Read more

"...But they are detailed, concise, and highly informative...." Read more

"...Oh, he's a Republican, sort of, hardly doctrinaire, and Biden doesn't mean it at all when he says he's President for "all the people."..." Read more

A Fascinating Look at the Political Landscape
5 out of 5 stars
A Fascinating Look at the Political Landscape
H.R. McMaster is a historian, military man, national security expert with personal experience in China, Afghanistan, Iraq and with Soviet Union and North Korea. The combination of his personal experience, historical knowledge and detailed research and excellent storytelling make this lengthy book a compelling listening experience. I listened to the audiobook version of this book cover to cover. I was interested in the introduction he described himself as apolitical and has never voted in an election.The depth of his personal experience and knowledge of history shines in the page of BATTLEGROUNDS: THE FIGHT TO DEFEND THE FREE WORLD. In the final pages of this book, he talks about writing it on the 11th floor of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. I recommend this book as worthwhile listeningW. Terry Whalin is an editor and the author of more than 60 books including his latest 10 Publishing Myths: Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed.
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Top reviews from the United States

Father of Five, '95
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent evaluation of the challenges, but solutioning is very difficult
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024
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I purchased this book on Amazon after seeing it the largest brick and mortar bookstore in the spring of 2021. I had previously met the author and when I saw his name and face staring at me from the shelf, I picked it up and read the book jacket. Glad I did, because I probably wouldn't have come across this book on Amazon. What does this say about today's internet-only shopping or media consumption process? This is an entirely different topic for sure.

Not that it lends any credence to my review, but I met the author at Ft. Irwin around 1999 when LTC McMaster and I were stationed at Ft. Irwin, he as a leader of the force-on-force evaluators and I as a lower level officer that led much of the "fixing" of broken equipment used by the trained rotating army units.
He is certainly an experienced, and well-informed expert on this subject, through his career in the U.S. Army and from his experience as the U.S. National Security Advisor.

In his book, McMaster does an excellent job framing global challenges from a western perspective and the importance of some country (and who better than the US) leading the global order. I agree with his assertion that our country's "strategic narcissism" helped enable the growth and hubris of our country's adversaries from the 90's to present day, but I also can't also help but think that narcissism about our superior way of life (my words) also injects a significant flaw in the major thrust of the "solutions" McMaster lays out in his book.

I absolutely agree that the U.S. must forge new alliances and strengthen our existing ones as the world begins to form another bipolar alignment of nations similar to what emerged after WWII (my simple thoughts about many of his solutions). But I found myself feeling less optimistic after reading this book with regard to the possibility of managing world order through diplomacy as he asserts so often in his book. At the same time, this is a far better option that isolationism that will likely lead to greater conflicts in the form of war.

This is a good read if you want to understand our country's relationships with allies, foes, and everybody in between and some ideas on how the U.S. and the west's long term interests can shape the future of our world diplomatically, politically, military, and culturally.
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Dr. P. L. Kent
5.0 out of 5 stars well worth reading
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2024
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McMaster once again underscores the importance of knowing and understanding history when it comes to making informed decisions out the future. This book is apolitical.
4 people found this helpful
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Steven Cass
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Strategic Overview - National Security Must Read
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2020
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McMaster has gathered the best minds in the country formulated a platform of ideas that hopefully will influence policy far into the future. This book is that good. A must read for any student of national security and anyone who cares about it, whether American. Ally or Adversary.

His previous book Dereliction of Duty was thick, over researched and paid too much attention to getting all the details right instead of thinking about the reader, the story and the tenor of the written word. While that book with correct in its premise and its theme was clear, it was hard to get though. This book is different.

McMaster is older and a lot wiser since he wrote Dereliction of Duty and that is reflected in this book. He shares his personal experiences, wraps in geopolitical strategy and charts a course for the best interests of the United States. What is particularly striking about this book? His sections on China and Asia. McMaster is one of the most influential people to expose our policy of wishful thinking regarding engaging and entangling with the communist country. He outlines something called 'strategic narcissisms' which best describes our foreign policy thinking from the end of the cold war, through the fall of USSA to the present.

What Americans have a hard time understanding is how terrible life is under autocratic and communist regimes, how little the people know of our lives here, and how little what they think influences those who make decisions. We think if we are just nice to other countries they will appreciate the gesture and want to become more like us. In fact we see ourselves when we view other countries - a dangerous fallacy that has put us in a precarious position with many bad actors.

Democratic systems operate without coercion and reward people based on the fruits of their labor. Autocratic and communist systems coerce people into labor and only allow them a designated portion of their labor. If they want more they must carefully and strictly play by the rules of those in power. McMaster calls out something call 'strategic empathy', that is the ability to understand another nation deeply for who they are, not who we think they are or see ourselves in them.

Battlegrounds is a powerful book written by a man who seems to really get it when it comes to foreign policy. The book is a journey and a embarkation point. Highly recommended. Also if your kids aren't listening to you - scare them into submission with the picture on the dust cover.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Dennis Buis
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Reviewed in the Netherlands on September 10, 2022
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Brilliant overview of the problems concerning American foreign policy. The author suggests some solutions. Highly recommended!
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Mjolnir
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books on geopolitics
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2022
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I am amazed by the depth of McMaster’s knowledge, the intelligence of his geopolitical analysis, the clarity of his exposition, and the illuminating lucidity of his thoughts. This is one of the best books on geopolitics the reader interested in this matter can find.
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Christina Schatz
5.0 out of 5 stars important and understandable
Reviewed in Germany on April 28, 2021
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If we take our individal freedom in western democracies for granted we could face a very unpleasant wake up in the not so distant future. This book describes the threats in a profound and understandable way. The author witnessed the end of the cold war in Germany (like me by the way) and reveals his personal experience which lends authenticity and credibility to his analysis. Very important read for everybody who cares about the future of our open societies.
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"davidreimers"
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading to help you understand the world better
Reviewed in Australia on September 4, 2022
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I’ve followed HR McMaster in podcasts for some time, and he has excellent insight. This book talks about our four key geopolitical challenges: the return of great power competition; trans-national terrorism; rogue states; and cyberwarfare.

It’s written not by a commentator, but someone who was there. This is an good follow-on read to The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton.
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珈琲
5.0 out of 5 stars 戦争の実務経験を持つアメリカ軍トップのワシントンに対する冷静かつ痛烈な批判
Reviewed in Japan on March 3, 2021
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　この書は著者自身が実際に問題の最前線に従事していたこと、しかもこの場合自他の生命に直接関わる軍および戦争の最前線を経験したことを前提に思考して書いていることから、迫力も興味深さも申し分なかった。ただ、テーマの内容は、平和ボケともいわれる日本に住んで安穏な日々を過ごす平凡な市民の私には、日常的でないものが多く、読み進めることが容易であったとは言えない。
　著者が軍隊に勤務して、もっともフラストレーションを感じるのは、軍事や戦争の現場の真実の状況を、文民統制に基づいて軍に指示を与える立場のワシントンの人たちに正確に伝えることの難しさであり、実際にはその間にかなりの乖離があるという現実である。さらにその延長として、軍事・戦争の理解と決断において、ワシントンの思考の視野が現実には狭すぎること、すなわち考える対象の範囲が、その時点の国内政治の懸念事項と個別の軍事的行動の周辺のみに限定されがちで、時間的（歴史的）にも空間的（影響がおよぶ地政学的拡がり）にも、近視眼的思考に陥り易いという問題である。
　この書は、560ページというボリューム以上に記述が豊富で内容が多く、簡単にまとめづらいけれど、著者の主張の要点は以下のようなことだと思う。
　戦争などの軍事的活動を計画するにあたっては、問題の現象を議論するより前に、まずは問題の本質を徹底的に深く追及して、その問題の原因を明らかにし、当事者すべてが共有できるわかりやすい目的を定義し、成否が評価可能な形として目標を明確に設定する。その上で戦略と戦術を立案する。最終的になにを求めて軍事的行動を進めているのか、当時者の全員がしっかり理解できなければ、戦争に勝つことはできない。
　問題の本質を考えるには、歴史的な時間軸、地理的な空間の拡がりのなかに、当該の問題を位置づけることが大切である。そして問題を理解するためには、strategic empathy、すなわちその問題に対して客観的にヒトゴトとして考えるだけでは足りず、主体的思い入れをともなう、感情、情念、愛憎にまでおよぶ理解を求めることが必要だ。
　戦争は、戦いに勝つだけで終戦ではない。戦争は政治的行動の一部であり、その政治的目標が達成できて初めて終了となる。戦争の政治的目標を明確に設定し、その実現方法を予めよく考えて、必要な準備作業をしておくことが重要である。この部分は、直接戦争とは関わらない作業を含むが、とくに文民統制を指令する側には非常に重要で必要なことである。
　そして戦争の遂行に於いては、一貫性のある戦略を貫くことが重要で、途中でそれが揺らいではならない。さらには戦闘が終わってからも、上記の真の「戦争の終わり」までは、戦略を変わらず維持して継続的にその問題に関わることが必要である。
その上で、著者がとくにアメリカの軍事と外交について重大な問題としてなんども厳しく指摘し批判するのが「戦略的ナルシシズムstrategic narcissism」である。これは冷戦がアメリカなど西側自由主義陣営の圧倒的勝利で終わり、そのあとアメリカが世界で抜きん出た軍事力・国力を誇るにいたったことで、世界のあらゆる事象をアメリカとの関係のみで考え、世界の将来がアメリカの決断だけで決まる（決めることができる）、という思考である。これは、アメリカが想定しているように相手も動くはずだ、との「希望的観測wishful thinking」を導く。戦争を含む軍事行動においても、現場の状況が真に求めていることを無視あるいは軽視して、その時点で自分（アメリカ）の側がしたいことを優先してしまうのである。この書では、この問題の実例と失敗が繰り返し示される。
　著者は、軍人の子として誕生し、ウエストポイント陸軍士官学校に学んで実務経験を豊富に積み上げた生粋の上級軍人で中将だが、入隊してからノースカロライナ大学チャペルヒル大学院で軍事史の博士号を取った歴史学者でもある。ヨーロッパでの軍務経験と南アジアとイラクでの実際の戦争経験があるという。実戦経験にもとづき、かつ広い視野からの冷静な思考は説得力がある。
　私は戦後の高度成長期に学生時代を過ごし、戦後教育のなかで軍人に対して根拠もなく、なんとなく好戦的・直情径行との印象をもっていた。しかしこの本を読んで、軍の文民統制が、軍人以外が最高指揮権を持つということだけでより安心と言えるわけではないと思った。考えてみれば、まさに命がけで働いている軍人が、自分の仕事の意義や目的に敏感なのは当然かもしれない。自分や部下が生命を賭して働いたことが、意味のないことになったのではたまったものではないのである。
　とくにわかりにくい英語ではなかったとは思うが、日ごろ馴染みのない世界と行動の記述であり、語句にも馴染みのないものが多く、読み進めるのは結構骨が折れて長時間を要した。とくにアフガンなどの南アジアや、中東のイランなど、そしていまだにヨーロッパとアメリカを深刻に悩ましているロシアの実情については、これまで知らなかったことが多かった。
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