The Building: A Biography of the Pentagon

by David Alexander

Overview

The Pentagon has been called many things by many people, but to those who work there, directing the defense of the United States, it is simply “the Building.” Monumental in its five-pointed symmetry, the massive five-sided, five-story structure encompasses over six million square feet of floor space and covers twenty-nine acres of formerly swampy ground.

There has always been much more to the Pentagon than concrete, limestone and steel. In The Pentagon, veteran defense writer and novelist David Alexander delivers the inside story on the people who have brought the Building to life, from army chief of staff General George Marshall and Secretary of War Henry Stimson, charged with creating a force that could defeat Germany and Japan, to the “whiz kids” brought to the Pentagon by Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara. Alexander's look down the corridors of powerunfolds the modern history of the American defense establishment, its personalities and politics, and the evolving role that the Pentagon has played in our national security.

From its initial design to its restoration after the attack of 9/11, this book tells the story of the Pentagon as it is inextricably linked to the story of American power and strength.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616739584
Publisher:	Zenith Press
Publication date:	10/03/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

David Alexander is a veteran military author and defense journalist. Alexander’s byline has become synonymous with insightful nonfiction as well as gripping fiction to readers the world over. The Richmond Observer called him “the king of action-adventure writing.” His growing list of media appearances includes C-SPAN and numerous radio talk shows. Alexander lives in Brooklyn. www.davidalexanderbooks.com

Table of Contents

Preface ix Acknowledgements xv Book 1 A Rendezvous with Destiny: The American Military Establishment Between World Wars Chapter 1 The Winds of Change 3 Chapter 2 A Prisoner of Destiny 27 Chapter 3 A Shattered Peace 37 Chapter 4 The Blood-Dimmed Tide 55 Chapter 5 The Building Goes Up 69 Chapter 6 On the Brink of War 81 Chapter 7 The Nation Goes to War 91 Chapter 8 The U.S. War Machine in World War II 99 Book 2 Millions for Defense: The Pentagon and Its Postwar Role Chapter 9 The Birth of the Cold War 109 Chapter 10 An Armed Truce 127 Chapter 11 Credible Deterrents 167 Chapter 12 A New Era Begins 191 Chapter 13 Before, During, and After the Gulf War 201 Book 3 An Axis of Evil: The First Wars of the Twenty-First Century Chapter 14 A Discord of Peace 213 Chapter 15 Shock and Awe 229 Chapter 16 The Pentagon Before and after 245 Chapter 17 The War on the Budget 267 Chapter 18 The Gravity of the Threat 275 Chapter 19 A Shrine on the Field of Mars 287 Chapter 20 Prep with Steel 303 Chapter 21 Discontinuities of Government 315 Appendix A Timeline of Critical Events in This Book 341 Appendix B Secretaries of Defense and Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 351 Appendix C The Pentagon on the Pentagon 353 Select Source Materials 367 Index 373