Generally Speaking: A Memoir by the First Woman Promoted to Three-Star General in the United States Army - Softcover

Kennedy, Claudia J.; McConnell, Malcolm

Softcover

ISBN 10: 044667916X ISBN 13: 9780446679169

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2002

Synopsis

Claudia J. Kennedy retired as the first female three-star general and the highest ranking woman ever in that branch, overseeing 45,000 soldiers worldwide. This is her biography, charting her struggles and triumphs over the years.

About this title

About the Author

Claudia J. Kennedy lives in Washington, D.C.

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning in a Women's Army Corps still largely restricted to clerical duties, Kennedy finished three-plus decades in the army as a senior intelligence officer during a period when military intelligence was no longer an oxymoron, but a critical element of national security. Her memoir says the expected from a successful senior officer. It stresses the importance to a soldier of physical, mental and spiritual fitness. It offers a few generalizations about the future of the army and the world, making familiar points about the increasing likelihood of asymmetric violence by substate actors. Readers, however, are unlikely to seek out this book for its perspectives on national security. Kennedy was known within the army as a determined advocate for women soldiers. She gained national recognition for successfully blocking the promotion of another general, on the grounds of his having sexually harassed her. More significant, however, is Kennedy's principled commitment to creating a more domesticated army, a female-friendly force whose male soldiers wish neither to drink to excess, to use bad language, nor to consider women as sexual objects. The possibilities of this kind of civilized force are more important than whether a particular general engaged in inappropriate touching. They should be the focus whenever Generally Speaking is discussed. PW's readers are advised not to hold their breaths waiting for that to happen. (Sept. 20)Forecast: This book has been under "semi-embargo" in anticipation of a Barbara Walters appearance on Sept. 19. That interview will be followed by Good Morning America on pub day, while a subsequent author tour takes in New York, Washington, D.C., and various military base areas, as well as a 25-city radio satellite tour. Look for a huge spike in sales, followed by a relatively quick drop.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 044667916X
• ISBN 13: 9780446679169
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352