Interesting read! Once you read it there is no need to keep it. But none the less a nice easy historical read!!

(Dug review out of the depths of LiveJournal.)

I found this book both interesting and problematic. This great! new! way! of interrogation! is very meet the new boss, same as the old boss. OK, you're not waterboarding folk, but you are lying to them and &c., &c. It's been a while since I read it so I can't quite remember everything that I disturbed me.

so, i hate how the book was written and how some events were demonstrated-- i.e the author saying "well i've seen a baby in a freezer so what the hell is so bad about child brides?" That is paraphrased, of course, but some of the statements the author made really irked me. I have to say, in all, I flew through this book and that's a great thing because i read it for an international law class. I don't trust the government anymore than i did before because of the redacted sentences that took out chunks of information. Im skeptical.....

Interesting, informative book. Very quick read, too.

This book reads like a psychological thriller! And it teaches so much about the Iraqi people. After reading this, I have to say that I think we, as Americans, have ALOT to learn about these people, good things along with the incomprehensible things, but understanding of the human lives most of all. I have a great appreciation for the Iraqi people now and their plight. However, I have also learned SO much about the conflict within Iraq and it's people and how it has impacted our lives as well.. A very readable, unputdownable book.

I think that this book should be a must-read for everyone! It doesn't read like a text-book, it truly reads like a thriller. Reading how Alexander handles these interrogations is so interesting and the results confirm his theories and new techniques. I'm recommending it to everyone. Passionately even. ;)

Thank you Matthew for writing this book. It has taught me so much, I really appreciate your courage in writing this book.

The only problem with this book is the title: It really should be "How to Break a Criminal."

In the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal (aka, crimes against humanity), defense officials realized they needed actual trained interrogators, not torturers, to get information about the people we call terrorists but the Iraqi government call criminals. This book details, as best possible and with redactions, how that's done. And how it was used to bring down a genuine threat.

The author is a trained criminal investigator and he shows more than you might think about the tension between the "new guys"(interrogators) and the "old school" (the ineffective brutes). I read this for research and have taken copious notes. But it's a little weird carrying it around where I live with that title, so in addition to the paperback, I went and bought the Kindle so I can do my research with less drama.