Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: First off, I am superficialy everything Powell is not: I am white, young (21), a Democrat, and wholly uninterested in serving my country in the armed forces. However, I do have a keen interest in serving my country as a diplomat, citizen, or in some other capacity (which brought me to wanting to read this book on better understanding the workings of a person of influence and the organzation and workings of government). Now that my cards are on the table, I want to say this is a book well worth reading. It gave me a better appreciation of the armed forces and a better appreciation for our imperfect but effective system of promotion based on merit in America. An inspirational book, but can at times be dull if one is not an aficionado of the bureaucratic workings of government.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: An excellent read that gives good insights to the person and the soldier Colin Powell.
There are plenty of good stories about Powell himself as well as the people he has served and those who have served him. It gives an insight into a person who (already at the time of the book) has had a tremendous impact on the Armed Forces as well as American polictics in generel.
We can only hope that there will be a sequal.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most Educational Books I have ever Read
Review: An American success story if there ever was one. Colin Powell vividly depicts his extraordinary life and career that could only take place in the setting of America. This autobiography wheels you through life in the poor neighborhoods in the Bronx to Washington Power broker. Colin Powell takes you though his life through his eyes, and into history, in some ways while reading it, I felt as though it was Forrest Gump on steroids, but the story is true.
Anyone interested in the policymaking process should read this book, as Powell describes his role as well as the role of other American leaders in making some of the most crucial decisions, the reader is swept into the pressures and challenges faced with America's leaders on a daily basis. The book delivers an account into the lives of Dick Cheney, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and others, allowing you to take a more personal look at American leadership. It is so easy to criticize from the outside looking in, but usually criticism as well as praise, is done by the uninformed.
One aspect I found particularly educational was how Powell provided a small glimpse to me (A young white male) of an educated man, a commissioned officer of the United States Army, refused service in restaurants, and discriminated in others ways. It is a credit to Powell, how he rose above narrow-minded bigotry and focused on the positive; resisting the temptation of "victimization" to become one of the most powerful and respected men in the country. I recommend this book to anyone, black, white, Latino, male, female, liberal, or conservative.
| 
