This NYT review of Robert Kaplan’s Imperial Grunts is a pastiche of wisecracks, complaints about Kaplan’s style, and half-made arguments against his worldview. What it isn’t is a helpful portrayal of the substance of the book. We know that it’s Kaplan, we learn that the reviewer doesn’t much like Kaplan, and that the book is about the U.S. military’s role all over the world. But that’s all.

Anyone who wants to learn more about the best that our soldiers can accomplish when largely left to their own devices should read the book.