" ... traces the business and political history of the company's founders." ("Lloyd's List, 5th November 2004)

" If you want to get your blood boiling, don't bother sitting out in the sun. Read this book instead." ("CFO Europe, July 2004)

" ... he [Briody] is a skilled story teller." ("Financial Times, 13 May 2004)

Following hard on the heels of "The Iron Triangle, an examination of international consultants the Carlyle Group, Briody turns his considerable investigative skills to the rise of the Halliburton Corp., its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root and the transformation of the U.S. military establishment. With a blunt matter-of-fact tone, Briody describes the rise of the two companies from the dusty oil fields of west Texas to the marbled corridors of power in Washington, D.C. Briody contends that Halliburton and KBR have literally bought politicians, manipulated the contracting process and ridden the current wave of small wars to record profits. Small, detailed moments of intense private pressure and unscrupulous backroom deal-making dominate this story. While Briody seethes with indignation, there is a grudging respect for the skill with which the executives and politicians ply their trade and a bitter resignation at the reality of the ways of government contracting. Central to the Pentagon's post- Cold War strategy is outsourcing nonmilitary tasks to private contractors. One of the chief architects of this plan was Dick Cheney, defense secretary for the first President Bush. Briody argues that with Cheney now vice-president and Halliburton awarded a huge no-bid contract to reconstructIraq's oil fields, public outrage has grown. As the controversy simmers, Briody raises an important question: with Americans and Iraqis dying by the day, have military matters become so efficient and profitable for companies like Halliburton that war itself is easier to wage? At times the book is repetitive and has the feel of being rushed to press, but this urgency lends the book a certain gravity. Briody has his own agenda-- brilliantly illuminating the increasingly crucial nexus of public need, private profit and war making. "Agent, Daniel Greenberg. (May) ("Publishers Weekly, May 5, 2004)

DAN BRIODY is the author of the national bestseller The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group (published by Wiley). Briody is an expert on the commingling of business and politics, particularly as it pertains to the war on terrorism and the so-called "military-industrial complex." An award-winning business journalist, Briody has written for Forbes, Wired, Red Herring, and The Industry Standard. He has also appeared as an expert in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, and has been a guest on the Today show, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, National Public Radio's Fresh Air, and a host of other television and radio programs.

Prologue. PART I: The Early Years. 1. Erle P. Halliburton and the Million-Dollar Boast. 2. The Road to Riches. PART II: Public Money, Private Profit. 3. The Man Behind the Dam That Built Brown & Root. 4. Guns and Butter. 5. Collateral Damage: The Leland Olds Story. 6. Our Man in Office. PART III: From Vietnam to Iraq. 7. Vietnam and Project Rathole. 8. Empty Pockets. 9. The Big Score. 10. Backseat Cheney. 11. Fall from Grace. Notes. Bibliography. Index.