All American : Why I Believe in Football, God, and the War in Iraq Book

Imagine what it's like to come face-to-face with a terrorist in a foreign courtroom - and you're the lawyer looking to put him away.

Imagine what it's like to see happy children in Iraq and Afghanistan smiling and waving at U.S. military helicopters.

Imagine what it's like to be an undersized linebacker in the National Football League, where most of the players you're supposed to tackle weigh more than you.

Imagine what it's like to be the seventh of nine kids growing up in an Irish Catholic family in the 1970s.

Imagine what it's like to be Robert McGovern, current captain in the U.S. Army, National Football League veteran, and proud member of a loving New Jersey family.

Robert McGovern has a story to tell - not about himself, although he's a part of it - but about the men and women he has called friends, mentors, and heroes. From his days in Catholic school to his years as a college and professional football player to his current career as an army judge advocate general, McGovern knows an all-American when he sees one. And in this book he introduces you to the ones he's met from all walks of life.

McGovern traded his shoulder pads for legal briefs more than a decade ago. He prosecuted drug dealers while working in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. On September 11, 2001, he was in lower Manhattan when the Twin Towers fell. After working the pile at Ground Zero, McGovern asked to be mobilized from his Army Reserve duty to active duty. He was first sent to Afghanistan, where he advised battlefield commanders on legal rules of engagement. He then went to Iraq to prosecute terrorist suspects. He returned from both tours convinced that Americans needed to hear another side of the war on terrorism - the side he saw firsthand.

Author's Response to the Critics:
I am the author of All American and I would like to provide Barnes & Noble readers with a response to some critical reviews of my book that have recently been posted to the Barnes & Noble listing for my book. In sum, the reviews of my book criticize me for serving as a brainwashed cheerleader for the Bush administration and our Iraq policy. These critics further claim that I refuse to admit that anything bad has even happened in Iraq and that I paint an unrealistically rosy picture of a difficult and costly conflict. I disagree with these reviews completely. Based on some of their conclusions, it is only reasonable to assume that the reviewers must have failed to read significant sections of my book. I do not deny that that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan have been difficult. I was there, I know first hand. Instead, I state that it is the mainstream news coverage of the war that has provided Americans with an unrealistic picture of the war and, I believe, Americans are entitled to an accurate and complete picture of what is happening over there. As I stated on the very first page of my book, we are living in a difficult and divided time in our nation's history. I didn't write this book to make those divisions worse. I wrote this book to get a few things off my chest and to tell you about some incredible heroes I've met along the way. I also wrote this book so that our nation can have a full and complete discussion on the direction of our country and to encourage all of us to hash out our differences in a civil manner. These reviews only serve to further drive a wedge between Americans. My book was not intended for this purpose. My book was written in order to start a discussion that will, hopefully, bring us closer together as a nation. A discussion that will enable us to talk to each other as friends and neighbors—not as adversaries. We may disagree with each other but we will be talking to each other. Let the conversation begin. — Robert McGovern