Karpinski was the only female general officer commanding troops in a combat zone in Iraq. Although she had no training in handling criminal prisoners, she was selected to run Abu Ghraib. Now Karpinski takes us inside the prison walls and describes what it was like to interact with the Iraqi prisoners, the corruption within the armed forces, and her meeting with Saddam Hussein, who refused to believe that a woman could be in charge.

Co-written with Newsweek correspondent Steven Strasser, she forcefully argues that the bulk of the blame for the Abu Ghraib scandal goes to the very top of the chain of command -- to Lieutenant General Sanchez, Ambassador Bremer, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld -- and tells why she has been made the scapegoat. Hers is a story of military leaders run amok and a moving portrait of a woman who spent her life defying the odds.