"The story of Libya over the last half-century is about as extraordinary as it gets. Following a coup by the 27-year-old Muammar Qaddafi and his fellow junior officers in 1969, what had been a failing monarchical state was transformed into the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah. For many years Qaddafi pursued an independent and capricious political course, alienating fellow Arab regimes and Western governments alike by ill-judged interventions...

Draws upon interviews with senior American and Libyan officials as well as rebels and loyalists to offer a glimpse into the unraveling of the Qaddafi regime over several decades.