Paula Broadwell is a graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point) and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of London. After serving in the United States military for more than a decade, she received a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Harvard University. According to her publisher, she has been involved in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency work for almost two decades. This is her first book.

Ms. Broadwell’s collaborator, Vernon Loeb, is the Metro Editor at the Washington Post newspaper. During 2003, he embedded with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq when it was commanded by General David Petraeus. This is his second co-authored book.