Vincere vel Mori - Conquer or Die. Only a military unit with this motto — the Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, Task Force Conqueror, led by their street smart commander, Lt. Col. Tony Deane — could deploy to Iraq at a time when many declared that the war was lost and emerge victorious. This victory, in The Battle of Ramadi, and the dangerous, history-making circumstances leading up to it, are the basis of Col. Deane’s upcoming book, Ramadi Declassified: A Roadmap to Peace in the Most Dangerous City in Iraq [Praetorian Books, May 2016].

Ramadi Declassified is a riveting story of combat leadership told in the first person by Col. Deane, whose no nonsense, unconventional pragmatism, compassion, wit, and depth of will won over not only his Soldiers, but the Iraqi's who fought alongside them. It’s also a story of ordinary people, and how they dealt with incredibly difficult and dangerous circumstances with the bravery, creativity, resolve, humor and comradeship only an American Soldier can. And, finally, it further emphasizes that the battle with Muslim extremism is a battle of ideas. Just as Col. Deane and his team did, if the U.S. and Western World is going to defeat Islamic Terrorism, we must look to engaging the Muslim community in order to get them to participate in this battle by policing themselves. The poignant lessons from this book and Col. Deane act as a trusted roadmap to bringing peace to the Middle East.