The firebombing of Tokyo.Strategic Air Command. John F. Kennedy. Dr. Strangelove. George Wallace. All of these have one man in common - General Curtis Lemay, who remains as enigmatic and controversial as he was in life.

Until now. Warren Kozak traces the trajectory of America's most infamous general , from his firebombing of Tokyo, guardianship of the U.S. Nuclear arsenal in the Cold War, frustrated career in government and short lived political run. Curtis Lemay's life spanned an epoch in American military history, from the small U.S. army air corps of the interwar years to the nuclear age.