When the Pentagon Was for Sale: Inside America's Biggest Defense Scandal

Pasztor's examination of Pentagon and arms-industry corruption exposes the process by which such giant defense contractors as Boeing, General Electric and United Technologies illegally obtained contracts with the cooperation of Pentagon officials throughout the Reagan years. Based on grand jury testimony, sworn depositions and interviews, the book tracks the criminal investigations and prosecution of defense suppliers and Pentagon officials during the Justice Department's Operation Illwind. Although Illwind was ``a fabulous success,'' according to the author, he maintains that very little has changed to improve day-to-day accountability, and the Pentagon's own rules and regulations continue implicitly to encourage wrongdoing. Pasztor's impressive investigative reporting renders coherent for the general reader Pentagon corruption and provides fresh insight into the arms-acquisition process. Pasztor is a defense correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. (Sept.)