his name is mark bowden. this is the book. we were looking at it, a "new york times" bestseller list that comes out tomorrow. and i know you're not surprised because you ought probably know already, but you are number eight. >> that still great to hear. >> what is that like? >> it is thrilling. i have been writing for 20 or 25 years. this is my third book. so it is thrilling, it is a fantasy that i think all writers have. >> what you think this book -- how do you think it is different than the other books and why it has gone popular? >> i think the subject matter of combat and war has a built in constituency with the military. what has happened with this book is that it spilled over even from that into a more general leadership. because i do think there is such an amazing true story. i can say that because i did not make it up. for the same reasons that i grew so wrapped up in it and so excited about it, i think that other people reading it are as well. it is such an extraordinary experience. >> for the people that don't know

. >> host: mark bowden, thank you are joining us on booktv. appreciate it. >> we are fascinated by every aspect of the matter in theory and this. maybe not quite as much as ken starr is, but no less. >> i wanted to give the reader a chance to understand the process by which i've made decisions. the environment are legitimate decisions, decisions, the people i listen to effort made decisions. this is not an attempt to rewrite history. it is not an attempt to fashion a legacy. it is to be part of the historical narrative. >> every single justice on the court has a passion and love for the constitution and our country that's equal to mine. then you now but if you accept that as an operating truth which it is, you understand that you can disagree. >> for me, what's interesting is negotiation of a moral position. do no harm, let somebody i respect yourself. all of that is reduced to simplify notions. the philosophers have spent their lifetimes trying to imagine what it is like to live a moral life, what morality it is, but responsibility is. >> and