General

Biography on David Petraeus gets boost amid scandal

Paula Broadwell’s ‘All In’ gets unintentional publicity

General David Petraeus’ high-profile resignation as CIA director after an affair with his married biographer Paula Broadwell has the unintended consequence of giving the biography a bump in sales.

In the wake of 60-year-old Petraeus’ resignation on Friday, Broadwell’s biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, has moved up significantly on the Amazon top sellers list, making it to No. 159 by Monday afternoon and No. 3 most popular when it comes to books about Iraq.

It’s a long jump up, writes The New York Post: “before the scandal broke, it was ranked a mere 76,792.”

The jump in sales comes as more information emerges about a second woman, Jill Kelley, 37, who was involved in the general’s downfall. According to a report from The Associated Press Kelley, who is a volunteer social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, had received anonymous emails accusing her of being overly flirtatious with Petraeus. The New York Times reports that an F.B.I. investigation into those emails lead to Broadwell, and that her relationship with Petraeus was later discovered.

Broadwell, 40, has two young children and is a Reserve Army officer.

Petraeus has been married for 38 years to Holly Petraeus and the couple has two adult children.

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
FILED UNDER: