U.S. Army captain Craig M. Mullaney was a young, blue-collar teen from Rhode Island when he began his career in the military. But his years at West Point, then at England's University of Oxford, and finally on the front lines of Afghanistan, have crafted such a keen military mind that Barack Obama appointed Mullaney a national security adviser to his presidential campaign. Mullaney comes to Denver today to discuss his new book, The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education. The story, which critics have compared to the great British memoirs of World War I, gives particular insight into the demands of military leadership as well as the war in Afghanistan. 7:30 p.m. Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch, 9315 Dorchester St., Highlands Ranch 303-470-7050, Free