Former defense secretary Robert M. Gates' memoir, Duty, sold more than 80,000 copies during its first week on sale in the outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. It sold three times as many copies as the second best performing book for the week ended January 19, Charles Krauthammer's The Things That Matter. Duty, released by Knopf on January 14, has enjoyed "robust" e-book sales, as well, according to the publisher. Knopf has returned to press six times, bringing the total number of copies in print to 365,000.
Gates week one book tour took him to the Pentagon, Quantico Marine Base, and Norfolk Navy Base, for standing room only events, according to the publisher, selling over 1,000 copies at each appearance. The book is currently #1 on Publishers Weekly's bestseller list, and #2 on Amazon's print bestseller list.
