Bob Woodward of Watergate fame has written a fast-paced account of Biden Presidency’s handling of the wars in Ukraine, and in Israel and Palestine, interspersed with Trump’s attacks on that Presidency. As in other recent works in his oeuvre, Woodward uses direct quotations and a spare narrative with minimal context and analysis to produce a highly readable page-turner that almost reads like a thriller, even though we are aware from the newspaper headlines of where the story leads.
Woodward is the foremost chronicler of nine US Presidents, and tells a gripping tale full of direct quotes, with politics as live drama in a set of scenes, almost as in a screenplay. Why do people in positions of power tell Woodward what they do, enabling him to write these books? Probably to ensure their own legacy.
February 2025, volume 49, No 2