Rating: 
Summary: A big "I told you so!"
Review: This is an important book on the US presidency since 1974, full of details and newspaper-like accounts of the last five administrations, in particular the Clinton administration. First of all, it doesn't bother me that many of Woodward's sources are credited as "knowledgeable source" in the back of the book. (Okay, I'll take them with a grain of salt.) None of the quotes or story retellings seem uncharacteristic, given what we know about the players and what they've already said. Some people will confide, but wish to remain anonymous. I do disagree with one of Woodward's major premises: that, from Watergate on, no president will ever be able to achieve the status of a great president such as an FDR, Washington, or Lincoln, as a result of Watergate, because "public trust" has been lost since 1974. Baloney! Carter was a decent man, as was Bush. I happen to think Reagan was decent as well, and you can throw Ford in there too. Woodward should have instead put the following forward: namely, *that in eight years, Clinton has degraded the presidency back to a level of public mistrust not seen since Watergate*. That is the real, unspoken point of this book, and all of the details lead up to it. And it's with a kind of perverse delight that I have watched an administration that began by declaring that they'd be open, honest, and free of the taint of Watergate, descend into one of the most scandalous in political history. This book completely justifies my decision not to vote for Clinton in 1992 or in 1996. Anyone who has ever felt the need to say "I told you so" to people who voted for Clinton should read this book. As we witness the newly born Yankees' fan vie for the soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat in NY state, read about what she did before her conversion to pinstripes!
Rating: 
Summary: The best close up summary of the impact of Watergate.
Review: This is a brilliant book! The best among Woodward's many fine works on politics of and near the presidency in the last 25 years. Read this book from the first page onward. Do not simply jump to the "juicy parts" about Clinton as apparently all the inside the Beltway crowd does or you'll miss Woodward's development of his theme of how the presidency has changed. Woodward argues that Presidents have to be forthcoming in order to avoid public expectations of deviousness. At the same time, he is highly critical of thepetty nature of the offenses that have been raised to indictable or even impeachable offenses. As is widely known, no one gets inside the secret chambers of high office as does Bob Woodward. In this book we get good analysis to put in context the hitherto secret conversations within the White House The one fault I would takke is that although Woodward criticizes media excesses in general, he does not name names. Someday I hope Woodward will put his enormous reportorial talent to work in focusing on the large, influential, and as yet untouched Washington journalists.
Rating:
Summary: Reliable Quotes?????
Review: I am a great fan of Bob Woodward. He is articulate in his role as a TV commentator and incisive in his writing. However, I am skeptical of some of the reporting in this book. For examle, he writes that Al Gore told Clinton to get his act together during the Monica debacle. Al Gore said on CNN this morning that he never used such words and that he was never interviewed by Bob Woodward. I think Bob Woodward let his research assistant go a little too far unsupervised. When the teflon kid was not impeached, the author must have shifted gears abruptly from a book focused singulary on Clinton to one that covered five Presidents. Anyway, The Shadow is still a good read. Regards from the land of the rising sun.
Rating:
Summary: Woodward's credentials speak for themselves
Review: Another obviously well-researched book by a reporter whose work I have learned to trust. Obviously, many solid D.C. sources will not allow themselves to be named these days, but that doesn't mean that the reporting is faulty.
Rating:
Summary: America needs enlightened spiritual leadership
Review: Woodward has penetrating insights, particularly into the Clinton presidency and its place in history. The feeling I got was how we have lowered the bar on our basic spiritual values. Please check LightShift 2000 by Ken Kalb for a brilliant look at the future we all need. As Andre Malraux once said, "the third millennium will be spiritual, or it will not be." We certainly need a shift to Spirit.
Rating:
Summary: For a long book, amazingly concise, clear and sharp.
Review: Fits all the pieces together. Names that were front page news 25 years ago are brought back with relevancy to todays headlines. The book is laid out in a concise manner that shows how the legacy of Watergate affects politics nearly three decades later. This book helps answer questions about how the political donnybrook we all witnessed in the Clinton administration could have happened.The book is non-judgemental in its approach. It lets the reader make decisions based on facts, not on political posturing and hyperbole. The hype and the emotions are left to the politicians and the historians. Just an excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: LIberal Drivel
Review: Woodward writes like people actually care. This opiionated pamphlete sheds no light other than Woodward's personal coffers need filling. The long and short......Woodward knows no more than one can get from reading newspaper.
Rating:
Summary: A very worthwhile book.
Review: Shadow examines the legacy of the Watergate scandals through the administrations of five presidents. I devour these kinds of books, great events fascinate me, and I highly recommend Woodward's new book, along with the recent fine books, The Century, The Triumph and the Glory, and The Greatest Generation. In my mind these four books are must reads for anyone interested in the intriguing processes of history.
Rating:
Summary: Questionable...Again
Review: Woodward's sources are earth, wind and apparently fire since he cannot produce reliable sources for two-person conversations in this book. Didn't Woodward have this same problem with "The Brethren"? Reader,take sourceless quotes with healthy doses of skepticism.
Rating:
Summary: excelente job on an incredibly hard subject
Review: A friend of mine let me reed the book I enjoyed very much. Please keep up the excellent job. I think, books like this one are here to stay.
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