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Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as prior book. More a daily notepad than story
Review: A reader said that the book was a continuation of the 1970s policy-deny,deny, deny. First of all, it was not a story or an analysis. Read Haldeman's prior book, THE ENDS OF POWER for that sort of thing. Second, the DIARIES were more like a 5 1/2 year daily memo pad, talking about the day to day operations, from the mundane to the high charging. Put that in your blowhole and smoke it!
Rating: 
Summary: Exhaustive review of the Nixon Whitehouse...
Review: As Chief-of-Staff, Bob Haldeman is to be commended for keeping such a detailed review of his White House years even during his "fall from grace" in 1973...That being said, the reader should be ready to be taken on an exhaustive and sometimes hard to follow review of the Nixon Administration. A previous knowledge of the Nixon Presidency and particularly Watergate is essential to get the most from this book. I found myself skipping pages as discussion after discussion about Grand Jury testimony and policy meetings on Watergate flooded the chapters towards the end of this book. I gave it 4 stars because the beginning of the book dealing with the initiation of the Nixon Presidency and the day-to-day observations (pre-Watergate) of an intelligent and observant White House executive far outweigh the "burned-out" and frustrated entries that close the book. The most surprising conclusion that I came away with was that Haldeman seemed to be a warm/accomodating "real" person, not the "Nixon Nazi" that he's been made out to be in other works on Watergate. Good reading
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, facinating look inside the Nixon White House
Review: H.R. Haldeman was Pres. Nixon's chief of staff, and right-hand man. Thus, he was privy to all the secrets and intrigue of Nixon's presidency. Haldeman kept an exhaustive written and oral diary of those years, and now they are available in book form. The book is an abridged edition of the diary (but it's still quite long) and is facinating reading.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable
Review: H.R. Haldeman was the crew-cutted former J. Walter Advertising Executive who joined on the Nixon campaign as an Advance Man, a job that if it is done right, no one notices - but if it is done wrong can destroy a candidacy. Haldeman always made sure every detail was attended to and post-election went on to be one of the most in control and feared Chief of Staff's in Presidential history. Haldeman cashed in shortly after Watergate with his own memoir which he later said didn't turn out the way he wanted thanks to publishers, editors and so forth and hardly got the attention of other Watergate memoirs such as 'Blind Ambition' and 'Will'. We didn't hear much from Bob Haldeman after his release from the Federal Lockup in California. After his death however, according to his wishes, his wife released his diaries the fact that they even existed was a bombshell and they were as complete and detailed as one might expect from this meticulous organization man. These memoirs make you the fly on the wall of the Nixon White House and we witness it go from full of hope, thrill and promise to descending deep into the pit of Watergate until the "cancer" that John Dean described as growing on the Presidency consumes Haldeman himself and the diaries come to a close. A true historical artifact not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Good insight into the NIxon White House
Review: Nothing in this is going to break Watergate wide open. But if you are interested in the goings-ons in the NIxon White House, this is an excellent book. A little slow at times, but well worth reading.
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