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Summary: One of American Journalisms Finest Hours
Review: What is largely forgotten is that in the summer of 1972, Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein were two young but complete nobody reporters assigned not to political reporting but the Washington Post's Metro section. When they were assigned to cover a "fourth rate burglary" at the Watergate Hotel, it changed the course of their careers and of American History. It is no exaggeration that had more conventional Washington political reporters been assigned to the Watergate story, it might never have been exposed in enough detail to bring down Richard Nixon. This book is an American classic. Though it lacks historical perspective on the Watergate affair, it is vital to anyone who wants to understand the greatest American political crisis of the Post World War Two era.
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Summary: The REAL White House scandal of our time
Review: All the President's Men is a timeless work, and will be a valuable reference for historians, political scientists, and (most importantly) citizens for years to come.The book succeeds on two levels. First, it provides a fascinating description of investigative journalism at its finest - the exhaustive search for reliable sources, the need to check and double-check information, the judicious use of editors in both the writing process and the ultimate decision whether to even publish a piece. To the credit of Woodward, Bernstein, and the entire Washington Post staff, the paper was quite conservative in deciding what (and when) to publish, and quick to make amends in the rare instances when they erred in their accounts. Second, the book remains the definitive "in the moment" guide to the collapse of the Nixon presidency. In the wake of the Clinton presidency, after the proliferation of such non-scandals as Whitewater, Travelgate, and the laughably irrelevant Lewinsky matter, it is important to understand what REAL presidential misbehavior is all about. Although the book concludes prior to Nixon's resignation, the detailed elucidation of the activities of both the White House and the Committee to Re-Elect the President leave little doubt that the Nixon Administration was guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors against the American people. Both the Nixon presidency and the subsequent "pardoning" from Gerald Ford were disgraces in American history. As a final note, although Bob Dole is only a minor player in the story, his behavior is worth noting for the insight it provides into his character. His scathing indictment of the Post in his speeches at the time serve as an important reminder of Dole's ties to the most corrupt domestic administration of the 20th century. ATPM is an important volume in contemporary American history. It should be mandatory reading for all citizens.
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Summary: Silent Coup is written by criminals
Review: This is the book to read on the subject. Apologists for the criminals of Watergate want you to waste your time reading Silent Coup, which was co-authored by some of the very same criminals who live each day in denial. Thankfully, Woodward and Bernstein set the record straight from the beggining and no revision is needed. One hundred years from now two things will be remembered about Watergate: Nixon really was a crook and Bernstein and Woodward were responsable for exposing him and his henchmen.
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Summary: Disappointingly badly written
Review: Of all the Watergate books I have read, All The President's Men is without doubt the most badly written. Woodward and Bernstein clearly had a great deal of difficulty working out whose perspective to write it from and, having settled on the third-person, do so awkwardly. While it is interesting to read about the affair from a journalist's point of view, the book is filled with far too much self-effacing backslapping to be of real interest. You can only put up with so much 'we're so nice, we always told people we were journalists / we're not gifted, it was all just hard work'. As books go it's certainly not a complete disaster but I'd suggest that for a novel-style account of Watergate to instead read Gordon Liddy's 'Will' and for a factual account to read Fred Emery's excellent 'Watergate'. ATPM, however, is worth buying for one reason alone - the pictures in the middle are fantastic. I have never seen any of the Watergate culprits looking *quite* so miserable and this is gloriously offset by the fact that the Washington Post staff shown are smiling so much it looks like they have a congenital defect.
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Summary: A real page turner, a first hand account of Watergate.
Review: A good piece of journalism. You really get to know the Washington Post's side of the Watergate story. Also, in the beginning there is a list of "characters" - helps to remember who is who. It's a great book, just remember who wrote it - the main characters themselves! Of course it's a bit biased. Still, I believe, Woodward and Bernstein deliver the FACTS in an accurate and honest way.
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Summary: dishonest
Review: Read SILENT COUP to find out the truth about Watergate. That book reveals, without any doubt whatsoever, who Deep Throat is, and it paints Woodward to be a manipulator and a liar. I was as shocked and disappointed to find that out, as you might be reading this. But read SILENT COUP before you makes judgements about any aspect of Watergate.
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Summary: very interesting
Review: This novel was a little hard to follow. Once you started to read it, it became more interesting.
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Summary: A very good book
Review: This book, written with the style of a newspaper reporter, is a great one, chronicaling the struggle to reveal the truth about the Nixon administration. The only flaw was that the authors seem to assume the reader already knows many of the minor characters from experiencing the Watergate scandal as a citizen. For this reason, this book can be challenging for young readers.
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Summary: A profoundly disturbing account, yet a triumph for W & B
Review: This book is absolutely wonderful to read, even though there is no doubt about how it will end. The processes that Woodward and Bernstein went through to get their sources and check their facts could be a book in its own right. The one thing that stood out the most in my mind as I was reading was how perfect the whole conspiracy could have been had it not been for human nature. As everything began to unravel, it was, in the truest sense, every man for himself. Furthermore, the sheer number of people involved almost insured that the crimes would not stay hidden. This is a fascinating book, not only from a political science or historical standpoint, but also a sociological one. READ THIS!!!!
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Summary: A good book to read...
Review: This was a good informative book, although somethimes a little heavy on the details and the names. Well written and gives an excellent description of the circumstances around the Watergate scandal.
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