Rating: 
Summary: Astounding
Review: I truly believe that SILENT COUP is one of the most important books of the 20th Century. It shows what the Watergate affair was really all about (something far different from official conclusions), and is backed by firm evidence. (This is no Oliver-Stone-like hallucination.) If you don't read this book, you will be denying yourself the truth about an important chapter in U.S. history.
Rating: 
Summary: Trash and nonsense
Review: I'd give this minus stars, if possible.It's hard to imagine how the authors can present this tripe with a straight face. By focusing narrowly on Dean and twisting enough facts and telling some outright lies, they make their case. But to believe it, we have to believe that Nixon, Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, etc. lived in isolated bubbles and never communicated with each other. All they knew about the world, the learned from the evil Dean.
And oh, yeah, Enemies List, Tax Evasion, suborning perjury, and all the other little pranks of the Nixonian era? Nah, I never heard of them either.
Rating:
Summary: Not even good fiction!
Review: More silly fiction. No matter what the righties want to think, Richard Nixon was guilty of a runaway, corrupt administration, and brought about his own downfall due to his arrogance and shear stupidity. All the finger pointing and name calling the authors do in this book will not erase the stain on Nixons' name, a stain that he fully deserves. Nixon should never have been pardoned, the whole ugly story should have been dragged out into the sunlight for all to see, then maybe we wouldn't have silly 'not-his-fault' books like this one.
Rating:
Summary: This book should be required reading; puts things in perspec
Review: The book is objectively written and relies heavily on eyewitness accounts of the events leading up to the resignation of President Nixon. I did not feel that there was any attempt to "white-wash" the episode, rather, it is an attempt to show what really happened. The role the main stream press played was disgraceful. It was obvious to most people at the time that the press was in the midst of an unprecedented feeding frenzy over the Watergate affair. It was not obvious that the presidency was under attack by self-serving individuals out to save themselves from their own misdeeds at the expense of the President and the country. The press and academe has a lot to atone for in presenting such a distorted look at this episode in American history; this book provides the necessary information for the reader to see through the distortions and realize the true motives and betrayal that occurred. This book provides extensive references to other works that have been written over the years by the players involved and official documents generated as the events unfolded. Richard Nixon is portrayed fairly and is not presented as a demon or a saint. I highly recommend this book and feel it should be required reading for American history classes in our high schools
Rating:
Summary: This book should be required reading; puts things in perspec
Review: The book is objectively written and relies heavily on eyewitness accounts of the events leading up to the resignation of President Nixon. I did not feel that there was any attempt to "white-wash" the episode, rather, it is an attempt to show what really happened. The role the main stream press played was disgraceful. It was obvious to most people at the time that the press was in the midst of an unprecedented feeding frenzy over the Watergate affair. It was not obvious that the presidency was under attack by self-serving individuals out to save themselves from their own misdeeds at the expense of the President and the country. The press and academe has a lot to atone for in presenting such a distorted look at this episode in American history; this book provides the necessary information for the reader to see through the distortions and realize the true motives and betrayal that occurred. This book provides extensive references to other works that have been written over the years by the players involved and official documents generated as the events unfolded. Richard Nixon is portrayed fairly and is not presented as a demon or a saint. I highly recommend this book and feel it should be required reading for American history classes in our high schools
Rating:
Summary: The closest tale of the truth about Watergate
Review: The only review I ever read on Silent Coup was in the Los Angeles Times when the book was first published, and the review took up an entire page in the book review section. The best version of the book is the paperback, where the authors tell of what happened after the hardback version was published. As an example, Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes read the book and wanted to do a report, but the higher-ups at CBS told him he couldn't do it. Wallace tried several times afterward to do a 60 Minutes story, but was stopped each time. Because of the author's statements in the book, John Dean launched a 50 million dollar lawsuit, but his lawyer, after reviewing the book and the author's notes and interviews, dropped the lawsuit. Why? In the view of the two authors, John Dean was the total insider (and more) of the Watergate scandal, because he was the only one granted full access to the investigation, and this was under Nixon's direct order. The author's premise of taking all the books, all the magazine articles, all the newspaper stories and putting them in chronological order is the basis for the book and tells the reader that out of all the people involved in Watergate, there are two individules whose stories do not match the overall timeline established by the author's investigation. Nixon was not one of them. There are many conclusions to be drawn from the book, but the one that stands out to me the most is this one. Why did the Democratic-controlled congressional committee running the investigation seal certain evidence in the national archives FOREVER (and is it still there?)! You'll have to read the book (the paperback version is the better choice for the entire story) to find out. The liberal media has never given this book any credence, and possibly for good reason. They just might have got it all wrong! I believe so.
Rating:
Summary: The History of Right-Wing Obsession With Sex?
Review: The only thing I can say about this absurd "Democratic call-girl theory" is that why is it the right-wing kooks are always so sex-obsessed? Obviously something is lacking in their lives. But one thing is for sure, there is no limit to the amount of lies & spin they will generate in an attempt to cover up the "evildoers" in their midst; and wrap themselves up in the flag while they're doing it!
Rating:
Summary: Important
Review: The previous reviewer's statement that, "even if every word in it is true, none of it matters that much; the coup was a good thing" is ridiculous, and an absurd "the ends justify the means" logic. Yes, Nixon should have been removed BUT HE SHOULD HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO HAVE BEEN HEARD DURING AN IMPEACHMENT HEARING instead of being manipulated into resigning by Al Haig. But Al Haig was frightend about what would come out about HIM in an impeachment hearing, so manipulated Nixon into resigning. Despicable. Just this week that I write this, a defamation suit regarding this book against G. Gordon Liddy was dismissed by the judge. So the truth of this book has been held up in a court of law. It's one of the most incredible books I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: enjoyably iconoclastic
Review: The thesis of this intriguing investigation of Watergate is that the break in was actually meant to cover up embarrassing information about John Dean's wife, that Dean and Haig ill served the President because of their own private cover ups (Haig was hiding a spy operation by the Joint Chiefs aimed at the White House) and that Haig was Deep Throat. The authors provide enough documentation and their scenario makes sufficient sense, that I, for one, am willing to believe that there is a substantial element of truth here. If nothing else, the reader will look at the Woodward/Bernstein version of Watergate with a much more jaundiced eye and will view Dean with the contempt he so richly deserves. But, after all is said and done, Richard Nixon was still our worst president ever. Having decided to get out of Vietnam, he inexcusably dragged the war out for several more years. Detente with the Russians nearly lost the Cold War for us and his expansion of the Social Welfare State nearly bankrupted us and was a betrayal of Republican principles. Regardless of his level of personal involvement in the events surrounding Watergate, he created and tolerated an atmosphere of lawless paranoia in the White House, which virtually guaranteed that such incidents would occur. And the White House tapes reveal a man whose temperament was ill-suited to being the leader of the Western world--his easy anti-Semitism and contempt for virtually everyone had no place in the Oval Office. That he might have been victimized by disloyal staffers does not excuse his abysmal performance as President, nor his flagrant disregard for the civil liberties of his enemies, supposed or real. This book is an enjoyably iconoclastic challenge to the received wisdom about Watergate, but even if every word in it is true, none of it matters that much; the coup was a good thing. GRADE: C+
Rating:
Summary: *****
Review: This book asks the eternal question: Are we too paranoid or not paranoid enough? It is a highly entertaining alternative history of Watergate. This book raises some serious questions that simple minded Nixon hatred cannot dispel. Considering that we continue to learn secrets of WWII and that Watergate is thirty years more recent and considering that most of the prinicipals are still living, I find it highly likely that more revelations lie in wait. I recommend reading this with Watergate by Fred Emery which gives a conventional history of the topic. Both books make clear that unanswered questions remain.
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