Rating: 
Summary: An Insightful Account on the War with Afghanistan
Review: A detailed account of the decision making process that went into the preparation and ultimate victory of the war in Afghanistan. The book's primary focus revolves around the war planning and execution meetings for the invasion and overthrow of the Taliban.
Woodward provides a thorough, reputable, account that which largely focuses on Rumsfeld, Powell, Tenet (CIA), Cheney, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. I don't recommend that political ideologues (right-wing conservatives or left-wing liberals) read this as it is too objective and does not pander to either ideology. Woodward has no axe to grind. As a political moderate, I felt the book revealed that Bush was more in tune to the decision making process than most press accounts give him credit for. It also shows a President who operates an efficient, executive style White House. However, it also discloses his vulnerabilities. Most significant is his lack of ability to second guess himself-what he calls making all his decisions "without regrets" and based on his "gut". His lack of deep reflection, simplistic world view, and bouts of unsubstantiated confidence will trouble many. The clandestine detail Woodward provides is impressive and the most revealed thus far. He details CIA involvement with the Northern Alliance and the "boots on the ground" efforts to wage a propaganda war using secret ops, food, and suitcases of money. Woodward appears to have had much more traditional access to the Bush White House and as a result it hasn't rattled White House insiders like many of his other books (The Choice, The Agenda, All the President's Men). While more extensive accounts will be written as history shakes out, this is a great initial work into the decision making process. It gives the reader insight into the personalities and styles of Bush and his "principals". I came away enlightened by the knowledge Woodward provided on the inner workings of the Bush White House.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy reading with a pinch of salt
Review: The book is fascinating and best described as enjoyable train journey material that neither informs nor offends.
It describes a group of people conversing with one another in a manner that clearly could never have actually occured outside of a bad Bruce Willis yarn. No doubt the lines attributed by Mr Woodward to his principle characters bare some relation to a few tape recorded interviews with the Bush administration, infact some my be lifted in full. But to take this as a historical account would be ridiculous, it's a comic book account of events, and a pretty good comic it makes too.
POW! THWACK! BANG! goes the war, no blood, no reflection, and no reality, it's Top Gun for kids. Rumsfeld providing light relief in the role of the grouchy but good grandad figure will have you laughing out loud as he huffs and puffs when pressed to let the French be involved in his saber rattling. And as for Bush himself, well you'll be falling over yourself when you hear his Buck Rogers style declarations, "I'm not a textbook player, I'm a gut player" he postulates, and indeed he his, and besides, those textbooks can take a frustratingly long time to read.
Bush at war will appeal to anybody who likes there history, clean, fun, and bereft of content, or find victors history important to understand for it's own sake.
To say it's unbiased is a bit like saying the New testament is a secular chronicle of events, the book reads like a State of the Union address.
I await "Bush at War 2" in order to see how Woodwards vacuous prose will again attempt to put a shiny gloss on this administrations undiplomatic efforts to turn the world into America's surplus absorber.
Rating:
Summary: Try again later
Review: On the positive side, it is clear that Woodward has access to sources with considerable inside information. References are made to and observations are made by people that were at the meetings with the cabinet and the President. But,in a strange way, that seems to be Woodward's major point- that he has the access. I think that Woodward wrote his book too soon. He tries to write the story before there was a full story to tell.
I found much of the book reinforcing things I had already read from other sources, though "Bush at War" could be a good primer for someone who is not a dedicated follower of the news. After Bush named his cabinet, he received criticism from some that his selection of Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Powell either demonstrated that Bush had no vision and selected his father's retreads, or that his selection of them was a tacit self admission of his own incompetance and need for older wiser heads. What is clear after reading this book, is that there can be no doubt as to who is in charge at this White House. With Bush, there will be no nightly insomnia fueled conversations with a political guru/swami about "triangulation" and the "third way". Like it or not, Bush is a Leader, totally comfortable making the big decision. Indeed, he is acutely aware of that as the essence of being President. He is also no prima donna surrounding himself with yes men. On the contrary, it is Bush who spends his time easing others doubts and urging them to buck up. It is Bush who tolerates, and even encourages a healthy tension between his crew, and who is completely comfortable and not at all threatened by strong personalities around him, male and female. Woodword's illustrations of Bush's leadership and management style are one of the most effective parts of the book. Perhaps the most revealing subplot is the role of Condi Rice. She emerges as Bush's go to guy. This also demonstrates how adept Bush's management style is in that he has exactly the right people in the right places. He has the foresight to place Rice, the person whose opinion he trusts most, in a position where she is cabinet level but not beholden to a large department with it's labor force or budget or congressmen holding the financial strings, so that she can offer unencumbered independent advice in his best interest. Woodward loses points by bringing the book to a climax by heavy handedly illustrating once again, for the umpteenth time, that in a business where access is currency, he remains the golden boy.
Rating: 
Summary: Great read!
Review: I was unsure about purchasing this book because of the many negative reviews but, luckily, I did anyway. If you'd like a fairly nonpartisan but well-informed account of the days following 9/11 then please give this a shot. It's a fascinating read and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Spare me
Review: Spare me.... Woodward is trying the impossible.... To make Bush look smart.... Someone must have hired Woodward to make Bush look credible...Powell is the only one who has some common sense...
Rating:
Summary: A real eye opener
Review: If you really want to know what is happening behind the scenes at the White House, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Bob Woodward does an outstanding (and surprisingly unbiased) job. This account of recent history reveals what has been done since September 11 by our Security Council led by President Bush to fight the war on terrorism. The complexity of this type of war becomes clearer. Every citizen should read and share with others.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not Woodward's best either.
Review: When I heard Woodward speak on several TV shows about his new book and learned that he had a personal audience with George Bush, I thought that this book would seem as nothing more than propaganda for Bush. However, using the insights he learned there and through National Security briefings/meetings, Woodward constructs a fairly good book on the inner workings of the Bush White House. This is not Woodward at his best although it's not bad either. This book along with his last, Maestro, leave something to be desired, especially after Veil, The Brethern, The Agenda, and, of course, the Watergate books. He has a rich written history but his style is getting a bit worn out. And his subject isn't necessarily that interesting in this case. The real story on Bush at War has yet to be written (although we can hope that it won't have to be written at all). There are some interesting items - the conflict between Powell and Rumsfield, Powell's surprising dove-ish attitudes, the disapperance of Chaney (he seems almost invisible here), the behind the scenes work of Rice. But the book as whole doesn't seem powerful enough. The book does allow more respect for Bush because he is seen here as more than just a puppet of the much more knowlegable Dick Cheney. How about a Woodward book on the Enron scandal and the White House Role - a really good investigative report? What about the impact of big oil on the Bush White House? How about the Bush - Gore election? Woodward's style is familiar - very little quoting. He uses his usual "he said/she said" style of reporting on and summarizing meetings without directly attibuting specific words to an individual in the book. That style is getting a bit tiresome especially with only a fair theme. The issue of "Bush propaganda" still hangs over this as well. It appears as though Woodward remained independent in researching and writing this. What bothers me is that he seems to have much more official access here than he did in some of his other books. That along with much more substantive issues to be dealt with, the kinds of things Woodward usually does well. How about it Bob?
Rating: 
Summary: Propaganda at Best
Review: This book was very disapppointing, especially from Woodward who has electrified us before. We are supposed to get an inside view of the President and his actions and reactions to the world stage. Instead we get a lot of discussion on the methods for obtaining journalistic information along with snippets of information that show clearly a president who is not in control, but rather surrounded by aides each running their own show. One thing it does illustrate is that Mr. Bush is determined to set a course for war regardless of what goes on around him, confirming news from the popular press. Woodward gives us very little that we have not heard before through other journalistic sources. As a previous reviewer said, maybe this will be better in the future as we look back on this presidency. But for now, don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book is a detailed compilation of interviews, war councils, and decision-making processes that have defined the Bush presidency since September 11th. This book is not asking you to agree with Bush or his advisors, nor is it a book designed to provide the reader with mountains of evidence supporting any form of military action. This book is designed to document Bush's leadership style, and it does exactly that. Regardless of political standing, the reader comes to learn that Bush is a fighter. He's also a deeply religious man, a man of principle, and a man willing to sacrifice poll numbers to pursue goals he feels are morally justified. This is not a biased book. Woodward documents meetings that reveal excessiveness, shortsightedness, and rush to judgement from several administration members to include the President. What drives one-star rating Bush-haters up the wall is that, despite the book's objectivity, Bush still emerges as a strong leader. So read this book for a good inside look at Bush's leadership style. Or better yet, read it in a generation, when people will be looking back, wondering what drove and moved Bush. If you already hate Bush, this book will no doubt invoke reviews littered with such cliche phrases as "corporate media", "blind right-wing sheep", and "Woodward is a puppet". Oh yeah, the oil too. Can't forget that. The book conveniently ignores the fact that Bush is now secretly pumping billions of barrels of oil from Afghanistan every single day, just like we're doing in the southern Philippenes, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Bosnia, Kosovo, South Korea, and Germany. Go Texaco!
Rating:
Summary: Only Time Will Tell
Review: Any review of this book - like the book itself - may be swiftly out of date as the result of events in Iraq in the next few weeks, but perhaps now is the best time for some honest reflection about where we are, before work on the inevitable sequel begins. Most of the negative reviews of this book are based on the common but dangerously false assumption that "anyone who disagrees with us must be stupid and/or dishonest" - followed by the equally foolish assumption that anyone who provides information to the contrary must be stupid and/or dishonest too. In fact, Bob Woodward seems intelligent and honest. The greatest proof of his journalistic objectivity is the fact that it provides evidence both for and against the Administration and its policies. On the credit side, even those who disagree with the President must, if they are fair minded, agree that, on the evidence here, he is an intelligent man who was deeply and sincerely moved by the experience of 11 September. Many who style themselves "intellectuals" in western Europe have a cartoon image of President Bush as some sort of simple-minded Texan cowboy - thus indicating that they are not as intellectual as they think for he is clearly nothing of the sort. He is also very much the leader within his own administration. Of his lieutenants, General Powell, unsurprisingly, comes out best, as the sort of chap you want at your side in a crisis, but, more surprisingly, Vice President Cheney puts his hawkish instincts second to loyalty, and also seems the man most likely to raise an important and common sense point everyone else has overloooked in a meeting. DCI Tenet desrves credit for covering up the CIA's intelligence failure with an aggressive covert action campaign. The real star, however, is Condi Rice. If the Vice President, who has heart problems, decides to retire at the next election, she seems the obvious candidate to replace him. I am beginning to think I might see a woman President in my lifetime - and a black Republican woman President at that. On the debit side, it is frightening that the biggest and most sophisticated government in the world comes down to decisions made on the hoof by a handful of people under intense people at the very top: the description of how the "Bush Doctrine" was born is both instructive and terrifying. That the most powerful military machine the world has ever seen is controlled by a Pentagon bureaucracy that seemed paralysed at first, like a mighty dinosaur waiting for signals to travel to and from its brain, is also cause for concern. Above all, we should all pray for the health of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, if only because the thought of his Deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, getting his hands on a position of greater responsibility, even for a few minutes, is truly horrifying. Doctor Strangelove lives. The book itself is compulsive reading - strangely similar in style and content to a Tom Clancy novel, with Rice as Jack Ryan. The fictional Ryan was, of course, National Security Adviser before becoming Vice President - and then getting the big job.
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