Review by Choice Review
If journalists write the first draft of history, then it behooves future historians of the Biden and Trump administrations to start their research with the three books that Woodward, the Pulitzer Prize--winning investigative journalist, wrote about Trump--Fear (2018), Rage (2020), and Peril (2021)--and now War, which deals with Biden's tenure as president. War is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with people close to the president, as well as personal documents, diaries, transcripts, and other records (although President Biden declined to be interviewed, as did President Trump). Woodward describes Biden's careful approach to Russia's war in Ukraine and Israel's war in Gaza, as well as his relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Woodward also assesses why Biden resisted those who urged him not to run for a second term. Based on available evidence, Woodward concludes that Biden will be remembered for his steady and purposeful leadership. As for Trump, Woodward argues that he was "unfit to lead the country," "far worse than Richard Nixon," and "the most reckless and impulsive president in American history." This important book helps readers understand how the Biden administration deterred the use of nuclear weapons through the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and avoided the slide into another world war. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through faculty. --Jack Robert Fischel, emeritus, Millersville University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Veteran journalist Woodward has the style of his political-centric books down to a science. He interviews insiders, who are then quoted anonymously, giving readers a behind-the-scenes look at decision making. Here the main topics are the war in Ukraine, and later Hamas' brutal attack on Israel, leading to destabilizing events in the Middle East and the killing of tens of thousands of Gazans as seen by the Biden administration and other world players. A subplot is Donald Trump's decision to run for president amidst his many legal problems. An epithet-spewing Biden is given good marks for efforts, even as Putin and Netanyahu roadblock him, though Woodward notes reports of the president's recent cognitive decline. No real bombshells here except on the battlefields, instead, this is a steely, serious look at high-stakes diplomacy in an ever-more uncertain world.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In his latest fly-on-the-wall presidential chronicle, Pulitzer winner Woodward (Peril) explores the efforts of Joe Biden and his administration to cope with foreign conflicts while a baleful Donald Trump waits in the wings. Opening with Biden's chaotic 2021 pullout from Afghanistan, Woodward moves on to what he depicts as a masterful handling of the war in Ukraine--he characterizes Biden as handing Putin a strategic defeat via an expanded NATO--and an account of the Gaza war centered on the administration's struggles with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who resisted Biden's demands to allow aid into Gaza and negotiate a ceasefire. Woodward paints Biden as a sharp, thoughtful, decisive commander-in-chief (he includes only a few somewhat discordant nods to Biden's obvious public mental decline). Donald Trump, meanwhile, is a disruptive presence in the book, with Woodward depicting him as a dishonest, erratic dupe of Putin. Working from extensive insider interviews, Woodward takes readers into the situation rooms and diplomatic dinners where policy is hashed out in an often emotional fashion ("He's a bad fucking guy!" raged Biden at Netanyahu's intransigence), relays vivid anecdotes deriding Trump's pomposity ("Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea," observes Sen. Lindsey Graham. "Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in"), and delivers several dramatic revelations, among them that Trump made illicit phone calls to Putin concerning Ukraine after leaving office. It's a captivating analysis of high-wire statesmanship. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Documenting perilous times. In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward's clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin's intent: "Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver." Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president's denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump's prevarications and his supporters' cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely "death knell for American democracy." The author's ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: "Based on my reporting, Trump's language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security--both during his presidency and afterward." An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
