384 pages | 16th June, 2015 | Non-fiction | Political Science; American History
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A shocking and riveting look at one of the most dramatic and disastrous presidencies in US history, from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Tim Weiner
Based largely on documents declassified only in the last few years, One Man Against the World paints a devastating portrait of a tortured yet brilliant man who led the country largely according to a deep-seated insecurity and distrust of not only his cabinet and congress, but the American population at large. In riveting, tick-tock prose, Weiner illuminates how the Vietnam War and the Watergate controversy that brought about Nixon’s demise were inextricably linked. From the hail of garbage and curses that awaited Nixon upon his arrival at the White House, when he became the president of a nation as deeply divided as it had been since the end of the Civil War, to the unprecedented action Nixon took against American citizens, who he considered as traitorous as the army of North Vietnam, to the infamous break-in and the tapes that bear remarkable record of the most intimate and damning conversations between the president and his confidantes, Weiner narrates the history of Nixon’s anguished presidency in fascinating and fresh detail.
A crucial new look at the greatest political suicide in history, One Man Against the World leaves us not only with new insight into this tumultuous period, but also into the motivations and demons of an American president who saw enemies everywhere, and, thinking the world was against him, undermined the foundations of the country he had hoped to lead.
"[An] eye-opening study of Richard Nixon's booze-soaked, paranoid White House years and the endless tragedies they wrought....It speaks volumes about Nixon that there is still more to learn about him, 40-plus years after Watergate. It speaks further volumes that what we are learning is even worse than what we knew."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] devastating account of Nixon's presidency... This is powerful raw material, but Weiner's brilliant turns of phrase transform it into something extraordinary."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Weiner writes so well that his book is not only authoritative but a riveting read."
BookPage
Tim Weiner has won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on American national security and the National Book Award for Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. At the New York Times, he covered the CIA in Washington and conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and many other nations. Legacy of Ashes was acclaimed as one of the year’s best books by The New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, Time, and many other publications. His five other books include the national bestseller Enemies: A History of the FBI. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Kate Doyle, an expert in human rights and freedom of information.
US: Henry Holt and Co.