Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America

I had read Rick Pearlstein's book about Barry Goldwater and it was very good so I was looking forward to this one. Much like his previous work, this book was very very long and went into extensive detail. While at times that was interesting it could also prove very laborious. Still this is a very interesting and comprehensive history of a very controversial time in our history.

I can't give the book a perfect score because I do believe that Pearlstein commits two major errors. The first is that he loses focus between the evils of the Nixon administration and the evils of the period and makes it seem a time where no advances where made in this country. Secondly, he offers far too much by way of his own commentary to make this an unbiased portrayal of historical events. But all in all not bad for almost 700 pages.

The other reviews already spell out just what makes this such a brilliant book, so I won't add anything about that. However, I thought it mighth be worth adding that as the world looks on waiting for the election in November that this book provides a pre-history to the present moment in the same eway, though much more compellingly, that Tom Frank's Kansas book did 4 years ago. Time will tell if we're going to get of Nixonland, but the way we got there is mapped out clearly here. It shows how and why conservative ideology is so appealing, even to those it will not benefit.

Nixonland is an objective look at Richard Nixons life and times, while greater detail could have been given at times, the events and cast of characters keep this book interestiing and amusing. My opinion of Eugene McCarthy went up, My opinion of Nixon went down slightly. The image of a major bombing of Cambodia at the same time Nixon is making a speech denying involment there stuck. Rick Perlsteins Nixonland is a good read and a great look at the real 60s and early 70s.

Sorry but I can't review the book as it was bought as a present (his choice) but I understand from the recipient that he enjoyed it very much.

This is a journalist's cultural account of the Nixon years, not a historian's textbook, and not a biography of RMN. It's a great read, filled with fabulous details that historians tend to overlook. Here's Al Capp trying to pick a fight with John Lennon; there's Lorne Greene attacking McGovern for lack of support of Israel.

Three caveats. First, the nature of the book makes it hard to figure out where you are. As others have mentioned, dates aren't given, and he does go back and forth a few times. Second, it's hard to ignore the possibility that Perlstein may be reading the present into the past. His approach is so anecdotal -- not in the sense of being false, but in the sense of focusing on small things that are supposed to represent larger things -- that we are at his mercy. For example, he quotes letters written to Time magazine. This adds color, but also forces us to trust the author that these items really are representative.

Third: we don't get to see Nixon tossed out of office. The book ends before.