Fear

Trump in the White House

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Fear

By: Bob Woodward

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

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About this listen

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER
THE OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Fear is a meticulously researched account of a White House and a president in financial, legal and personal disorder . . . essential reading’ Daily Mail

THE INSIDE STORY ON PRESIDENT TRUMP, AS ONLY BOB WOODWARD CAN TELL IT.

With authoritative reporting honed through eight presidencies from Nixon to Obama, author Bob Woodward reveals in unprecedented detail the harrowing life inside President Donald Trump’s White House and precisely how he makes decisions on major foreign and domestic policies. Woodward draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, personal diaries, files and documents. The focus is on the explosive debates and the decision-making in the Oval Office, the Situation Room, Air Force One and the White House residence.

Fear is the most intimate portrait of a sitting president ever published during the president’s first years in office.

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'I think you’ve always been fair' President Donald J. Trump, in a call to Bob Woodward, August 14, 2018

'The sheer weight of anecdotes depicts a man with no empathy and a pathological capacity for lying' Financial Times

'Fear depicts a White House awash in dysfunction, where the Lord of the Flies is the closest thing to an owner's manual' The Guardian

'Though his books are often sensational, he is the opposite of sensationalist . . . He’s Washington's chronicler in chief' Nick Bryant, BBC

'Horribly fascinating. Strongly recommended. If you can bear it' Richard Dawkins

'He is the master and I'd trust him over politicians of either party any day of the week' New York Times

'Woodward is truth’s gold standard' Washington Post

Bob WoodwardRobert PetkoffSimon & Schuster Audio UK

Political Science

Politics & Activism

Politics & Government

Presidents & Heads of State

United States

World

Russia

Political Science Politics & Activism Politics & Government Presidents & Heads of State United States World Russia

Critic Reviews

'In the worldwide capital of leaks and anonymous dishing that is Washington, secrets can be almost impossible to keep. But somehow over the past 19 months, the fact that America’s most famous investigative journalist was quietly chipping away at a book that delves into the dysfunctions of President Trump’s White House remained largely unknown.'

'Senior officials, acting as lone wolves concerned with preserving their own reputations, spoke to Woodward on their own — with some granting him hours of their time out of a fear of being the last person in the room to offer his or her viewpoint. As one former administration official put it: "He hooked somebody, and that put the fear of God in everyone else." Another former official added: "It’s gonna be killer. Everyone talked with Woodward.”'

'Donald Trump is about to get the Bob Woodward treatment.'

'He has an extraordinary ability to get otherwise responsible adults to spill [their] guts to him . . . his ability to get people to talk about stuff they shouldn’t be talking about is just extraordinary and may be unique.' (Robert Gates, former director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense, on Woodward)

'I think you’ve always been fair.' (President Donald J. Trump, in a call to Bob Woodward, August 14, 2018)

'The sheer weight of anecdotes depicts a man with no empathy and a pathological capacity for lying.'

'Fuelling his narrative is an astonishing cast of rogues, ideologues, self-made millionaires and men in uniform who have spent the past two years in and out of Trump's administration.'

'In Woodward’s meticulous account of office intrigues, the president’s men don’t seem to be trembling with fright. What they mostly feel is contempt for Trump or pity for his ignorance and the “teenage logic” of his obsessively vented grievances.'

'Horribly fascinating. Strongly recommended. If you can bear it.' (Richard Dawkins)

'To me the standout message from the book . . . is that the president is a bit clueless, a bit vain, a bit dangerous even; but his people are utterly at sea . . .’ (Justin Webb)

'He is the master and I'd trust him over politicians of either party any day of the week.' (Peter Baker)

'His work has been factually unassailable . . . In an age of "alternative facts" and corrosive tweets about "fake news", Woodward is truth’s gold standard.' (Jill Abramson)

'Fear depicts a White House awash in dysfunction, where the Lord of the Flies is the closest thing to an owner's manual.'

'I wonder how many journalists have arrived in Washington over the years dreaming of becoming the next Bob Woodward . . . Though his books are often sensational, he is the opposite of sensationalist. He’s diligent, rigorous, fastidious about the facts, and studiously ethical. There’s something almost monastic about his method . . . He’s Washington's chronicler in chief.' (Nick Bryant)

Most relevant

Not as sensational as I imagined, and almost laboriously detailed. Covers a fairly specific range of interactions and while interesting to political tragics like me, isn't necessarily relevant to the larger story of executive politics right now as it happens. Even as we speak, greater scandals are superseding what is written here.

A points of difference with other Trump tell-all books is the insight into Comey's actions. It isn't necessarily the same as one gets from the news or satirical news (both liberal or conservative).

I imagine this will be a valuable contribution to someone's magnum opus when the Trump era has been and gone, as well as to the history of the USA's democracy, but this is not that opus.