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A review by jakewritesbooks
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America by Rick Perlstein
4.0
I liked this one a lot. I think it's designed for me to like it more, but it falls short of greatness for reasons that I'll get into below.
It paints a thorough picture of the socio-political mess that was the USA from 65-72. Detailed and balanced in covering all aspects, it shows a narrative of strong resentment in the wake of rising freedoms for people who weren't white or male. Equally, it captures how those sentiments were politicized and marketed for the sake of electoral votes. I can't imagine a book doing much better in this regard.
Where I think it falls short is its portrayal of Nixon. This isn't a bio on Nixon, mind you, but a tale of how the man came to capitalize on this resentment and rule. Perlstein's Nixon is a straw man, dragged out when the author needs to make a point of the evils of a Republican executive branch and shelved when another target suffices. I don't need a sympathetic portrayal of Nixon. But I was looking for something more thorough than what Perlstein provides.
Still, if you're eager to check this out, you should. It is a good, readable work of history, a history that still affects us today.
It paints a thorough picture of the socio-political mess that was the USA from 65-72. Detailed and balanced in covering all aspects, it shows a narrative of strong resentment in the wake of rising freedoms for people who weren't white or male. Equally, it captures how those sentiments were politicized and marketed for the sake of electoral votes. I can't imagine a book doing much better in this regard.
Where I think it falls short is its portrayal of Nixon. This isn't a bio on Nixon, mind you, but a tale of how the man came to capitalize on this resentment and rule. Perlstein's Nixon is a straw man, dragged out when the author needs to make a point of the evils of a Republican executive branch and shelved when another target suffices. I don't need a sympathetic portrayal of Nixon. But I was looking for something more thorough than what Perlstein provides.
Still, if you're eager to check this out, you should. It is a good, readable work of history, a history that still affects us today.