Peril

A supeb book...Great lessons for the world today far beyond US borders. Hats off to Woodward and his team. He correctly draws similarities of the Capitol attack by Trumps bandits with the Reichstag moment of burning the German parliament by Hitler and then blaming the Opposition .He would also have been correct if he had compared it to the Babri Masjid assault by hooligans led by BJP RSS...which our Supreme Court rightly condemned as the darkest chapter in our history post independence .Read the book and take lessons if you want to defend democracy. For the attack on india's Constitution and freedom continues by right-wing bhakts.

The book essentially talks about the malpractices, misadventures and dysfunctional leadership of Trump and his administration, while taking us through Biden's personal and political built up for the election and the hurdles he faced on his way to become the president.I am a bit disappointed with the content though, because it speaks too much at length about conversations which otherwise could be curtailed, as it doesn't really help pique the reader's interest. It could have also helped, had the authors given some background on the conversations taking place, as I am very sure a good number of readers outside the USA wouldn't know each and every detail of the entire course of the elections. However, such an observation is purely personal in taste and it shouldn't be overlooked, this book is primarily meant for readers who have at least a basic idea of how Washington functions.In general, the book give us a good hindsight of what happens when power is abused in office and a very prudent analysis of the rise of political extremism not just in the United States, but certainly in most other countries across the globe too.

Love the read

I like the Woodward trilogy titles: “FEAR” was a reminder of what Donald Trump thought was important in order to get power. “RAGE” came from Trump’s proud observation of the emotion he could create in others.And “PERIL” shows how the chaos, anger and fear came together in the final year of Trump’s presidency, placing the presidency and even democracy in danger. “Peril” begins with America in danger from Trump. It ends the same way. Trump hasn’t gone and neither is the threat he poses to democracy.Woodward is working with Washington Post’s Robert Costa, but the style of research and writing is the same. It’s a lot of interviews –over 200—and a lot of work putting them together in a way that will hold interest. Sometimes they succeed in this and create real scenes—other times, you see the problem of having so much detail that you just –have- to include it. Storytelling sometimes takes a back seat to recounting details that aren’t always that significant.That’s one problem. A bigger one is that Woodward has always been kind to people who are his sources. Typically, they are some of the most complicit people, but are allowed to spin themselves into heroes. Here, that’s General Milley, Bill Barr, Lindsey Graham, Kellyanne Conway, among others who need to be scrutinized in a harsher light.“PERIL” has many unnerving descriptions of Trump’s instability and apparent unwillingness to accept the reality of losing the election. Some of the above people made some efforts to save us from disaster. But most of the staffers and Republican officials around Trump do little to protect democracy. Barr’s there, and Pence, But where’s the rest of the Cabinet? The president described here is a danger to the country. Where were the Republicanns in the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment? Why were McCarthy and McConnell so complacent? There are no answers here.Pence’s decision-making process made this a worthwhile read for me. He did the right thing—in the end—including staying at the Capitol during the insurrection. But he clearly wanted to cooperate with Trump if at all possible under the Constitution. It was only after everyone he consulted – including Dan Quayle, who comes across well here – that Pence agrees to do the right thing—and do it without equivocation. (For a time, he dithered about possibly expressing sympathy with those who wanted to throw out Biden votes).About a third of the book is about Biden—his campaign, transition, and early presidency. But, as in real life, it’s Trump who takes the air out of the room. Even ten months after losing, he is still sending letters to Georgia’s secretary of state as he did last Friday, demanding that the electors be “decertified or whatever the legal remedy is.” It would be comical. If it wasn’t so delusional and dangerous. “Peril”, indeed.

Bob Woodward is making big money with his lies and half truths just like every other book he's written. I'll never buy anything with his name on it again.

Embarrassingly lightweight for the most part.Four page chapters about anecdotes about Joe Biden deciding to run for president- that is not what i bought this book for & not what it was advertised to be about.Dont waste your time- the four important occurrences were reported on news programs, this not what i expect from a respected journalist.I dont think I'm even going to bother to finish it.

Woodward has created another extraordinary insight into the life of the US presidency under Trump and following his election defeat. Once again, he records extracts from genuine memos, Senate reports, meetings, interviews and conversations with the most senior people in federal and state governments and the US military. “Peril” is the story of a truly frightening and scary period in modern history and will probably be studied by historians for many years to come.He, with Costa, weaves this remarkably thorough research together, to lead the reader through some of the most dangerous and uncertain times in recent American history. The result is the best blow-by-blow description of the events of the storming of the Capital that I have read. It includes eye-witness accounts of Trump’s behaviour and attitude whilst watching the storming from the Oval Office balcony and on television. Interviews with Senators, their staff and the police show in terrifying detail just how frightening this was.Woodward explains in intricate detail why General Milley and all the Chiefs of Staff of the military became so concerned about Trump’s increasingly unstable behaviour. They and others in the government were deeply worried that the President would use his executive powers to authorise military (probably nuclear) action against another country, or against fellow Americans in direct contravention to the Constitution. And they feared he might be planning a coup, to destroy the US democracy and create a Trump dictatorship.If you think this is far-fetched read this book and take note of the high-ranking Generals, Washington officials, and politicians from both sides of the aisle who shared these fears. And also discover so much more about the events of the transition of power, and exactly why Biden pulled out of Afghanistan the way he did.

A lot of the events in the book have been written elsewhere.However there are little additions and quotes from the Trump administration that make most reasonable people even more aware of just what a disaster Trump was.Hearing how his closest team, and even his family, distanced themselves from him whilst "the crazies" like Powell and Guliani filled the gap makes astounding, and concerning read.How people supported, and still support Trump I have no idea.