by Maureen Dowd
First published 2004
Maureen Dowd turns her sharp eye on the Bush family's political empire. The Pulitzer Prize winner tracks the dynasty from Washington's corridors to Texas ranches, from Kennebunkport compounds to European capitals. She exposes how George W. Bush assembled a court of advisors, each pursuing private goals while publicly supporting the War on Terror. Dowd reveals the fractured reality behind the administration's empire building efforts. Neo-conservatives, longtime courtiers, and political operatives maneuver around a president they treat as royalty. The columnist chronicles twenty years of watching this political theater unfold. She maps the hidden agendas that drive policy decisions and foreign adventures. Dowd's investigation spans continents as she follows the Bush network's influence across old and new Europe. Her reporting captures the gap between the administration's constructed reality and the world where consequences play out. The book delivers both serious political analysis and sharp humor about power's absurdities.
Genres: american, political-science, biography-memoir, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: power-dynamics, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Washington, Texas, Kennebunkport, Europe
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
Paperback · PENGUIN PUTNAM * TRADE