by Bob Woodward
First published 2021
Bob Woodward and Robert Costa examine the turbulent handover of power between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The authors conducted interviews with over 200 key figures during this volatile period, generating thousands of pages of testimony. Their investigation takes readers inside both the Trump and Biden White Houses, the 2020 presidential campaign, the Pentagon, and Congress. The book draws from secret orders, confidential call transcripts, diaries, emails, and meeting notes to reconstruct events during this critical moment. Woodward and Costa document how the transition created dangers that extended beyond typical domestic political tensions. They show Biden entering office amid a deadly pandemic, economic crisis, partisan division, and global threats while Trump's influence continued to loom. The book captures Biden's inauguration under heightened security concerns and domestic terrorism warnings. This collaboration between Woodward and Costa completes Woodward's trilogy about the Trump presidency and marks the start of Biden's term as he confronted what he called "this winter of peril."
Genres: history, political-science, politics, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-allies, political-intrigue
Setting: White House, Pentagon, Congress
Period: 2020, 2021
512 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster