First published 2022
Two New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns chronicle an eighteen-month period that tested American democracy to its limits. They document how both major political parties navigated multiple crises from the coronavirus pandemic through January 6th and Biden's turbulent first year. The authors reveal Trump's continued attacks on the 2020 election results and his campaign against fellow Republicans. They uncover the private story of Biden choosing Kamala Harris and his struggles to unite Democrats. Drawing from hundreds of interviews and previously unseen documents from top government levels, Martin and Burns expose how traditional political institutions buckled under pressure from aging leaders trying to manage a transformed nation. The book reveals new information on nearly every page about this crisis period. It examines whether the two-party system can survive such strain and asks if American democracy can function effectively again.
Genres: political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, journalism, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: crisis, institutional-strain, political-upheaval
Setting: New York
Period: 2020-2021
480 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster