Linda Colley writes:

Gerth and Van Natta take the story almost up to the present. They claim to have interviewed five hundred individuals, and they also offer sharp analyses of some of Hillary's recent speeches and public statements. Gerth has a history of going after the Clintons in the New York Times, and says that some of his informants 'feared retribution from Senator Clinton or her staff' were they to be quoted by name. One hopes, for the sake of future historians, that notes have been preserved of the identities of the many anonymous 'friends', 'strategists', 'fund-raisers', 'confidantes' and (doubtless) envious rivals and bitter enemies to whom both books are indebted. Yet while their source material makes it hard at times to gauge the reliability of their content, these books merit study, especially by those who are unfamiliar with America's politics and media. As journalists, the authors are in a position to convey something of what the 'rise of the 24-hour news cycle' has meant to senior politicians.

(LRB 16 August 2007)

John Murray | hardback 438 pp. |ISBN: 9780719568923