Bush at War

With his unmatched investigative skill, Bob Woodward tells the behind-the-scenes story of how President George W. Bush and his top national security advisers, after the initial shock of the September 11 attacks, led the nation to war.

Extensive quotations from the secret deliberations of the National Security Council — and firsthand revelations of the private thoughts, concerns and fears of the president and his war cabinet — make Bush at War an unprecedented chronicle of a modern presidency in time of grave crisis.

Based on interviews with more than a hundred sources and four hours of exclusive interviews with the president, Bush at War reveals Bush's sweeping, almost grandiose, vision for remaking the world. "I'm not a textbook player, I'm a gut player," the president said.

Woodward's virtual wiretap into the White House Situation Room reveals a stunning group portrait of an untested president and his advisers, three of whom might themselves have made it to the presidency.

Vice President Dick Cheney, taciturn but hard-line, always pressing for more urgency in Afghanistan and toward Iraq.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, the cautious diplomat and loyal soldier, tasked with building an international coalition in an administration prone to unilateralism.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the brainy agitator and media star who led the military through Afghanistan and, he hopes, through Iraq.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, the ever-present troubleshooter who surprisingly emerges as perhaps the president's most important adviser.

Bush at War includes a vivid portrait of CIA director George Tenet, ready and eager for covert action against terrorists in Afghanistan and worldwide. It follows a CIA paramilitary team leader on a covert mission inside Afghanistan to pay off assets and buy friends with millions in U.S. currency carried in giant suitcases.

In Bush at War, Bob Woodward once again delivers a reporting tour de force.

"Woodward does an excellent job of exposing the seat-of-their-pants planning sessions conducted at the highest levels of power....While at times relying a bit too heavily on transcribed conversations, Woodward nonetheless offers one of the first truly insightful and informative accounts of the decision making process in the war on terror." Publishers Weekly

"The truly sensitive issues for the Bush administration are those that are given short shrift in the book or left out entirely. We hear no inside accounts of its failure to track down the anthrax terrorists. John Ashcroft?s inability to arrest a single terrorist during his post-9/11 mass roundups goes unnoticed." Frank Rich, The New York Times

"It would be hard not to conclude from the evidence presented [here] that dubious planning...allowed bin Laden to slip away....[Woodward] stubbornly refuses to draw any conclusions from the story he describes. Instead, he lets the armchair generals of this world decide. No doubt, the author is hedging his bets for his next book. He understands that in Washington, access is still more important than analysis." Philip Smucker, The Christian Science Monitor

"Bob Woodward?s new book, Bush at War, is a great read....But his account, as usual, reflects the limitations of his special brand of reporting. Cooperative sources are portrayed more favorably than holdouts; gaps in the narrative are unexplained; and the book is bereft of analysis. Nevertheless, because of his ability to penetrate government decision-making, he brings important new information to light." James Rubin, The New York Observer

"In page after dreadful page of his latest book...Bob Woodward demonstrates an old adage about journalism in wartime: The first casualty is truth....This 'inside' account relies chiefly on self-serving recollections of the chief participants...and sanitized transcripts of meetings in which the main players sound like they?re playing to a televised audience rather than speaking to each other." G. Pascal Zachary, In These Times

Based on hundreds of interviews with officials in the White House and throughout the Administration, Woodward's account will provide listeners with the first in-depth, behind-the-scenes story of the new, untested president and his advisors as they respond to the worst act of terror on American soil, fight an entirely unprecedented war, and battle a faltering economy. Abridged. 4 CDs.

The #1 "New York Times" bestseller about the inner workings of the Bush White House is now updated and with new reporting. Based on hundreds of interviews throughout the Administration, Woodward's account will provide the first in-depth, behind-the-scenes story of President Bush as he responds to the worst acts of terror on American soil.

Bush at War reveals in stunning detail how an untested president with a sweeping vision for remaking the world and war cabinet members often at odds with each other responded to the September 11 terrorist attacks and prepared to confront Iraq. Woodward's virtual wiretap into the White House Situation Room is the first history of the war on terrorism.

With his unmatched investigative skill, Bob Woodward tells the behind-the-scenes story of how President George W. Bush and his top national security advisers, after the initial shock of the September 11 attacks, led the nation to war.

Extensive quotations from the secret deliberations of the National Security Council - — and firsthand revelations of the private thoughts, concerns and fears of the president and his war cabinet - — make Bush at War an unprecedented chronicle of a modern presidency in time of grave crisis.

Based on interviews with more than a hundred sources and four hours of exclusive interviews with the president, Bush at War reveals Bush's sweeping, almost grandiose, vision for remaking the world. "I'm not a textbook player, I'm a gut player," the president said.

Woodward's virtual wiretap into the White House Situation Room reveals a stunning group portrait of an untested president and his advisers, three of whom might themselves have made it to the presidency. In Bush at War, Bob Woodward once again delivers a reporting tour de force.