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Chaos chronicles

Donald Trump’s last days in office
by
January–February 2022, no. 439

Landslide: The final days of the Trump presidency by Michael Wolff

The Bridge Street Press, $49.99 hb, 326 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa

Simon & Schuster, $49.99 hb, 510 pp

Chaos chronicles

Donald Trump’s last days in office
by
January–February 2022, no. 439
President Donald J. Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, 21 March 2020 (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
President Donald J. Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, 21 March 2020 (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

The Trump presidency (2017–21) has generated more books across its four years than most presidencies have across eight. It is ironic that an avowedly anti-intellectual president, who advertises his dislike of reading, has had such a profound impact on political literature. These two books – Landslide and Peril – will likely remain the most read of that growing collection. As their titles suggest, each is a chronicle of the chaos that consumed the United States during and after the 2020 election campaign.

Both recount the bizarre close to one of the most unexpected presidencies in American history. Both exploit high-level access to the people who surrounded Trump as he was dragged from office in the three months following his November election defeat. Both reconstruct the violent assault on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, two weeks before Joe Biden was sworn in. Both offer compelling narratives of this northern winter of peril.

Timothy J. Lynch reviews 'Landslide: The final days of the Trump presidency' by Michael Wolff and 'Peril' by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa

Landslide: The final days of the Trump presidency

by Michael Wolff

The Bridge Street Press, $49.99 hb, 326 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

Peril

by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa

Simon & Schuster, $49.99 hb, 510 pp

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Comment (1)

  • Surely no one imagines that if something should happen to Donald Trump this would all be over. It's not about Trump or his acolytes. The individual who is elevated is moulded and formed by demagoguery; his or her particular character is of no account.
    Posted by Patrick Hockey
    03 February 2022

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