The country is holding it's collective breath until G.W Bush is gone. Good reading for and independent like myself or a liberal. Maybe conservative republicans if they want a good tear jerker.Whacked

A very engrossing book with lots of behind the scenes information and details. Almost like the events leading up to a train wreck that you learn about after the fact and ask, Why was this allowed to happen?
It's sad to see the extent to which the everyday citizen has lost control of government in this country--especially when you consider the groups who have taken over and their motives--but this book documents the process in fine detail. The only thing that has not happened yet is a war with Iran--and that's looming on the horizon now. Don't say he didn't warn us!

To understand the foundation that led to this failed presidency this book is definitely in my top 5. His faith and his pure fundamentalist perspective shines through in this book.

However, the book fails doesn't include the Bush entourage in its analysis and I think that this is were it falls short. The reborn christian neocon perspective definitely explains the perspective of this presidency. But is not enough to explain how the perspective has been implemented. The entourage of Bush II plays a vital role that hasn't been sufficiently addressed in this book.

At the same time it does provide yet another highly valuable viewpoint on this failed presidency. I recommend adding Utter Incompetents, A Tragic Legacy, Hubris, Fiasco and State of Denial into the mix to complete that picture.

This book is designed specifically to adorn the shelves of liberal hacks. Nevermind that it's made up and totally inaccurate. Consider it a transfer of wealth from your pocket to the authors, and nothing more.

The is good reason it's the 'untold' story.

Every voting American citizen should read this book. It presents the facts on how a small group of people have subverted democratic processes and led our country into economic and military foolishness. The author's research is well-documented and unassailable.

Without a doubt this Unger book warrants thorough consideration for a Pulitzer Prize. It compares favorably with the excellent research/documentation of Wright's Pulitzer Prize winner,"The Looming Tower," and should be required reading for all high school seniors. This is a wonderful, engaging read that also is a very critical reminder that citizens in a democracy must question authority with rigor, sincerity and outspokenness; otherwise our democracy will be abducted. While the mainstream media was asleep during Bush's takeover, Unger provides excellent examples of those who did report on the deterioration of our liberties by the wealthy and powerful few who created a much more secretive government while most Americans were in a morass of faux patriotism and "fear of fear itself!"

The history of president Busch and the scenes behind his presidentcy are really both sad and frightening. The things revealed are of a kind we do not want to know of. The position of the U.S.A. in the world has dramatically deteriorated during his reign. Having read Craig Unger's great book one can only hope that president Busch and his friends, if they are his friends, do not cause more damage to the country and the world during his remaining time in power. If this is the republican way the conclusion can only be that there is only one option - a democrat for president.
The tragedy which is so eminently exposed in the book may result in that I as a foreigner may see all Americans and the whole of the U.S.A. as bad. This is of course not true. Craig Unger at the same time critical gives me hope for a better future. Peter Lindgren, Business Consultant, Sweden.

This is a very important book; and its title does not carry its essential message. The subtitle ("The Untold Story of How a Band of True Believers Seized the Executive Branch, Started the Iraq War, and Still Imperils America's Future") describes the heavy, serious burden of the author's effort. Many of us will find that we knew parts of the story--here and there; but this is a strong, detailed, carefully documented masterwork showing the roots, process, fulfillment and consequences of a long-term struggle of men calling themselves "neo-conservatives" to find ways to control national decisions in secret and via coercion and manipulation that were against the basic will of the people and the best interests of our country. Who would have thought that that could happen here?? History recorded how Adolf Hitler got himself elected to power by making exaggerated promises and working on the fears of the people; sometimes some of us felt sorry for the poor, duped Germans.
The implications for our "rule of law" and of following our democratic constitutional traditions are immense. I believe that the problem of "terrorism" is a real and serious one--and could hurt us again; but I've also always been convinced that only by ourselves GIVING UP our freedoms and rights could the United States really be defeated. This book shows "how it's done."
One of the "disciplines" employed by this group is phrased "Never give up. Never Give Up. NEVER GIVE UP." Thus, those who want to preserve our national democratic, constitutional ideals must adopt a similar resolve: "Be ever watchful. Be Ever Watchful. BE EVER WATCHFUL"
Every serious citizen should read this book.

Regardless of one's view of the war and the administration; regardless of one's political, social or religious views, everyone should read this. The reason is that one's views on issues - whichever side - should be informed views. Most people's views - whichever side - are grounded or afflicted with ignorance. I rarely recommend a book so wholeheartedly. It's history is not based on wild conspiracy theories or improbabilities. It is extremely well documented and rife with reference notes (almost 50 small-print pages)

This books gives a well-sourced documentation of the havoc the Bush administration has wreaked on this country. It will take years to bring the country back from the brink of disaster the Bush administration has foisted upon us. Everyone should read this if you haven't made your decision yet as to whom to vote for president. The book shows how this administration has shredded the Constitution; thus the Republican party cannot be trusted to select his predecessor.

This is one of those books that you almost want to put down, because for a brief moment you want to believe that ignorance is bliss... This is a book that is so necessary, and reading it makes one wonder why this story hasn't been told. It is one of those books that explains why we are in a shrinking position of strength -- and how dangerous these times are because of our willingness to sit back while the religious and political leaders have turned us into an empire using the great language of those who followed Jesus -- during a time of the great Roman empire to turn it upside down.

Ironic that Jesus came to stand against Empire, and now these supposed followers of his have turned us into what Jesus stood against.

Thanks for your good work for a time such as this.

Just another piece of drivel disguised as an 'intellectual' work. Blind hatred of G*d, Bush and the Iraq war lead this sophist pulp.

I read the author's previous book about the Bush family with interest, but found this one spell-binding. If there was ever a well-written/well-documented book that dispells the notion that Bush took the country to war because of wrong intelligence, this is the one. War against Iraq was on the drawing board for many years...just waiting for the right occupant in the White House. The book also clarifies the odd relationship between the Christian Right, Israel and the Jews. I'd wondered from a distance why Israel had such support from some Christians in this country. Now I know. Send this one to your friends!!

Craig Unger who also wrote the very informative book called House of Bush, House of Saud, which details how and why Americans became so dependent on oil thanks in large part to the closeness of the Bush family with the Royal Saudi family over a period of many years,(This made me see red especially listening to Bush 43 telling Americans that we "are addicted to oil." And whose fault is that?) has now published another explosive expose called The Fall of the House of Bush. In this book, Unger has given us not only a history of the evangelical movement and how it intersected and interacted with the neocons to produce this rogue Bush administration but a detailed account of its response to events leading up to and the aftermath of 9/11. From the flyleaf: "Why George W. Bush ignored the sage advice of his father and took us into war." "How George Bush was convinced he was and is doing God's will." "How Cheney and other members of the administration ignored or purposefully used forged documents to talk Americans into invading Iraq." Unger cites many heretofore unpublished documents written by such infamous neocons like Wolfowitz and how this shadow government that Cheney has created is alive and well today. How John and Joan Q Public has been duped by these people! While Unger's revelations make my blood pressure soar, he also sends his readers a clarion call to take up the gauntlet and do SOMETHING so this kind of rogue government is never allowed such power again in our democracy. A must read by every American. And then we must take action and send these people to jail.

Since retiring I have been studying how such a stupid man could be the president of my country. This book is a wonderful compilation of the reasons why and how. The reading is exciting and thorough. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know how the tragedy of this administration began and why it continues. A fantastic addition to the history of the US. It makes my blood boil.

There is not much new information - and I would have like to see more exploration of the psychological dimension of the 'NeoCons' influence not just on the hapless and pitiful figure of Bush 43, but also on the Washington poodle press corps, and the wider perception of the last 7 years. The author seemed to have run out of steam towards the end but a good read overall.

"The Fall of the House of Bush" tells of the birth of the neocon movement, how it linked up with the Christian evangelist movement, why Bush 43 is uninterested in facts, and how V.P. Cheney became the hidden head of American government.

Unger begins by telling us that the most significant "clash of civilizations" today is between religious fundamentalists - Islamists, Christian, and Jewish, vs. the modern world. He then reports on the rise of religious fervor within the U.S. Puritans saw American as the New Jerusalem, but were not the dominant force colonizing America - church membership during this period never exceeded 20%. Nonetheless, it became quite strong in some areas - eg. the South.

In the years after the Scopes Monkey Trial (won by the religious side), christian colleges and Bible institutes, magazines, broadcast outlets, crusades to convert the unsaved, and thousands of new churches were founded. These included Bob Jones University (the largest producer of fundamentalist preachers in the U.S.), Billy Graham and his Crusades, Pat Robertson (Christian Broadcasting System, Trinity Broadcasting Network), Jerry Falwell (The Moral Majority and Liberty University), and James Dobson (Focus on the Family).

Switching topics, we read that the first neoconservatives were mostly 2nd-generation Jews in America. Senator Jackson (D-Wa) became leader of the fight against "faces of darkness" (communism) and a grandiose missionary belief that American values and principles were both virtuous and universal that could save the rest of the world from communism - and had the moral duty to do so. Coming from the age of Stalin and Hitler, it was easy for Jackson and neocons to push military action as a first resort. Richard Perle, Daniel Pipes, Paul Wolfowitz, James Woolsey, Donald Rumsfeld, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Douglas Feith, Scooter Libby, John Bolton and others shared common mentors, and an attitude that the Soviet Union could not be trusted - we had to have zero margin of error. An early neocon tactic was building up strength through creating an alphabet soup of committees, organizations, and think tanks.

Meanwhile the evangelicals were motivated by Genesis 13:15 where God tells Abraham about the Holy Land: "I will give it to you and your descendants forever." Thus, Israel's existence and success became seen by fundamentalists as a prelude to the return of the Messiah. Strength grew as a result of Roe v. Wade - Falwell's "Moral Majority" registered 8.5 million voters in five years and "born-agains" went on from 26% in 1976 to 39% in 1988, were boosted again through the Lewinsky scandal, and now represent roughly 10X the number of Jews in America.

Reagan fused the neocon and evangelical movements together with his calling the Soviet Union the "evil empire," and dropping Carter's efforts to end the Palestine-Israel conflict. (Neocons saw the benefits and actively encouraged uniting with the evangelicals.) Evangelicals went 2:1 for Reagan in the 1980 election.

Forward in time to Bush I. Saddam was seen by his administration as an increasingly dangerous monster that the U.S. helped create - providing pathogenic material and intelligence vs. Iran. During the Bush I and Clinton years neocons went back to their earlier standby positions - a sort of government in exile. At the same time, Chalabi gained strength with the neocons via promises to draw Iraq closer to Israel - if he was made leader.

After Rabin's assassination in 1995, neocon Israeli leader Netanyahu received from American neocon Richard Perle a guidance paper proposing to junk the Oslo Accords (trading land for peace), and substituting "peace through strength" through preemptive actions to establish a larger Israel via wars against Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to bring democracy ("democracies don't launch wars") to the region.

As 2000 approached, neocons quickly realized the Bush II was different from his father, and began "educating" him. Unger reports Bush II making statements about taking out Saddam in early 2000. Unger also cites a 2/1/2001 memo circulated by Bush II officials titled "Plan for post-Saddam Iraq" and that there were discussions about what to do with Iraq's oil wealth. In addition, Cheney's Energy Task Force posted a map of Iraq's oil deposits on the wall, along with a list of foreign companies vying for them. Bush II's first National Security Council meeting brought his declaration that he was withdrawing from the Palestinian peace process, and intended to tilt towards Israel.

Fanatical emphasis on false information from Iraqi defector and fabricator "Curveball," the Niger yellow-cake story (eventually attributed to Britain), Chalabi (seeking to further inflame matters), Judith Miller at the New York Times, the supposed Prague meeting with Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi agent, the mobile biowar weapons labs (per Curveball), Cheney's meeting with (leaning on) CIA analysts, and Tenet trying to maintain favor, along with low-ball estimates of the cost ($50-60 billion, self-funding reconstruction, soldiers greeted with flowers), and a purge of naysayers assured that Bush II's predilection came true.

Meanwhile, Bush also served evangelicals through numerous appointments at high levels of government, "faith-based initiatives" (funding), banning federal support for stem-cell research from discarded eggs, contraception, etc.

Unger ends asserting that Jeb Bush sees his political future as finished - courtesy of George, and that we'll be paying the price for Bush and the neocons' folly for years.

I read this book practically in one sitting. Unger has given us a meticulously researched history of George W. Bush's tenure and the devil's bargain made between evangelical Christians and neoconservatives with regard to "democratizing" the Middle East. It's an absolutely chilling story, but one every American needs to know about.

A true American is a Caucasian or African-American Christian that loves his country. That's all there is to it.

America was discovered by Caucasian Christians and settled as a land where they could practice Protestantism freely. The Catholic church had grown corrupt and was persecuting other Christians for not following their newly-proclaimed dogma.

Americans soon found they had neighbors whom they mistakenly yclept Indians, whom they shared the truth of Christ with. The two got along well, but began to make deals with each other and change their minds afterward which led them to get into squabbles. America generously agreed to give certain portions of America to the Indians and they happily accepted.

Over in Africa, the Arabs were capturing African-Americans and enslaving them. America took up a collection and bought all the slaves from the Arab invaders, with the agreement that the African-Americans work for them to pay off the debt. The African-Americans kindly accepted. The Americans then shared the truth of Christ with their new African-American friends.

The World saw how free and happy America was and sought to destroy it. Britain, an evil empire that encompassed half the world decided to invade. Even though America was greatly out-numbered, God gave her the power to fight off the evil invaders and keep America the bastion of freedom it was.

When England was in rubble, the Americans got together and wrote down how their government worked so their descendants would never forget how it was done. They called it the Constitution. It said that Americans would be free to say anything they wanted, and practice any form of Christianity they wanted. They were kind enough to forgive the Catholic church for what it did and allowed people to be Catholic if they wanted as well. As well as a myriad of other wonderful things, it also stated that Americans' should be allowed to carry firearms.

Even though they would have been kicked out of the original America, there has arisen a new "false-American" that wants to destroy the country that has given him everything. They call themselves liberals, or sometimes progressives. They want to expand the Indians' territory to cover most if not all of America's territory, and they tell the African-Americans lies about how they were slaves. They burn American flags and claim the first Americans were devil worshippers. They also want to destroy the constitution because it gives people the freedom of religion and the right to bear firearms.

Yes, there is such as thing as true Americans, and unfortunately false Americans as well. The difference is obvious: one loves his country and wants to keep it like the original Americans had it, the other hates it and wants to destroy it.

This book encompasses the information in many recent best-sellers like Fiasco, Hubris, The Greatest Story Ever Sold, and A Tragic legacy. So if you want to get an update of the last seven years in one book, read this one. This book reads at a quick-pace, and gets right to the point of the tragic sequence of events of Bush's presidency. Unger knows how to highlight the main points of our recent history to illustrate how we have been hoodwinked into our current state of affairs. Unfortunately it's too late to change our situation. There is also a deep sense of foreboding for the next 12 months with Bush in charge. There is no doubt that Bush and Co. are using the same rationale to start a war with Iran, as they did with Iraq. Shame on all of us .... citizens, the press, congress ... for letting the neocons do what they have done to the world, and what they have in store for the world.

The fall of the house of Bush, unfortunatley, will bring down the rest of us with it.

This great book very clearly and alarmingly illustrates what happens when a great country distains the traditional American values of scientific research, rational thinking and progressive politics. Evangelicals corrupted by lust for power, and neocons who gave every indication of total insanity worked together under the leadership of the appalling Bush Administration to deeply damage America, perhaps beyond repair.

Probably the more appropriate photos for the dust jacket would have been those that appear facing page 215: George H.W. Bush breaking down into sobs while discussing his son. Ostensibly meaning son Jeb, although no one watching could help believe his anguish was with son Dubya.

How did George W. turn out so differently from his father? How did he go from drunken, failure-prone frat boy to a "born again" self-styled "compassionate conservative" and twice-elected President of the United States? Author Unger lays out his case, starting with a brief history of American-style evangelicism, especially the "Rapture"-based theology and fundamentalism, and follows with a chapter on the origins and philosophy of the neoconservative movement. The two seemingly disparate groups provided the ideological underpinings of the George W. Bush administration, as well as the reliance on purity of faith over rational and objective analysis.

Much of the background material has been long available, but there are some curious new revelations. In spite of what Bush (or his ghost-writer) wrote in "A Charge to Keep", Bush was "born again" not under the guidance of Billy Graham, but by a far sketchier character named Arthur Blessitt. (Blessitt once ran a "Jesus coffeehouse" on the Sunset Strip, until he was evicted in 1969.) When Bush senior came in behind Pat Robertson in the 1988 Iowa caucuses, he had Dubya act as his liason to the growing grass-roots evangelical vote. In that role, he took delight in denying "access" to his father and got his first taste of power. Although his parents had long counted on brother Jeb to be the political heir, Dubya had other plans.

This isn't a biography, and certainly isn't a military history - only 55 pages from the start of the war in Iraq to the last page. It IS very well researched, with 49 pages of footnotes and a 9-page bibliography. I can't say how much overlap there is with Draper's book "Dead Certain", the book it is most likely to be compared with. Unger does go into detail on the Bush-Cheney relationship that Draper seems to have skimmed past. (Unger includes "Dead Certain" in the footnotes and bibliography.)

With so many books out on the Bush presidency and the Iraq war, what does this contribute? Most of all, it traces the alliances of the forces behind the scenes, and provides new insight into the motivations of the key players. It really is fairly objective in its assessments, but I was surprised (and disappointed) in the petty visciousness displayed by both Bush and Cheney towards subordinates and critics in example after example. (One of the better lines comes from Bob Strauss, who said, "Bush senior finds it impossible to strut, and Bush junior finds it impossible not to.") It also makes it easier to understand how the events so well documented in "Fiasco" and "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" came about. It is very disconcerting to see that George W. was holding secret, "no press allowed" meetings with assorted Christian Zionist/ evangelical groups before and during his 2000 campaign. The catch-phrase "compassionate conservatism" takes on an entirely different meaning when it is shown to be part of the agenda to smash down the church-state barrier. There's some pretty interesting background on a particularly skeezy schlub (Michael Ledeen) whose fingerprints seem to be all over the infamous Italian "Niger yellowcake" forgery. (This character also asserts that "my mother was the model for (Disney's) Snow White".)

I'd recommend the book to those who haven't followed the rise of the evangelical voting bloc, the move of the neoconservatives (or "the crazies", as Bush senior referred to them) from the margins to hands on the levers of power, or the direction they may take next. This administration has larded every conceivable federal agency with these kinds of people, and it will take many years to repair their damage.

Probably the more appropriate photos for the dust jacket would have been those that appear facing page 215: George H.W. Bush breaking down into sobs while discussing his son. Ostensibly meaning son Jeb, although no one watching could help believe his anguish was with son Dubya.

How did George W. turn out so differently from his father? How did he go from drunken, failure-prone frat boy to a "born again" "compassionate conservative" and twice-elected President of the United States? Author Unger lays out his case, starting with a brief history of American-style evangelicism, especially the "Rapture"-based theology and fundamentalism, and follows with a chapter on the origins and philosophy of the neoconservative movement. The two seemingly disparate groups provided the ideological underpinings of the George W. Bush administration, as well as the reliance on purity of faith over rational and objective analysis.

Much of the background material has been long available, but there are some curious new revelations. In spite of what Bush (or his ghost-writer) wrote in "A Charge to Keep", Bush was "born again" not under the guidance of Billy Graham, but by a far sketchier character named Arthur Blessitt. (Blessitt once ran a "Jesus coffeehouse" on the Sunset Strip, until he was evicted in 1969.) When Bush senior came in behind Pat Robertson in the 1988 Iowa caucuses, he had Dubya act as his liason to the growing grass-roots evangelical vote. In that role, he took delight in denying "access" to his father and got his first taste of power. Although his parents had long counted on brother Jeb to be the political heir, Dubya had other plans.

This isn't a biography, and certainly isn't a military history - only 55 pages from the start of the war in Iraq to the last page. It IS very well researched, with 49 pages of footnotes and a 9-page bibliography. I can't say how much overlap there is with Draper's book "Dead Certain", the book it is most likely to be compared with. Unger does go into detail on the Bush-Cheney relationship that Draper seems to have skimmed past. (Unger includes "Dead Certain" in the footnotes and bibliography.)

With so many books out on the Bush presidency and the Iraq war, what does this contribute? Most of all, it traces the alliances of the forces behind the scenes, and provides new insight into the motivations of the key players. It really is fairly objective in its assessments, but I was surprised (and disappointed) in the petty visciousness displayed by both Bush and Cheney towards subordinates and critics in example after example. (One of the better lines comes from Bob Strauss, who said, "Bush senior finds it impossible to strut, and Bush junior finds it impossible not to.") It also makes it easier to understand how the events so well documented in "Fiasco" and "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" came about. It is very disconcerting to see that George W. was holding secret, "no press allowed" meetings with assorted Christian evangelical/Zionist groups before and during his 2000 campaign. The catch-phrase "compassionate conservatism" takes on an entirely different meaning when it is shown to be part of the agenda to smash down the church-state barrier.

I'd recommend the book to those who haven't followed the rise of the evangelical voting bloc, the move of the neoconservatives (or "the crazies", as Bush senior referred to them) from the margins to hands on the levers of power, or the direction they may take next.

Probably the more appropriate photos for the dust jacket would have been those that appear facing page 215: George H.W. Bush breaking down into sobs while discussing his son. Ostensibly meaning son Jeb, although no one watching could help believe his anguish was with son Dubya.

How did George W. turn out so differently from his father? How did he go from drunken, failure-prone frat boy to a "born again" "compassionate conservative" and twice-elected President of the United States? Author Unger lays out his case, starting with a brief history of American-style evangelicism, especially the "Rapture"-based theology and fundamentalism, and follows with a chapter on the origins and philosophy of the neoconservative movement. The two seemingly disparate groups provided the ideological underpinings of the George W. Bush administration, as well as the reliance on purity of faith over rational and objective analysis.

Much of the background material has been long available, but there are some curious new revelations. In spite of what Bush (or his ghost-writer) wrote in "A Charge to Keep", Bush was "born again" not under the guidance of Billy Graham, but by a far sketchier character named Arthur Blessitt. (Blessitt once ran a "Jesus coffeehouse" on the Sunset Strip, until he was evicted in 1969.) When Bush senior came in behind Pat Robertson in the 1988 Iowa caucuses, he had Dubya act as his liason to the growing grass-roots evangelical vote. In that role, he took delight in denying "access" to his father and got his first taste of power. Although his parents had long counted on brother Jeb to be the political heir, Dubya had other plans.

This isn't a biography, and certainly isn't a military history - only 55 pages from the start of the war in Iraq to the last page. It IS very well researched, with 49 pages of footnotes and a 9-page bibliography. I can't say how much overlap there is with Draper's book "Dead Certain", the book it is most likely to be compared with. Unger does go into detail on the Bush-Cheney relationship that Draper seems to have skimmed past. (Unger includes "Dead Certain" in the footnotes and bibliography.)

With so many books out on the Bush presidency and the Iraq war, what does this contribute? Most of all, it traces the alliances of the forces behind the scenes, and provides new insight into the motivations of the key players. It really is fairly objective in its assessments, but I was surprised (and disappointed) in the petty visciousness displayed by both Bush and Cheney towards subordinates and critics in example after example. (One of the better lines comes from Bob Strauss, who said, "Bush senior finds it impossible to strut, and Bush junior finds it impossible not to.") It also makes it easier to understand how the events so well documented in "Fiasco" and "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" came about.

I'd recommend the book to those who haven't followed the rise of the evangelical voting bloc, the move of the neoconservatives (or "the crazies", as Bush senior referred to them) from the margins to hands on the levers of power, or the direction they may take next.

Probably the more appropriate photos for the dust jacket would have been those that appear facing page 215: George H.W. Bush breaking down into sobs while discussing his son. Ostensibly meaning son Jeb, although no one watching could help believe his anguish was with son Dubya.

How did George W. turn out so differently from his father? How did he go from drunken, failure-prone frat boy to a "born again" "compassionate conservative" and twice-elected President of the United States? Author Unger lays out his case, starting with a brief history of American-style evangelicism, especially the "Rapture"-based theology and fundamentalism, and follows with a chapter on the origins and philosophy of the neoconservative movement. The two seemingly disparate groups provided the ideological underpinings of the George W. Bush administration, as well as the reliance on purity of faith over rational and objective analysis.

Much of the background material has been long available, but there are some curious new revelations. In spite of what Bush (or his ghost-writer) wrote in "A Charge to Keep", Bush was "born again" not under the guidance of Billy Graham, but by a far sketchier character named Arthur Blessitt. (Blessitt once ran a "Jesus coffeehouse" on the Sunset Strip, until he was evicted in 1969.)

This isn't a biography, and certainly isn't a military history - only 55 pages from the start of the war in Iraq to the last page. It IS very well researched, with 49 pages of footnotes and a 9-page bibliography. I can't say how much overlap there is with Draper's book "Dead Certain", the book it is most likely to be compared with. Unger does go into detail on the Bush-Cheney relationship that Draper seems to have skimmed past. (Unger includes "Dead Certain" in the footnotes and bibliography.)

With so many books out on the Bush presidency and the Iraq war, what does this contribute? Most of all, it traces the alliances of the forces behind the scenes, and provides new insight into the motivations of the key players. It really is fairly objective in its assessments, but I was surprised (and disappointed) in the petty visciousness displayed by both Bush and Cheney towards subordinates and critics in example after example. (One of the better lines comes from Bob Strauss, who said, "Bush senior finds it impossible to strut, and Bush junior finds it impossible not to.") It also makes it easier to understand how the events so well documented in "Fiasco" and "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" came about.

I'd recommend the book to those who haven't followed the rise of the evangelical voting bloc, the move of the neoconservatives (or "the crazies", as Bush senior referred to them) from the margins to hands on the levers of power, or the direction they may take next.

Craig Unger masterfully tells the story of how two sets of odd "bedfellows" came together in the late 1990's, creating an alliance to elect George W Bush president and begin this country's downfall.

This is one of the best books I've read on Bush and Iraq, and the first one that goes into depth about the "players" who influenced aging frat boy Bush into taking our once-great country into the debacle called the "Iraq War".

My main thought, while reading the book, is that the neo-cons and the evangelists who united in their joint desire to remake the Middle-East must have given very little thought to how the war was going to actually "work", since the results, from the very first day after "mission" was declared "accomplished" have been one scene of horror after another.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Now, go buy it and read it.