Customer Reviews

The Day the Presses Stopped: A History of the Pentagon Papers Case

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Rudenstine's book is a terrific read! The secret's in the pacing, because he steps through the events leading to the landmark Supreme Court ruling day-by-day, sometimes hour-by-hour. Because the Nixon administration sought preliminary injunctions against the Times and Post, the legal battle was fought over a few weeks, accelerating toward the end.

The author is unsparing in his criticism of the legal approaches used on all sides and points out errors and opportunities missed by judges, lawyers, defendants, and plaintiffs. The result is a less tidy view of what I had previously presumed was a cut-and-dried First Amendment case.

Forgive my low-brow tastes, fellow readers, but this book reminded me of Tom Clancy's first novel, The Hunt for Red October: It makes a thriller by tracing the technicalities swirling around a crisis. I wish there were a sequel.

This is one of those rare beasts in non-fiction -- a page-turner that has been written and edited so well that there is no excess verbiage or repetition! I wanted to know more about the Pentagon Papers, and my research pointed me in the direction of this book, but I had no idea what a wonderful read it would turn out to be...

Rudenstine, a lawyer leaves out any consideration of international law. For example, he fails to even mention Professor Richard Falk of Princeton University who edited three thick volumes on international law and the Viet Nam War. Falk is the lawyer who is the leading authority on the Pentagon Papers. Rudenstine also gives short shrift to the trial that was the main reason for Nixon's fall (much moreso than the Watergate burglary): the Ellsberg- Russo Pentagon Papers Trial which came about as a result of my civil disobedience (refusing to testify before the Pentagon Papers grand jury and thus going to jail) in the summer of 1971. As a result of these omissions Rudenstine's book is seriously flawed.

Fanatastic, detailed and scholarly account of the Pentagon papers case from a truly gifted legal academic

What's the author's problem? Alxheimer's or "selective memory?" He fails to mention the "joint trial of Dan Ellsberg AND Tony Russo" -- and Russo went to jail for civil resistance over the Pentagon Papers! -- and the author fails to mention the participation of renowned international law scholar Richard Falk. Surely with all the books Falk has in his home library here in Princeton, he must have purchased this one. Where's his response? Or would he rather forget his participation in this world-history-changing event? Further, there's nothing that would give a readers even a clue that the leak of the Pentagon Papers begat the downfall of Richard Nixon -- not just Watergate! Shame on you, Rudenstine!