Customer Reviews

Nixon's Shadow: The History of the Image

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Nixon's Shadow sheds light on Nixon's life and legacy--and it opens up a fascinating world on the civic life of the United States. It's one of the best books I've read in a long, long time.

What I love about most this book is that it tells Nixon's story through the eyes of his critics and the lens of his detractors. In doing so, Greenberg opens up a whole new way, really, of thinking about our politics. The book marks a major contribution to the Nixon literature as well as a shrewd, detailed portrait of the rise of image-making in 20th century America.

By focusing on the forces that led to Nixon's rise and fall, Greenberg shows us how images in politics aren't simply products created by a candidate--they are, in fact, the result of complex forces in our culture and our politics. This book goes to the heart of our civic life. It is one of the most fascinating take our politics that I've ever had the pleasure to read--and one of the best-written non-fiction books to come down the pike in recent memory.

It amazes me that anybody reading this book would believe that having one central idea could be considered a flaw. The brilliance of this book is its central theme. The coherence brought to this subject is staggering, given past and often failed attempts to capture the essence of Nixon not as a political person, but as a political hydra.

The legwork it must have taken to build such a coherent narrative out of that many disparate sources is truly a remarkable achievement. To make it accessible to the non-academic reader is nothing short of a miracle and reflects the writer's well-established credentials as a seasoned political writer and editor. If this is book one, I eagerly look forward to his future efforts.

I would also recommend this book to anybody who wants to challenge his or her pre-conceived notions about who Richard Nixon was and what his influence will be on the political landscape of America. For the Nixon neophyte, the book frames the Nixon legacy into a well-organized source on an individual's significant role in the revolution and evolution of American politics towards image control and ideological spinning.

Seldom does one find such a readable, enlightening treatment of a subject so many of us believe we know so well. Nixon's Shadow documents, in a most engaging fashion, the genesis of a significant change in American political culture. One has not studied Nixon, or modern American political history, until one understands Nixon's many images. Greenberg breaks this ground in fascinating and well-organized detail. The guy can write, too.

This is a superb book both in terms of its deep perspective on the former president, and because of the light it sheds on politics today. Chock-a-block with fascinating anecdotes, little-known facts and new perspectives on Tricky Dick. It's a fast-paced narrative, but filled with rich analysis and new ideas. Most definitely worth a read.

Mixing psychology, media studies, political science, punditry, and good old-fashioned History with a capital 'H,' Greenberg manages to illuminate an oft-analyzed icon from a host of new and different perspectives. Reading this book was a bit like being a guest at a scintillating dinner party among intellectuals from a range of fields, in which a single topic dominates the evening's discussion and debate, but never gets boring because of the diversity of the company. Here, what is most impressive is that Greenberg (whom the book jacket indicates was trained as a traditional academic historian) manages to pull it off single-handedly, and so well. The breadth of 'takes' on Nixon included in this book was a risky move -- it might well have come out confusing, disjointed, or watered-down -- but like a modern-day Fred Astaire or Nipsey Russell, Greenberg manages to smoothly tap-dance across genres (and generations of Nixon fans & foes) without missing a beat. Hats off to the author for taking this risk, and for carrying it off with such grace and skill. Highly recommended for history buffs, pop culture buffs, and those of us who simply enjoy a good read.

This book is catching fire as the latest, most innovative take on Tricky Dick that has come out in a while, as well as an insightful look at the forces behind today's politics of image-making. The book offers a succession of revealing portraits of Nixon, seen through the eyes of all kinds of different Americans. It is a great read - filled with stories and vivid anecdotes of the former President's rise through politics, starting from small town California, through to the White House and then post-resignation exile. You will not put this book down. Budding politicos, Nixon-lovers, Nixon-haters and non-fiction lovers in general should get hold of it.

Was Richard Nixon the second coming of Hitler or the last great liberal president? Or, most likely, the greatest transformation artist since Lon Chaney? With all the spinning by Nixon and his foes, it may be impossible to ever definitively answer who our 37th president was. David Greenberg's compelling book tracks the many colors of this iconic chameleon. The first couple of chapters do a solid job recounting the Tricky Dicky days, kicked off by the warm (?), conniving (?), populist (?) Checkers speech-- Nixon's first great rebound. But it isn't until the Watergate and post-Watergate chapters that the book really takes off with fresh, provocative insights.

Greenberg escorts us down the twisted passageways of Nixon's psyche, recounting the many news, historical and entertainment sources that painted Nixon as an emotional cripple whose psychotic manipulations and paranoid rants wracked our nation's trust in government. Was that the real Nixon? The following section reviews the media sources, often prompted by the Nixon PR machine, that attempted to recast the by then ex-president as a great statesman who opened up China and held out an olive branch to the Soviets. Perhaps most suprising, and riveting, is the chapter that discusses the revisionist historians who paint Nixon's as the great liberal in conservative clothing-- the man who took the "Great Society" to new heights, shepherding legislation that integrated schools, bettered the lives of Native Americans, and expanded social programs for the poor.

Greenberg while refusing to swallow any of these images whole, uses his keen eye to find the credible core of each Nixonian persona. This is a memorable history that questions history itself, a book that asks-- is it possible to objectively capture any figure from history?

Think you know everything about Tricky Dick? Not only will this book make you think again-it will help you understand WHY it is that you think what you do. The notion that "image is everything" in contemporary politics is by now a cliché. But how, when, where, and why did it become so? And why should you care? This book offers a brilliant and highly original set of answers to these questions. As a contribution to our understanding of popular culture, presidential politics, and memory, NIXON'S SHADOW is tremendously important. That it is also a great read-as welcome on a bus or plane as on a syllabus-is nothing short of miraculous.

David Greenberg is the Picasso of historians. He has the rare and precious ability to examine a historical figure from every possible angle and present them simultaneously to the viewer so that they make a colorful, complex, highly original, yet recognizable portrait. The unique value of Nixon's Shadow lies in its capacity to serve as a basis for and guide to self-reflection. If one tends toward introspection, one can read the book and imagine all the facets of one's character being submitted to such an analysis, thereby gaining respect and compassion for oneself and all of humanity as rich, worthy, and utterly fascinating beings. I am Nixon, we are all Nixon--which, contrary to popular opinion, is a good thing. Thank you, Mr. Greenberg!

The freshest thing written in years on one of America's most engimatic presidents. Greenberg's book is a model of originality and historical craft. And it's a great read--always smart, often surprisingly funny, and laden with great anecdotes. Anyone wondering how our politics got so distorted should pick this one up.