Watergate [Paperback]

Fred Emery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995

Featuring a new afterword for the paperback edition, a fast-paced, clear, comprehensive account of Watergate contains new information about the scandal and probes the deep flaws of character that led to it. Reprint. 17,500 first printing. NYT.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anyone who needs to be reminded that Watergate was more than a "third-rate burglary" should read Emery's retelling of the scandal that drove Nixon from office. Drawing on the memoirs of many of the Watergate figures as well as an examination of the most recently released Nixon tapes, Emery, former Washington bureau chief of the London Times , relates an engrossing story of how the Watergate break-in came to pass, and how the coverup spread like wildfire throughout Nixon's re-election committee and the White House. Describing one criminal act after another, beginning with the break-in of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office, Emery makes it clear that, in the words of special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, the Oval Office had been transformed by Nixon "into a mean den where perjury and low schemes became a way of life." Given the illegal activities Nixon condoned and/or conducted, as related by Emery, most readers will find it hard to feel much sympathy for him even as the author relates the agony of the late president and his family during his final days in the White House as resignation became inevitable. This devastating account of presidential disgrace will give pause especially to those feeling bereaved by Nixon's death.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

As the 20th anniversary of Richard Nixon's fall and tarnishing of the presidential image approaches, Emery provides an intricate, meticulously researched narrative that draws heavily on interviews with the principals to explain how and why the Watergate break-in occurred. A former Washington correspondent of The Times of London who is now with the BBC, Emery is also the author of a five-part TV series on Watergate to be aired this August on the Discovery Channel. In addition to an introductory section on the cast of characters involved, Emery provides a detailed examination of the Committee To Re-elect the President (CRP) and its dirty tricks: wiretapping, money laundering campaigns, and the infamous burglary of Democratic National Committee headquarters. Unlike much of the psychopersonal material that has come out on Nixon, Emery's book focuses on the tough political problems, documenting the need for impeachment and ultimately endorsing it. Riveting reading that is based on an unprecedented combing of the primary sources, this work will be especially helpful to the generations for whom Watergate is a nebulous historical event and will provide an excellent corrective to the whitewashing that ocurred on Nixon's recent death. [See also Jonathan Aitken's Nixon: A Life, LJ 5/1/94.-Ed.]-Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Josep.
--Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684813238
• ISBN-13: 978-0684813233
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, April 21, 2005

By 

Wilcy Moore - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Watergate (Paperback)

This is a great book that became the basis for the Discovery Channel's 5-part documentary on Watergate. It is an extensive examination of the entire Watergate episode based on interviews with the relevant participants (excluding Nixon and Mitchell). In fact, Emery was one of the last people to interview Bob Haldeman before he died in 1993. If you don't believe what Emery writes or what Nixon's men said, I'd suggest viewing the Discovery Channel's documentary and you can see Haldeman, Erlichman, Colson, Magruder, LaRue, Dean, Liddy, etc... admit to what was going on in and around the White House.

If you're looking for a very readable and historically accurate account of Watergate, this is an excellent choice. No preposterous theories are advanced here, such as those in presented in Silent Coup. Instead, this book is based on interviews with the participants, the actual Watergate tapes, and tedious documentation of White House memos from the Nixon years. Emery also points out and attempts to resolve the many contradictions that exist among the published accounts of many of the Watergate players. While those that know all the secrets of Watergate are becoming fewer and fewer each year, this account is fairly difficult to dispute.

Finally, ignore the review written by True_Blue. Every one of his/her points are addressed in the first 100 pages of Emery's book. Based on the criticisms in that review, it is obvious that he/she never read this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best start-to-finish acount of Watergate., December 11, 1997

By 

Anthony G. Flynn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Watergate (Paperback)

As a Watergate junkie, I long had been frustrated that no one had written a comprehensive, chronological exposition of the scandal. I have read many of the personal accounts, and Woodstein, but, until this book, there was no single, all-encompassing narrative of Watergate. Emery's book is excellent, although it gets bogged down at times in the welter of minutiae that his exhaustive research, and the tapes, and all of the other books, provide. What this book exposes most starkly is the incredible arrogance and disdain for the law that President Nixon and his cohorts, including the Attorney General, exhibited with barely any second thoughts. The book also succeeds in telling the story of one of the greatest triumphs of American constitutional history -- the peaceful removal of a corrupt President and the orderly transfer of power. To my mind, the Watergate saga is a highlight of American democracy, and Emery's book reveals that.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good. Very, very good., August 3, 2001

By 

pro_crustes (Atlantic Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Watergate (Paperback)

I lived Watergate. I was a teen in McLean, Virginia when Nixon resigned. One of my classmates was a son of Robert Bork. Yet, after many years, I had to admit I didn't know much of what the fuss was about. This fine, objective book changed all that. Emery has consolidated the facts, identified the sources, and presented the alternate views that, within his sense of reason, deserve consideration. This is journalism as it should always be and, sadly, was not in the early '70s.

As you choose books about Watergate, consider this: When I started to read this one, in the Fall of 2000, I got only a few pages into it when I realized I was doing something important. I got out of my chair, locked my study door, turned off the phone, and sat back down to read. Only Shirer's book about the Third Reich has also induced such a feeling of moment.