Based on new interviews and never-before-seen archival materials, Woodward and Bernstein takes a fresh, thought-provoking look at this unlikely journalistic duo. Thrown together by fate or luck, Woodward and Bernstein changed the face of journalism and the American presidency. For the first time, Shepard separates myth from reality as she traces the lives of the iconic journalists before and after Watergate.
Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this double career biography, Shepard takes one of the most famous and influential episodes in twentieth-century journalism and shows how it affected the lives of the two Washington Post reporters who gave it life, chronicling the lives of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein from their pre-Post days to the present. Using a plethora of interviews with all the leading characters, as well as newly-unearthed archives, Shepard picks up where Woodward and Bernstein's All the President's Men leaves off, filling in the parts of the story that have been obscured by that title's massive popularity-"many have misread their fascinating story as being the only story"-and providing welcome context through vivid cultural snapshots. Shepard shows how the long shadow of their first book and its blockbuster film adaptation led to the duo's 1977 breakup, and how it haunted the rocky solo careers pursued by each. Separating the men from the myth, journalism professor Shepard provides an insightful, highly readable study for fans of journalism, U.S. politics and the work of "Woodstein."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From The New Yorker
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein will always be famous for their part in untangling the Watergate scandal. Shepard, though, is far more interested in what happened afterward, and in examining the uneasy rewards of early success. Her prose can be clichéd, but her biographical curiosity is large; she seems to have interviewed almost everyone with a connection to her subjects. Other journalists played important roles in ending the Nixon Presidency, Shepard notes, but it was the film version of "All the President's Men," a retelling that left several colleagues feeling slighted, that enshrined "Woodstein" in "fame and glory." When the pair sold their papers to the University of Texas, for about five million dollars, one observer noted that they had become "as much a part of the story of Watergate and historical record as any of the people they reported on."
Copyright © 2006 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © 2006 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a terrific explanation of the Kismet that brought Woodward and Bernstein together with the fortunate, and rare, backing of a committed publisher to chronicle truth in the midst of near-battlefield conditions. Read it and be amazed that it happened. Read it and be proud of journalism, many members of Congress, our courts and citizens reading, watching, and caring that our government, not politics, carried the day. It's so interestingly written that it shoved aside all the rest of the books on my "must read" pile.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate is more than a retelling of journalism's greatest hour. It's an elegy to the day when everyone read the daily paper and what appeared on page 1 mattered hugely. Watergate is only the preamble; what happened afterward to Woodward and Bernstein is equally interesting. This is a great read for anyone who cares about journalism or national affairs.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By John DeDakis
Format:Hardcover
Alicia C. Shepard has written what should become the definitive biography of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Her book is scholarly without being pedantic and revelatory without being salacious. She skillfully shows how Watergate affected not only history, but journalism, and the lives of the two young men who doggedly pursued the truth. This book is must reading for anyone who wants to become a journalist, or who cares about what journalists do.
John DeDakis
CNN Senior Copy Editor, "The Situation Room"
Author, FAST TRACK
[...]
John DeDakis
CNN Senior Copy Editor, "The Situation Room"
Author, FAST TRACK
[...]
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent page turner
I loved this book, and couldn't put it down. It reveals a lot from those days, when journalism was beginning to 'tell all. Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. C.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining Account of Two Historic Reporters
This is a well written book about the two men most widely identified with bringing Nixon down. This is not how they would describe themselves, of course, but the fact remains that... Read more
Published 20 months ago by H. Campbell
5.0 out of 5 stars
awesome book for a journalists
I must say, I was skeptical when I first started the book. But, I was was pleasantly surprised. All I can say is that Woodward is one fascinating guy. I would love to meet him. Read more
Published on April 26, 2009 by Stevemorris
5.0 out of 5 stars
Illuminating Even Without Cooperation
The irony here is that neither Woodward nor Bernstein would speak with the author, despite having made millionaires out of themselves over the past 30-plus years by insinuating... Read more
Published on April 2, 2007 by Bradley F. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read for Watergate Addicts
A MUST-READ FOR WATERGATE JUNKIES! We have all followed Woodward and Bernstein's careers through newspaper articles and the occa¬sional TV interview. Read more
Published on February 12, 2007 by Oscar Levant
4.0 out of 5 stars
The story behind the story (tellers)
When the five burglars bungled their bugging mission at the Watergate in June of 1972, they unwittingly changed not only our country's political history, but its journalistic one... Read more
Published on December 15, 2006 by Michael Unger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent read!
As a Watergate junkie, I thought I had read everything I needed to about these events. But this is a wonderful and entertaining read about the "Woodstein" back story -- how did... Read more
Published on December 4, 2006 by PunditMom
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling and entertaining
Alicia Shepard's navigation of the Watergate archives has produced a page-turning narrative of what is clearly the seminal adventure in American journalism. Read more
Published on November 29, 2006 by Wanda Garner Cash
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gotta read the whole book!
Just read an excerpt in Washingtonian of Chapter 9, and I can't wait to read the rest of the book. Informative, fun and interesting facts, great writing, reads like an adventure.
Published on November 11, 2006 by J. Weiss
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 38
books:
See all 38 books this book cites
- The Final Days by Carl Bernstein on 27 pages
- The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat by Bob Woodward on 8 pages
- Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account of the Decision to Invade Iraq by Bob Woodward on page 227, page 242, and Back Matter
- His Holiness by Carl Bernstein on page 223, page 224, and Back Matter
- Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi by Bob Woodward on page 205, and Back Matter
See all 38 books this book cites
