Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate [Hardcover]

Alicia C. Shepard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471737615 | ISBN-13: 978-0471737612 | Publication Date: October 20, 2006 | Edition: 1

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.

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."
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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."
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471737615
• ISBN-13: 978-0471737612
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,584,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Iluminating Read, December 7, 2006

By 

Margaret Engel (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate (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:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended..., November 20, 2006

By 

Thomas M. Brew (Sammamish, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate (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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Watergate Addicts, February 12, 2007

By 

Oscar Levant "Bruce Tennant" (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate (Hardcover)

A MUST-READ FOR WATERGATE JUNKIES! We have all followed Woodward and Bernstein's careers through newspaper articles and the occa¬sional TV interview. Now Alicia Shepard has gathered all those data into a book about what Watergate did for them...and to them. It is a fascinating tale of young reporters who got sudden fame and fortune early in their lives, and how Woodward prospered while Bernstein foundered.
Shepard had access to their entire Watergate archives, and my only criticism of the book is its liberal quotations of that material. When "letters and telegrams" pour in from all over the country to them, it is not necessary to quote from so many. It slows down the narrative and you will find yourself skipping over most of these repetitive passages. All in all, it is a 266 page book that would have a much easier read at about 225. But if you love Water¬gate and all that came in its wake, pick up this book and read about how it careened the careers of these little reports to un¬known heights and depths.