Power Wars: The Relentless Rise of Presidential Authority and Secrecy - Hardcover

Savage, Charlie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316286575 ISBN 13: 9780316286572

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company, 2015

Synopsis

Barack Obama promised change from George W. Bush's global war on terrorism. But the Obama administration used drones to kill suspected militants and vacuumed data on Americans' phone calls. Obama criticized Bush's unilateralism and secrecy, but launched wars without going to Congress and presided over an unprecedented crackdown on leaks.

With extensive reporting, Savage explores how and why Obama and his legal team--an elite, liberal group who vowed to restore the rule of law--end up accused of entrenching the sweeping powers of the post-9/11 security state. If legitimate, the accusation stands to change the legacy of Obama's entire presidency.

About this title

Product Description:

[ Power Wars: Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency By ( Author ) Nov-2015 Hardcover

Review:

A New York Times Editors' Choice

Named one of the best books of 2015 by ABC News and The Guardian

"Offers a master class in how to think seriously about crucial aspects of the [war on terrorism]. ... comprehensive, authoritative ... anyone truly interested in foreign policy or national security should find it essential and enthralling, thanks to the author's intelligence, objectivity, legwork and literary skill. ... Savage's superb book should stand as an indispensable guide to the debate."--Gideon Rose, New York Times Book Review

Power Wars "will almost certainly stand as the most comprehensive account of the Obama administration's policies, views, theories and bureaucratic battles over national security laws and the legacy of the 2001 attacks. His account is thoughtful and consistently fair-minded... no small achievement."--James Mann, New York Times

"Both the most comprehensive and the most engrossing look at how Obama morphed from a candidate beloved by the civil liberties community into what many saw as a continuation of George W. Bush...could not be more timely."--Trevor Timm, The Guardian

"The most essential explanation of modern-day American national security policy.... Anyone who has followed current events on drone strikes, surveillance, and encryption, and other essential issues at the forefront of modern America--and wants the entire inside baseball play-by-play to go with it--will love this book."--Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica

"Delves deeply into the nooks and crannies of every significant national security debate touching on the intersection of national security and law. The product of prodigious research and interviews with seemingly every player, Savage's book provides a revealing picture of the inner workings of the Obama presidency."--Gabriel Schoenfeld, The Weekly Standard

"The book has much broader appeal than to those in the national security law bubble... [Deeply sourced] is an understatement, as Savage reveals the contents of never-before released documents, memos, and internal deliberations across a variety of topics."--Cully Stimson, Lawfare

"Over the years, Savage has become one of the most knowledgeable and tireless reporters chronicling the civil liberties and war powers controversies under the Obama administration. ... Savage has written a book that will clearly be the comprehensive historical account of these controversies."--Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept

"A rich blow-by-blow account of how and why the Obama administration determined the legality of its war-on-terrorism policies."--Jack Goldsmith, The New Rambler

"It is hard to imagine many journalists capable of writing a book on this topic on the scale, and with the ambition, of this one."--Robert Bauer, Time

"The value that Savage brings to his book is in reporting out how Obama's lawyers, who were often the toughest critics of Bush when they were out of power, wrestled with and ultimately sanctioned this retrenchment."--Eli Lake, Bloomberg View

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0316286575
• ISBN 13: 9780316286572
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 688