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Peril

By: Bob Woodward, Robert Costa
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
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About this listen

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
THE NEW YORK TIMES NO 1 BESTSELLER

The storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021 revealed the transition from President Trump to President Biden to be one of the most dangerous periods in American history, with the result of the election called into question by the sitting president.

But, as internationally bestselling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis. At the highest level of the US military, secret action was taken to prevent Trump from possibly starting a war.

Woodward and Costa interviewed more than 200 people at the centre of the turmoil, resulting in a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink. They take readers deep inside the Trump White House, the Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and the Pentagon and Congress, with vivid, eyewitness accounts of what really happened. Peril is supplemented throughout with never-before-seen material from secret orders, transcripts of confidential calls, diaries, emails, meeting notes and other personal and government records, making for an unparalleled history.

It is also the first inside look at Biden’s presidency, revealing the background to his controversial decision to leave Afghanistan. He took office faced with the challenges of a lifetime: dealing with the continuing deadly pandemic and its crushing economic impact, all the while navigating a bitter and disabling partisan divide, and the hovering, dark shadow of the former president. ‘We have much to do in this winter of peril,’ Biden declared at his inauguration.

Peril is the extraordinary story of the end of one presidency and the beginning of another. The culmination of Bob Woodward’s bestselling trilogy on the Trump presidency, along with Fear and Rage, it is an essential read for anyone wanting to understand this tumultuous period.

©2021 Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, UK Political Science United States Thought-Provoking American History War

Critic Reviews

'The thing that is so bracing and nerve-wracking and important about this new book is what it reveals about how much worse it was than we knew, how much closer we came to real disaster than we have known before now.' (Rachel Maddow)
'Excerpts of the Woodward/Costa book in the Washington Post and CNN make the Trump administration’s operations in January 2021 sound like a bewildering blend of King Lear, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire, Dr Strangelove and Veep.' (Olivier Knox)
'A cliffhanger... Like an instalment of a deathless Marvel franchise, for all its spectacle Peril ends with a dismaying sense of prologue.' (John Williams)
'We know that the period between the election and the inauguration was a time of great domestic turmoil. And what Peril does is it shows that this was also a grave national security crisis.' (Isaac Stanley-Becker)

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Memorable History

It's great when you are able to review recent history that you lived through and via this book can better understand how it all happened.....

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Remarkably fresh insights

A *lot* has been written about this chapter in US political history.
This book surprises (although it shouldn’t, considering the author) for its fresh insights into events.
It is obviously deeply sourced and goes well beyond the headlines and trite retelling of events.
Highly recommend.

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I felt like a fly on the wall

I don’t know how they did it but I felt like a fly on the wall during a tumultuous for years.

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Amazingly detailed examination

I bought this and was a little worried that there was nothing new to hear about the insurrection. It soon became clear I was totally wrong - Woodward (and Costa) have once again researched all the fine details and have mined Trump's notoriously leak-prone staff and reconstructed conversations and interactions I thought would have otherwise remained secret.
Anyone who still thinks Trump wasn't a malevolent fool should be given this (or any) Woodward book so they can get a flavour of the unhinged clown-school this administration was.

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Excellent!

A well researched and fabulous read. The title is very apt and the thought of Trump regaining the Presidency in 2024 should worry the world.

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A real life horror story

What is it with the ghastliness of Trump that you have to keep reading about him.? This is a tale to make your blood boil and lament the state American politics has sunk to, and keeps on sinking beyond. A fascinating read but I swear this is my last Trump book ever. Unless….

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Disaster President

Great reading, sad story, hope it'll never be repeated. He should be banned forever

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Very comprehensive.

Reader a bit monotone, but details well researched and informative. I find American politics interesting but sometimes this dragged a bit in the extensive detail and delivery.

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engaging

While we all knew the story, Peril puts it all in a much more coherent frame. highly recommended.

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Can't wait for the fat loser to lose again

Here's a great insight to a significant part of history and a heads up for what is to come

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