Book Reviews

“The Final Days” Book Review

“An extraordinary work of reportage on the epic political story of our time” (Newsweek)

Book Image Credit: Amazon.com: Woodward, Bob and Carl Bernstein. 1976. The Final Days. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0–671–22298–8.

The names Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are just as synonymous with the Watergate Scandal as President Richard Nixon himself is. Yale-educated Woodward, an investigative journalist with The Washington Post, is now an associate editor. Former University of Maryland student Bernstein, currently a Visiting Presidential Professor at Stony Brook University, worked at The Washington Post for much of the 1970s. Whilst working as an investigative reporter, Woodward collaborated with Bernstein on a significant number of articles pertaining to Nixon Administration and of course the Watergate Scandal.

All stories, regardless of whether the story is good or bad, has a beginning, middle and an end. Published in 1976 The Final Days, penned by Woodward and Bernstein, unfolding chronologically details the last year of the Nixon Administration. The chronological format of the book allows the reader to follow exactly what is happening without getting lost in the events. Getting lost in the events, especially when it comes to reading about President Richard M. Nixon, is easy to do. The ebb and flow of the way Woodward and Bernstein penned The Final Days keeps the reader glued to each sentence…