The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power Paperback - 2010

Media reviews

“Dazzling and mordantly hilarious….The product of extraordinarily diligent reporting….A Woodwardian trove of inside dope….Devastatingly effective.”
—The New York Times

“The Inheritance reaffirms Thomas Jefferson's belief that for the American democracy to work there must be an informed citizenry. That means great reporting by great reporters is always required.  David Sanger's book epitomizes the requirement. He goes through the world of challenges and opportunities that lie dead as well as ahead for the United States globally. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and China are on the list. So are matters nuclear and economic, among others. Sanger's telling is full of behind-the-door stories that read like Alan Furst spy novels. This is a superior work of journalism.”
—Jim Lehrer, executive editior and anchor, The NewsHour

“Superb.”
—Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times
 
“Highly instructive.”                              
—Edward Luce, Financial Times
 
“One of the most comprehensive—and harrowing—accounts of American foreign policy ever written….Sanger’s book might be the best transition document the new president and his advisers—and the rest of the U.S.—can read.”
—Richard Pious, author of The President, Congress and the Constitution and The War on Terrorism and the Rule of Law
 
“Sanger’s behind-the-scenes account of the Bush Administration’s foreign policy is laced with scoops and secret conversations about a world spinning out of America’s control....Over to you, Mr. President.”
—Romesh Ratnesar, Time
 
“Prescient, relevant—and great reading for people who want to have insomnia.”
—Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
 
“An in-depth look…at where America stands in the world, why in-dpeth reporting by the Fourt Estate keeps government honest, and how the Obama Administration faces global challenges not of its own making.”
—Mike Smith, The Huffington Post
 
“A sobering, often chilling account.”
—Brian MacArthur, The Telegraph

“One of the finest journalists of our time, David Sanger tells the surprising stories of crucial, heretofore-hidden events in Washington and around the globe that have culminated in the unprecedented world crisis that now faces us.  For the incoming President and the rest of us, Sanger's important book provides both understanding and hope. The Inheritance should be essential reading. "
—Michael Beschloss

“Somehow, David Sanger has broken through the secrecy and the government gobbledygook to tell us how we got to where we are and the choices this leaves for the next administration. He reveals inside stuff we have never heard in detail that will surprise and sometimes shock, yet he has framed it all in language the specialist will appreciate and the layman can understand. One of the most important books of the year.”
—Bob Schieffer, chief Washington correspondent, CBS News

“A brilliant tour d’horizon of world trouble spots, world crises and world-class challenges….This volume has the title of a policy book but the air of a non-fiction page-turner, in the spirit and example of David Halberstam….Put the remote and the BlackBerry away, Mr. President, and start reading.”
—David Shribman, Toronto Globe and Mail

Citations

• New York Times Book Review, 01/31/2010, Page 20