Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate

Alicia C. Shepard has written what should become the definitive biography of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Her book is scholarly without being pedantic and revelatory without being salacious. She skillfully shows how Watergate affected not only history, but journalism, and the lives of the two young men who doggedly pursued the truth. This book is must reading for anyone who wants to become a journalist, or who cares about what journalists do. John DeDakis CNN Senior Copy Editor, "The Situation Room" Author, FAST TRACK [...]

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.

Alicia Shepard's navigation of the Watergate archives has produced a page-turning narrative of what is clearly the seminal adventure in American journalism. The interviews are broad and deep, the files meticulously researched and reported, all written with a reader's eye to what's important, what's fascinating and what's alluringly tawdry. Shepard breathed life into the book drawing upon her own newsroom experience. Her college classroom experience informed and sharpened the sociological significance of Woodward's and Bernstein's contributions. And her generational geography gave it context. It's a great history book - and a great read.

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.

That Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein have contributed dramatically to changing the face of journalism is by now a matter of historical record. However, very few of us were aware of their symbiotic relationship- what exactly made them tick before and after they became famous. That was until Alicia C. Shepard came along with her masterful narrative of the lives of these two icons, Woodward And Bernstein: Life In The Shadow Of Watergate. Shepard has based much of her book on Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate archives, which was purchased by the University of Texas for five million dollars and made public in February of 2005. Incidentally, Shepard was the first person to have access to these documents. In addition to the archives, Shepard also interviewed nearly two hundred people to give a more rounded version of how two very young reporters unveiled the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon and how their own lives changed thereafter. Woodward successfully parlayed his initial success into a lifelong career writing thirteen books and several stories earning him respect, fame and a great deal of money. Bernstein's career has been more sporadic than Woodward and not as successful, although he still has managed to earn respect as well as a descent living from his writings and speaking engagements. Quite interesting, Bernstein gained another persona, as a party animal, dating some of Hollywood's famous actresses as Shirley MacLaine, Elizabeth Taylor, Bianca Jagger and others. However, as Shepard points out in the Preface, "Today the men are cultural icons. What other journalists could sell the thirty-year old contents of their newsroom desks for $5 million?" All of this was the result of two young reporters, different in many respects, who were willing to take on enormous risks in chasing a story that most editors were reluctant to deal with-the burglaries of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel in 1972 and the ensuing results that culminated in the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. As Shepard recounts, it was at the time inconceivable to the well-entrenched media that a president of the USA could be a criminal, yet this did not deter Woodward and Bernstein from seeking out the truth, even though the burglaries were considered by many to be trivial. In fact, as Shepard indicates, the White House would never be the same, as it turned out to be a turning point in its relationship with the press. In all probability, what most propelled Woodward and Bernstein into the limelight was the motion picture by Robert Redford of their book All the President's Men. Redford was very much captivated by the Watergate story and he was determined to turn this into a movie focusing on two punk reporters who in many respects were opposites, yet it was their symbiotic relationship that led to their success. On the one hand, as Shepard notes, Woodward is very meticulous and leaves very li