Conrad Black

This book is a one-volume beast - as such a titanic and misconstrued (both positively and negatively) figure in American history deserves.

He is rightly a sphinx, and this is an excellent one-volume study which clears up much of the history concerning the time, revealing his deft political maneuvering, the economic programs which sometimes flopped, but the majority of which were astounding successes and still in use today (e.g. massive electricity projects, including the Hoover Dam), and show more revitalized the American economy without resorting to the dangerous extremes of totalitarianism, and his brilliant wartime successes and excellent choice of generals.

His faults are discussed in equal measure, giving time to his emotional insensitivity to Eleanor, his vaguely dictatorial plan to 'pack' the Supreme Court, and the Japanese internment.

This is an astonishing book, and one, if I may humbly offer, should be read more often in these uncertain times. show less

A detailed look into the rise of the United States from its days as a colony to Barack Obama. Clears up alot of the myths and polarization of American politics and foreign policy. As a someone who gets a lot of his American History from TV and movies it clears up certain inaccuracies. Mr. Black is known in his columns for his fifty dollar words and the book is no different but the reader will definitely increase his vocabulary.

Superb read. Conrad Black can research, and he can write. He is, I believe, fair to Richard Nixon. Nixon is not whitewashed - he evidently had serious character and moral flaws. However, he was in many ways a good politician and a great president, except of course for creating the moral climate that allowed Watergate and then refused to confront it. I recommend this as an entertaining and useful read into US history.

The Invincible Quest is an authoritative biography of one of the most accomplished and controversial leaders of the twentieth century. Beginning with Richard Nixon’s birth to Quaker parents in 1913 and ending with his death in 1994, Conrad Black traces Nixon’s career, assessing both his achievements and the evolution of popular and historical thinking about him since his death.

Drawing on recently opened tapes and documents, and on Black’s personal interviews with many of the major show more players in Nixon’s administration, The Invincible Quest reveals a new side of Nixon: a man who didn’t have the advantage of charisma but was surprisingly self-assured and effective; a man dogged by political scandal yet seemingly unstoppable. Opinionated, balanced, and perceptive, The Invincible Quest makes a significant contribution to re-evaluating the idiosyncratic president’s entire, eventful career. show less