True words. Garry Wills is probably the most under-appreciated historian working today. His previous books are intense, provocative and intellectually bulletproof; this latest one is no exception. His thesis in "Bomb Power" is that the advent of the nuclear age irrevocably changed the nature of executive power in America, tilting it towards an imperial presidency, a state of perpetual war, and a corrosive dependence on secrecy. That David Hoffman can win a Pulitzer ("The Dead Hand") while Garry Wills' exposé on nuclear politics drifts by virtually unnoticed is a testimony to the power of confirmation bias with respect to the former and to the unwelcome nature of truth with respect to the latter (or vice versa, depending on how ideologically blinkered a reader might be).

To be fair, "Bomb Power" isn't a work of investigative journalism. There are no new revelations here (at least not for those familiar with the various legacies of deceit that trail our federal government like slug slime). What Wills has done is to give a clear and unifying context within which to view old scandals and betrayals; i.e., as part of a pattern of erosion in which Congress's constitutional role is continually being subverted and diminished. ( )

Fascinating account of the rise of the imperial presidency and the security state as a function of the development of the atomic bomb. A warning to all who feel that a change in administrations means a change in the balance of power. ( )