Reagan: The Life

By H.W. Brands

Book Overview

From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, bestselling historian, and author of Our First Civil War--and "the rare academic historian who can write like a bestselling novelist" (USA Today)--comes an irresistible portrait of an underestimated politician whose pragmatic leadership and steadfast vision transformed the nation.

In his magisterial new biography, H. W. Brands brilliantly establishes Ronald Reagan as one of the two great presidents of the twentieth century, a true peer to Franklin Roosevelt. Reagan conveys with sweep and vigor how the confident force of Reagan's personality and the unwavering nature of his beliefs enabled him to engineer a conservative revolution in American politics and play a crucial role in ending communism in the Soviet Union. Reagan shut down the age of liberalism, Brands shows, and ushered in the age of Reagan, whose defining principles are still powerfully felt today.

Employing archival sources not available to previous biographers and drawing on dozens of interviews with surviving members of Reagan's administration, Brands has crafted a richly detailed and fascinating narrative of the presidential years. He offers new insights into Reagan's remote management style and fractious West Wing staff, his deft handling of public sentiment to transform the tax code, and his deeply misunderstood relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, on which nothing less than the fate of the world turned.

Look for H.W. Brands's other biographies: THE FIRST AMERICAN (Benjamin Franklin), ANDREW JACKSON, THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNION (Ulysses S. Grant), and TRAITOR TO HIS CLASS (Franklin Roosevelt).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307951146
• ISBN13: 9780307951144
• Release Date: May 2016
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 832 Pages
• Weight: 2.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Reagan: The Life

"Reagan: The Life" by H. W. Brands is one of the best biographies ever written about the 40th president of the United States. The book is honest about his shortcomings, while also highlighting his pragmatism and accomplishments. It also serves as a great window into the American national mentality of the 1980's and what's changed, and what hasn't. For a longer book it reads pretty quickly. American history fans will enjoy it. I recommend it.