A Century Turns by William J. Bennet

The latest offering from Thomas Nelson is the book A Century Turns, Ne Hopes, New Fears by William J. Bennett. The book's aim is to chart the events of American political history from 1988 through to 2008. It starts with the election of George Bush Snr and finishes with Barak Obama. As the blurb states;

As America collectively exhaled at the end of the Cold War, we loosened our grip on the fear of nuclear confrontation for the first time since WW2. Some scholars even characterized the collapse of the Soviet Union as the end of history itself. Peace was palpable. But America's domestic and global vitals changed almost instantly, and turbulence, not tranquility, marked the turn of the Century.

Firstly, I have to say I really enjoyed the book. In fact there were sections of it that were so gripping and dramatic that I could hardly put it down! Picking up the book has coincided very well with my recent discovery of the genius that is the West Wing. I do find the American presidential system very interesting. I am intrigued by the way religion and particularly Christianity play a major role in the political scene. I enjoy the sense of patriotism and loyalty people have to the flag and office of president. The book does chart the peaks and troughs of the 20 year period looking at all the presidents and what they did, or did not achieve.

Having said the book did slightly irritate me throughout. I am/was pretty ignorant when it comes to American and world politics of the past 20 years. Obviously, I had heard of the major characters that came up throughout the book but I did not really know the ins and outs of the story lines which meant that I had to take what the book said as true. But Bennett the author worked for all the Republican presidential candidates. He was involved in election campaigns and policy for the party. He was a personal friend of the Bush family. And this comes through as you read the book. Sometimes it makes you wonder if the republicans ever did anything wrong as they are defended vociferously throughout the book and the democrats are regularly attacked. This did take the shine off the book and made me want to read a similar history from the other side.