(Writing this review as I watch the "Snowflake Day" episode of Daniel Tiger.) This is my favorite kind of historical fiction, that focuses more on the supporting cast. Reading Michael Shaara's _The Killer Angels_ in high school started my obsession with Civil War history, because of its insight into the lives of minor figures Joshua Chamberlain, Daniel Sickles, and James Longstreet. Mallon's _Watergate_ pays quite a lot of attention to Rosemary Woods (Nixon's secretary) and Fred LaRue, an advisor from the deep South with his own sordid past.

Mallon's Nixon is more sympathetic and inscrutable than one would expect, considering he is the main figure in this kind of stupid episode in American history. The entire scandal was predicated on a petty burglary, which is quaint considering the fraudsters and traitors currently in power, who seem intent on destroying our system of governance. There is no discussion 0f the tapes that revealed Nixon's (and Billy Graham's) anti-semitism and racism. Regardless, Mallon effectively captures the slowly building sense that the break-in, and ensuing coverup, would eventually topple Nixon's presidency. ( )

Great fictional take on Watergate. I loved the emphasis on what each person was thinking during the scandal. ( )

Hmm. Fun mostly thruout; in the heads/minds of the characters in the Watergate drama including Dick and Pat, some of the burglars, a lot of Howard and Dorothy Hunt and Fred LaRue, Martha Mitchell, and a lot of Alice Longworth who is pretty delightful. 3/4 of the way in, I read a review of the book and found out a little that made reading the rest much, much less delightful. Besides there is no one character that shows any kind of opposing view of what's going on. All the principals depicted are treated way too lightly. The writing is mostly a pleasure, but, if I may go way overboard, the obliviousness of what exactly was done and was happening at the time was a little like going on a picnic with Hitler on a sunny Autumn day in late 1944. Fun with Problems. ( )

I really wanted to like this book (a fictionalization of the watergate scandal). I love the watergate story and know a pretty good deal about it. My friend and I have dressed up as Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward for two separate costume parties. We've visited many watergate related sites in dc. But this just made me want to reread all the president's men. It was clear that the author had extensive knowledge of not only watergate but the histories of each person and of the time period. So much so that he seemed determined to exhaustively show off this knowledge at the expense of a good, forward moving plot (even though you'd think you'd have a perfectly good one already built in). Also if I knew less about watergate, this book would have made absolutely no sense to me.

I should also add that I was so determined to liked this book that I stayed up until 3 reading it, got halfway through and decided I'd given it the benefit of the doubt and could stop. My general fatigue is not making this the best written review in the world.

It gets two stars because it was so historically accurate. ( )

One would think that there is nothing new to say about the Watergate scandal, now ancient history to most Americans, but Thomas Mallon’s historical novel proves this point wrong by a considerable margin. His book, WATERGATE, is an utterly enthralling look back at events and a Presidency that altered American history forever, from some never before considered perspectives. Mallon’s book is a reimagining of the scandal, told from the view of many characters, all principle players to some extent in the scandal. I think the genius of the book is that Mallon creates fictional versions of Nixon and his people which seem totally real, they live and breathe and rage and hurt, all while feeling utter dismay that things have taken such a turn.

Mallon’s book is not a particularly long one and the narrative flows smoothly from one character to the next; this is not a “and then this happened” retelling of historical events, it does help if the reader has at least a working knowledge of the scandal and who was who and where they were at certain points in the story. Those unfamiliar with history may have to do a lot of wiki-ing before they reach the last page, but Mallon does provide a list of players at the beginning of his book that helps a lot.

What I found so striking about WATERGATE was Mallon’s sympathetic portrait of so many characters who have been written off as villains or worse, fools, by most historical accounts; he does not apologize for their actions or carry water like so many of the “Nixon didn’t do anything wrong” bitter enders, but lets us see them as they, perhaps, saw themselves. It is a refreshing take; one thankfully free of the snark and irony so prevalent in much contemporary political fiction.

In the pages of Mallon’s book, we meet a flawed Richard Nixon who lives in perpetual fear that his many, many enemies will yet find a way to bring him down, a fear that infected his White House and all who were part of his inner circle. There is a fascinating portrait of Pat Nixon, the woman who was always so reserved in public, never letting her mask slip, yet capable of surprising secrets in private. There is John and Martha Mitchell, an incredible mismatch of a marriage, one that crumbled under the weight of revelations of his criminal activities as head of Nixon’s re-election campaign. Equally memorable is Rose Mary Woods, Nixon’s long time and ever loyal secretary, the person responsible of the infamous 18 ½ minute gap on one Nixon’s incriminating tapes. Mallon comes up with a surprising and poignant explanation for this act and what was on the tape, one of the enduring mysteries of the 20th Century. Another interesting relationship explored is the marriage of outward tough guy E. Howard Hunt and his formidable wife, Dorothy, who skillfully negotiated with the men in the Nixon White House to get hush money for her family after her husband’s arrest for his role in the break in. Every reader’s favorite is Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of Theodore and Washington’s long time Grande Dame, who sees through everyone, yet holds a deep affection for Richard Nixon, whose act of kindness in an hour of need is not forgotten. Mallon does an exceptional job with his women characters, making them every bit as compelling as the men who were on the front pages.

Much space is given to Fred LaRue, the genial Southerner who became the White House’s bagman after the Watergate break in; in Mallon’s hands, this relativity minor character in history, takes front and center often in the narrative. Like many of the others involved in Watergate, LaRue simply cannot understand how his life, which was on such a successful trajectory, has taken such a wrong turn, but is helpless in the face of impending disaster as one illegal act and lie leads to another with the inevitable set down with the Federal Attorney waiting at the end. Like most of the characters in Mallon’s book, LaRue suppresses a private pain they would never dare show in public; only a brief reunion with long ago love offers him any solace as the firestorm engulfs the Nixon Administration.

If there is a real villain in this book, it is the fatuous Elliot Richardson, who thinks he will walk over Richard Nixon’s political corpse to the Oval Office.

I would never claim that Mallon’s book is history, there is plenty in the historical record that condemns Nixon and his crew as the most corrupt, venal and downright mean group of characters to ever hold power in America (and I include Donald Trump in that judgment), but as historical fiction, the book is of the highest order, making us see very familiar history in a different light. I am a self published author of two alternate history novels, both featuring a fictional Nixon among others, and I fully respect the hard work and attention to detail Thomas Mallon must have put in to write this book. All readers of good fiction should seek it ( )