$9.99 on Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, Google PlayGambling with History: Reagan in the White House by Laurence I. Barrett (227,000 words)
“Gambling With History [is] an impressively clear and thorough account of the past three years of its subject’s life...[Laurence Barrett] tells that story very well... his job as chief White House correspondent for Time has provided him with plenty of access and plenty of juicy outtakes from his weekly reports... Mr. Barrett’s brief portraits of Mr. Reagan’s chief lieutenants are vivid... To understand a revolutionary, as Mr. Reagan sometimes calls himself, requires weaving his life, his beliefs and their consequences into a single tapestry. No one has yet done this for Mr. Reagan, but Mr. Barrett comes pretty close.” — Nicholas Lemann, The New York Times
“[A] formidable book, a valuable addition to the still-emerging saga of a first-of-his-kind President whose imprint on history is almost certain to be significant.” — Curtis J. Sitomer, The Christian Science Monitor
“A triumph... remarkable for its penetration into the decision making processes of the regime... and unique in the relationship of the author with his sources.” — J.R. Wiggins, Washington Post Book World
“[Laurence Barrett] has drawn what had been thought improbable if not impossible — a three-dimensional study of Ronald Reagan.” — Dom Bonafede, National Journal
“Laurence I. Barrett’s remarkably thorough and revealing account of the Reagan Presidency at midterm, illustrate[s] the extraordinary power that the senior White House staff exercises on behalf of the President, often largely unseen by the public. His book is replete with examples of the staff’s authority... [a] densely detailed account... a fair, factual, balanced and tough-minded report... this is a first-class piece of instant history, an important source book and a benchmark for early historians of the Reagan Presidency.” — Hedrick Smith, The New York Times
“An excellent, objective account constructed around biographical portraits of the President and his principal advisers. The author, senior White House correspondent for Time, is well informed and has interviewed extensively. The picture of the President has some new details but is familiar in its general outline: decent instincts combined with considerable ignorance and insensitivity. There is good material on the forced resignation of Alexander Haig as Secretary of State.” — Gaddis Smith, Foreign Affairs
“This volume deserves to be read by anyone who wishes to understand what has happened to the United States since the landing of the Reaganauts.” — Loch Johnson, The Georgia Historical Quarterly