The Fall of the House of Bush: The Untold Story of How a Band of True Believers Seized the Executive Branch, Started the Iraq War, and Still Imperils America's Future

Written by Craig Unger

Narrated by James Naughton

How Did This Happen?

The presidency of George W. Bush has led to the worst foreign policy fiasco in the history of the United States -- the bloody, unwinnable war in Iraq. Bush's fateful decision was rooted in events that began decades ago, and this story has never been fully told, until now.

From Craig Unger, the author of the bestseller House of Bush, House of Saud, comes a comprehensive, deeply sourced, and chilling account of the secret relationship between neoconservative policy makers and the Christian Right, and how they assaulted the most vital safeguards of America's constitutional democracy while pushing the country into the catastrophic quagmire in the Middle East that is getting worse day by day.

Craig Unger knows how to get the big story -- and this one is his most explosive yet. Through scores of interviews with figures in the Christian Right, the neoconservative movement, the Bush administration, and sources close to the Bush family, as well as intelligence agents in the CIA, the Pentagon, and Israel, Unger has assembled the most comprehensive, provocative, and dramatic account of how and why George W. Bush took America to war in Iraq.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Nov 13, 2007
• ISBN: 9780743568289

Craig Unger

Craig Unger is the author of the New York Times bestselling House of Bush, House of Saud. He appears frequently as an analyst on CNN, the ABC Radio Network, and other broadcast outlets. The former deputy editor of The New York Observer and editor-in-chief of Boston Magazine, he has written about George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush for The New Yorker, Esquire, and Vanity Fair. He lives in New York City. 

Reviews for The Fall of the House of Bush

[marianv_39 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The cover of The Fall of the House Bush with its pictures of the president in various poses & the sub-title, "The untold story of how a band of true believers seized the executive branch, started the Iraq war, and still imperils America's future" sound like a blurb from the cover of the National Inquirer, promising spicey revelations & the unearthing of secret documents & numerous conjecture about a "hidden agenda". Instead, The Fall of the House ob Bush contains no scandulous revealations. Mr. Unger gives the reader a carefully documented history (with 60 pages of end-notes & biogtaphy) of events that anyone who reads a daily newspaper or watches TV news is already familiar with. What he also does, is gives of a thhourough background that lead to these events, again, fact with which we may be familiar, but listed in an orderly time-table that makes theeir conclusion easy for anyone to understand. For example, In his coverage of the struggle for the establishment of the nation of Israel Mr. Unger takes us back to God's covenent with Abraham, the Patriarch respected by Jewish, Christians & Moslems. He also gives brief histories of the area before the invention of the internal combustion engine made it such a vital factor in the economies of industrialized nations. He exolains the British division of the area that once made up the Ottoman empire which was defeated in WW1 & explains how those divisions were certain to produce tensions in the region.In the US, he shows the rise of the neo-conversatives & the "religous right" by comparing the settling of New England by the Puritans with the more open Church of England & Quaker colonies & the writers of the constitution, men of the enlightment & the displaced Scots-Irish who first crossed the Appalachians & fought the native tribes & did the actual "settling" of tis land.Another important comparison is between the personalities of George H.W. Bush (#41) & son George W. Bush (43). Their different outlook in matters of national destiny are explained as we are given a brief biography of President Bush & how he became a "Born again Christian" & what exactly that means to the destiny of the United States. He also gives portrayals of Dick cheney & other officials who have taken part in what he calls the "failed foreign policy" of the war in Iraq.This book is loaded with background information which is easy to understand to the average reader & is important to determining the direction our nation should take in the coming year.

[pre20cenbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Scintillating exposure of what was going on behind the scenes. Step by step efforts to continue the connection between religious factions and the US government. Felt like I was reading an indictment. Well referenced chapter by chapter notes, index, etc. Buy this one and save for kid's library. What did religion and politics really accomplish? I found this copy at the dollar store for $1.00. This would make an interesting book club read.

[Stijn van Dijken · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book is less about the house of Bush and more about some specific periods in Bush history. Mainly it's about the creation of evangelical cristianity and the neo-cons and how together they battles the realist school of the old Bush. The book focuses on both Iraq wars and the manipulations that led to them. A lot of interesting annecdotes, but I would have liked to see a deeper dive into these movements and into the history of Bush sr. as well.