PRESIDENTS OF WAR

This impressive, and impressively long, audiobook features stories of U.S. presidents who have brought the nation into war. Those decisions were never easy, even after Pearl Harbor, and the author's point is that each chief executive had to parry pressure from Congress, the press, and public opinion in order to successfully navigate each conflict. Narrator Fred Sanders approaches this work as history rather than as a robust war book, using his understated tone and deliberate pacing to tell the story. While Sanders's raspy, unassuming delivery doesn't always grab our attention, he respects Beschloss's words, allowing them to carry the load. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2018]