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  • Published: 1 March 2010
  • ISBN: 9780552775878
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 544
  • RRP: $29.99

The Inheritance

The twisty and gripping new thriller from the author of Don’t Let Him In




Every day President Barack Obama receives security briefings on the perilous state of the world he has inherited. Here's yours.

During his seven years covering the White House for the New York Times, Chief Washington Correspondent David E. Sanger has had extraordinary and unrivaled access to presidents, world leaders and secretaries of state. Here, in The Inheritance, he gathers together all the evidence he has uncovered, both on and off the record, to offer us an insider's look at the many complex and oftentimes terrifying challenges that Obama now faces. Uncovering in fascinating detail the inner workings of the US military and intelligence communities, and describing the huge cost of the decision to invest so much of America, and Britain's, future on what once seemed like an easy mission in Iraq, Sanger talk us through a war gone bad in Afganistan, a power-hungry Iran on the brink of nuclear weapons, an unstable alliance with Pakistan, a rising China and a the worldwide economic crisis.

Mapping the political landscape that Obama has inherited, this book examines the international arenas that will remain the focus of the entire western world throughout the years to come, and gives us a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the Situation Room of the presidency. If you want to understand the world today in all its complexity, there's only one book for you: The Inheritance by David E. Sanger.

  • Published: 1 March 2010
  • ISBN: 9780552775878
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 544
  • RRP: $29.99

About the author

David E Sanger

David E. Sanger is national security correspondent for The New York Times and the bestselling author of The Inheritance, Confront and Conceal, and The Perfect Weapon. He has been a member of three teams that won the Pulitzer Prize, including in 2017 for international reporting. A regular contributor to CNN, he also teaches national security policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Praise for The Inheritance

Praise for Howard Linskey

Dark, creepy and compelling, with the claustrophobic sense of a killer waiting around the corner

T.M. Logan

An absolute belter of a thriller. Dark, sinister, clever and creepy. Keeps you guessing right to the very end

Neil Lancaster

From the brilliant first chapter to the heart-in-mouth ending, Howard Linskey has created a dark, clever and engrossing tale that will grip crime readers the world over

C.L. Taylor

Atmospheric and ultra-creepy. An old dark house mystery with a distinctive modern twist.

Paul Finch

An enthralling read from beginning to end. This had such a riveting setup, and it really delivered. Dark family secrets, priest holes, a missing girl and a race against time to solve an ancient mystery made this an absolute belter of a book. Bravo!

Gytha Lodge

Somehow David Sanger has broken through the secrecy and the government gobbledygook... He reveals inside stuff that we have never heard in detail that will surprise and sometimes shock, yet he has framed it all in language that the specialist will appreciate and the layman can understand. One of the most important books of the year.

Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News

A frightening account of the dangers that America faces.

Daily Telegraph

Journalism at its best: a slew of interviews, visits round the world, an approachable writing style, a dark and compelling tale.

David Shribman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Obama faces a Himalayan range of problems. Sanger does an authoritative and at times devastating job of capturing them...

Edward Luce, Financial Times

Advance warning of the international stories that will be all over the front pages in the next few years.

The Herald

Sanger has a knack for getting Washington insiders to leak like sieves.

The Scotsman

Obama would do well to read David Sanger's highly instructive new book.

Edward Luce, Financial Times