The narrative, reporting-driven style of this book also draws criticism for rarely making conclusions or passing judgment on the characters and actions that he recounts in such detail. Some of Woodward's critics accuse him of abandoning critical inquiry to maintain his access to high-profile political actors.

Others praise his detached and evenhanded style for allowing readers to absorb the facts and come to their own conclusions. From a factual standpoint, Woodward's balanced account of the events seems to agree with other sources, such as Ari Fleischer's Taking Heat.

No reporter has more talent for getting Washington's inside story and telling it cogently.

In a Washington Post review of the book, Fouad Ajami said in 2002, "Why Woodward's sources divulge to him the deep inner workings of government shall remain a mystery of the craft. He lives by the leak, and the leaks are here in ample supply - memos and records of National Security Council meetings, alongside Woodward's interviews with the principals."

Woodward's dual role as newspaper journalist and book author has opened him up to occasional criticism for sitting on information for publication in a book, rather than presenting it sooner when it might affect the events at hand. In the Commanders (1991), for instance, he indicated that Colin Powell had opposed Operation Desert Storm, yet Woodward did not publish this fact before Congress voted on a war resolution, when it may have made a difference. Woodward has also been accused of exaggeration and fabrication by other journalists, most notably regarding Deep Throat, who some have contended was a composite character based on more than one Watergate source. Despite these criticisms and challenges, Woodward's record as an authoritative and balanced journalist has stood up well over time. The publication of a Woodward book, perhaps more than any other contemporary author's, is treated as a major political event that dominates national news for days.

In conclusion,...

Access was granted in return for a favorable portrayal.
The author also does not deal with the significant distance between the goals of the administration and what actually occurred. Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, almost certainly slipped away to refuge. Critics have charged that Woodward was highly selective about what he wrote, and careful not to push any particular point-of-view. The book is a step-by-step account of the administration's actions after 9-11, mostly told in the words of the principals. This may or may not make for the best history.

As one reviewer has said, "the book as a whole is not only 'an early version' of what happened, as Mr. Woodward himself acknowledges, but an incomplete, provisional and sometimes highly selective one as well." Eventually historians will sift through the events following 9-11 and the actions of the administration, but until that time, this book, with its factual account of the events, will serve as the only authoritative text on the subject.

Bibliography

Ajami, Fouad. "Bush at War' by Bob Woodward." The Washington Post. November 24, 2002.

p. BW04.

Fleischer, Ari. Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House. New York: William Morrow, 2005.

Michiko Kakutani. "Inside Bush's War Room." The New York Times. November 22, 2002. http://query.nytimes.com/search/full-page?res=9D00E1DF1539F931A15752C1A9649C8B63.

Woodward, Bob. Bush at War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

Woodward, Bob. Bush at War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002, p. xii.

Fouad Ajami. "Bush at War' by Bob Woodward." The Washington Post. November 24, 2002.

p. BW04

Michiko Kakutani. "Inside Bush's War Room." The New York Times. November 22, 2002. http://query.nytimes.com/search/full-page?res=9D00E1DF1539F931A15752C1A9649C8B63.