Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents: Strange Stories and Shocking Trivia from Inside the White House

Good

Content is ok. Not that many interesting secrets. Book heavy for its size. Paper almost cardboard in weight. One of those dip into books.

This simple little volume is quite entertaining. Some of the information casts light on the personalities of the presidents, and that was reflected in some of their policies. Don't expect to get great insight in the working of U.S. history from this book, but it may encourage a more careful study of the subject.

Interesting reading. Would not buy again

4.5 stars. This is, seriously, the 4th book like this I've read in the last year. They were all good, and interesting, but I think I may rate this one the best of the lot. The always-great Uncle John's series comes in second with its book on the presidency. They are all light, easy reading, great for reading in short spurts. Full of anecdotes and interesting facts about the presidents (and a few related side-topics, like the White House). I think this one stands out in a couple of ways: First it has wonderful (gray scale) illustrations for every president. The artists has done a great job capturing a light-hearted view of these serious guys. Second - this author gives a 1-3 page overview of each president's presidency before jumping into the lighter anecdotal stories. He has obviously done his research and is very good at providing these well-structured, concise, analytical overviews. This is step above the other similar books. I especially liked his analysis of President Obama and his, as of yesterday, successor. Very interesting and insightful. I don't know if there was much I learned from the anecdotes that weren't in the other books, but it was both educational and entertaining to read. I'd easily recommend this one if you are interested in such things. I'd also recommend the Uncle John's book which probably has a bit more total content, covers a bit broader range of topics, but stops at 'W', and does not have the same level of individual analysis as this one, nor any illustrations. Some folks may be mad at me for saying it, but this is really minor,: each chapter starts with a chart of common statistics about the president covered in that chapter. Why it presents their astrological sign is beyond me, it seems out of place with the rest of the content of the book.