Book Reviews
H R C begins with a chapter about what the authors call “Hillary’s Hit List,” which seems meant to play into dark-side narratives from the Whitewater days that emphasized what reporters saw as her penchant for blaming enemies for her travails and those of her husband. But the book gradually builds into a largely sympathetic portrait of Mrs. Clinton as a smart and tireless A student, supportive of her teammates, loyal to President Obama and skilled at navigating the political and bureaucratic minefields of Washington.... [HRC] provides useful context and intelligent analysis, and a highly readable account of her tenure at Foggy Bottom... pumped full of colorful you-are-there details.
Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
Deeply reported and ably written by journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, the book is a step-by-step recounting of Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, but it’s also a revealing window into the le Carre-like layers of intrigue that develop when a celebrity politician who is married to another celebrity politician loses to yet another celebrity politician, and goes on to serve the politician who defeated her.... Hillary’s personality does not emerge vividly in the book, possibly because she does not appear to have given the authors much access. But the assessment of her tenure feels fair, and after finishing HRC I understood, in a way I had not before, how and why the Clinton union has evolved into a juggernaut with such formidable “power to reward and punish.
Liza Mundi - Washington Post
An entertaining, illuminating look at Hillary Rodham Clinton's time as secretary of State. The book shows her as dogged, but also salty, bawdy and funny.... A character-driven psychodrama, chockablock with sweaty descriptions of its players… It's no easy feat to wring page-turning narrative juice from four years of state craft, but Allen and Parnes have relied on 200 sources…to get them the gossipy goods.
Los Angeles Times
A thoroughly reported and well-written chronicle of Clinton’s comeback and her tenure at the State Department.
Christian Science Monitor
HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton manages the rare feat of being both important and entertaining. It opens with a juicy chapter detailing the punishment and reward of Bill and Hillary’s political enemies and friends. But the meat of HRC is its narration of her role in tackling crises in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Libya—an amazingly tumultuous period that provides the best preview of what a Hillary Clinton presidency might look like, at least for foreign policy.
New York Magazine
Written by two authors intimately familiar with the political process—Allen is the senior Washington correspondent for Politico and Parnes the White House correspondent for The Hill newspaper in Washington, DC—this book surveys the landscape from Hillary Clinton's primary defeat to her successes as secretary of state
Library Journal