Dickerson's timely compilation of stories from 18 presidential campaigns are rousing moments in campaign history yet also present some enduring truths about ambition, image, emotion, power, national direction, party identity, elite power brokers, and disaffected voters. Dickerson (moderator of TV's Face the Nation, columnist for online magazine Slate) witnessed a few events as a campaign reporter. Some were shared by other journalists and campaign workers—possibly, he claims, embellished in the retelling. Others are historical. The accounts demonstrate the evolution of standards and expectations for presidential campaigns, ranging from when Thomas Jefferson paid an unscrupulous journalist to defame his opponents in 1800 (and who later revealed Jefferson's scandalous liaison with Sally Hemings) to Harry Truman's 1952 precedent-setting whistlestop campaign to convince common voters that he was no different from them, to the nontraditional 2004 popular movement that created Howard Dean's campaign. Dickerson covers bribery, scandals, spin, theatrics, sabotage, and other ugly aspects of American king-making and weaves throughout the theme of voters' efforts to have some say over the uncompromising political system. VERDICT Political junkies and all readers will be enlightened by Dickerson's well-documented, engaging, and at times whimsical text. The connections between past campaigns and the wild 2016 season might offer readers promise for the future.—Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY