Every product is independently selected by obsessive editors Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission TRUST ME I SHOULD KNOW FEB 7 2020 The Best Books on The Iran-Contra Affair According to Leon Neyfakh By Leon Neyfakh 8 items in this article Photo The vendors If you couldn’t get enough of the podcast Slowburn’s deep dives into Watergate and the Clinton impeachment or of Fiasco’s close look at the Bush versus Gore legal battle we have good news This week host Leon Neyfakh returns with the second season of Fiasco this time honing in on the Iran-Contra a air For those who would like some background information before diving into the new season or who would simply like to learn more about the political scandal on their own we asked Neyfakh to put together a comprehensive list of books on the subject A Very Thin Line The Iran-Contra Affairs by Theodore Draper What’s maddening about Iran-Contra is that there are multiple con icting accounts of pretty much every key event conversation and meeting After hitting my head against a wall trying to square one person’s testimony with the remembrances of another I found comfort in Draper’s book which treats inconsistencies in the source material as amusing mysteries rather than annoying problems Landslide The Unmaking of the President 1984-1988 by Jane Mayer and Doyle McManus A marvel of co-authorship by Jane Mayer who covered Reagan for the Wall Street Journal and Doyle McManus who covered Central America for the L A Times The best most fun book to start with if you want to mainline Iran-Contra in the form of a political thriller it opens with a scoop from Mayer about how close Reagan came to being removed from o ce by way of the 25th Amendment The Nightingale's Song by Robert Timberg $18 was $20 now 10% o This book of intertwined character studies provides ne-grained portraits of Reagan advisers Bud McFarlane who rst brought the idea of the Iran weapons deal to the president and John Poindexter who approved the use of pro ts from the Iran deal to fund the contras in Nicaragua Makes the case that Iran-Contra is secretly a story about the Vietnam War Iran-Contra Reagan's Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power by Malcolm Byrne This book written by the uno cial dean of Iran-Contra studies splits the di erence between academic meticulousness and journalistic are When we’re fact-checking season two of Fiasco the phrase most commonly uttered in our o ce tends to be “Check Byrne ” Lives Lies and the Iran-Contra Affair by Ann Wroe Wroe the obituaries editor of the Economist treats Iran-Contra as an opera or a novel to be analyzed and prodded Reading this swirling book-length essay you can tell Wroe is moved by Iran-Contra and it’s a pleasure to be inside her mind as she works through it and lets it inspire her Opening Arguments A Young Lawyer's First Case United States Vs Oliver L North by Jeffrey Toobin Before Je Toobin was a famous journalist he was a pipsqueak of a lawyer working in the o ce of the Iran-Contra independent counsel After Toobin quit and wrote this book his former boss tried to stop it from coming out and Toobin’s publisher sued him “Opening Arguments” won’t tell you a ton about Iran-Contra but as a memoir of working inside a tornado it moves On Bended Knee The Press and the Reagan Presidency by Mark Hertsgaard After reading a bunch of big omnibus books on a topic there’s nothing I love more than nding a super-narrow one that zooms in on a single aspect of it On Bended Knee published in the fall of 1988 is about the Reagan administration’s handling and manhandling of the press corps Hostage Bound Hostage Free by Ben and Carol Weir with Dennis Benson A window into the hostage crisis at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal this is the memoir of a man taken prisoner in Lebanon in 1984 and the wife who tried to bring him home Weir was freed in exchange for some 500 American-made antitank missiles To make matters more interesting both Weir and his wife were harsh critics of U S policy in the Middle East and thought the kidnappers made some good points in their criticisms of America Some in the Reagan administration called him Benjamin “Weird ” The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments rolling luggage pillows for side sleepers natural anxiety remedies and bath towels We update links when possible but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change TAGS THE STRATEGIST BOOKS TRUST ME I SHOULD KNOW LEAVE A COMMENT RELATED STORIES 6 19 2018 AT 3 20 P M All the Gear That’s Gotten Me Through 5 Marathons 7 19 2018 AT 11 14 A M Everything I Wear and Bring When I Go Kayaking 10 3 2018 AT 4 06 P M The 5 Products I Use to Make My House More Energy Efficient 4 20 2017 AT 12 30 P M Everything You Need to Stop Sweating According to a Heavy Perspirer 7 11 2017 AT 2 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