The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan

“A Rosetta stone for reading America and its politics today...a book that is both enjoyable as kaleidoscopic popular history and telling about our own historical moment.... Epic work.” (Frank Rich New York Times Book Review, listed among the 100 Notable Books of 2014)

“It takes something like a miracle worker to synthesize history — especially recent history — in a way that's coherent, intelligent and compelling.... that's what [Perlstein] does in The Invisible Bridge, his best work yet... He's written something like a national biography, a deep exploration of both the politics and the culture of the late 20th century.... One of the most remarkable literary achievements of the year... The Invisible Bridge covers three years in 800 pages, but somehow, you don't want it to end... As the third book in a series, it makes clear that Perlstein, like Robert A. Caro and H.W. Brands, is one of the most impressive, accomplished writers of history in the country." (NPR.org, included among the Best Books of 2014)

“Rick Perlstein has established himself as one of our foremost chroniclers of the modern conservative movement... Much of ‘The Invisible Bridge’ is not about politics per se but about American society in all its weird, amusing, and disturbing permutations. He seems to have read every word of every newspaper and magazine published in the 1970s and has mined them for delightful anecdotes.... It would be hard to top it for entertainment value.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“Enthralling, entertaining...oddly charming and ultimately irresistible.” (Boston Globe)

“For Americans younger than fifty-five, the story of conservatism has been the dominant political factor in their lives, and Rick Perlstein has become its chief chronicler, across three erudite, entertaining, and increasingly meaty books.... ‘The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan’...finally brings into focus the saga’s leading character, Ronald Reagan.... What gives ‘The Invisible Bridge’ its originality is the way Perlstein embeds Reagan’s familiar biography in the disillusionments of the seventies.” (The New Yorker)

"’The Invisible Bridge’ is a magnificent and nuanced work because of Perlstein's mastery of context, his ability to highlight not just the major players but more important, a broader sense of national narrative.” (David Ulin The Los Angeles Times, one of his Best Books of 2014)

“Engrossing...invaluable to readers aching to find answers to why the country is so deeply polarized today.” (The New York Times)

“A mixture of scholarly precision, outrage and wry humor.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

“This is gripping material... Perlstein's gift lies in illustrating broad political trends through surprising snapshots of American culture and media.” (Chicago Reader)

“Rick Perlstein is becoming an American institution...a superb researcher and writer.” (The New Republic)

Rick Perlstein is the author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, a New York Times bestseller picked as one of the best nonfiction books of the year by over a dozen publications; Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, which won the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Award for history and appeared on the best books of the year lists of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune.