A Warning by Anonymous and Miles Taylor

#1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller: An unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency from the anonymous senior official whose first words of warning about the president rocked the nation's capital. On September 5, 2018, the New York Times published a bombshell essay and took the rare step of granting its writer anonymity. Described only as "a senior official in the Trump administration," the author provided eyewitness insight into White House chaos, administration instability, and the people working to keep Donald Trump's reckless impulses in check. With the 2020 election on the horizon, Anonymous is speaking out once again. In this book, the original author pulls back the curtain even further, offering a first-of-its-kind look at the president and his record -- a must-read before Election Day. It will surprise and challenge both Democrats and Republicans, motivate them to consider how we judge our nation's leaders, and illuminate the consequences of re-electing a commander in chief unfit for the role. This book is a sobering assessment of the man in the Oval Office and a warning about something even more important -- who we are as a people.

Unexpectedly thoughtful

The author, whoever it is, is certainly well read and articulate. Not a partisan screed, the author self-identifies as a Trump apologist, albeit one with regrets.
Worth reading.

A collaborator attempts to whitewash their actions and pretend, likely to themselves, that they aren't propping up an evil machine. Anyone lacking self awareness while serving a callous and destructive leader could have written this generic and bland book as a way to soothe their conscience. If Trump is the danger that the author claims he is, and the book is very inconsistent on this, claiming at times that Trump would never leave office while at other times that we should support him as the president, why would anyone work for him to ensure that his policies go through and that he continues to hang on to power. The author(s) claim to have a background in history, but they ignore the most basic lessons of political history: a large number of corrupted collaborators always prop up a smaller and evil leadership.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that, whoever the author is, they are both a conservative and a Republican. They make it clear by their opinions and eventually by their own declaration.
Keeping in mind, I tend to be more liberal, and though I try to avoid partisanship in general, my grandfather was a Democrat, so if I'm going to swing one way, that's usually it.
Despite that, it gave me high hopes to see which way the author of this book went, because if the criticism is coming from the President's own party, then that gives it more credibility, in my opinion anyway.
By the time I got to the final page, however, I couldn't help but feel as though I'd slogged through what was essentially an evening-long, one-sided discussion with an ex-MAGA politician who had nothing new to tell me. Our only shared qualities seemed to be the desire for the welfare of the United States, an affinity for our nation's history, and the conviction that Donald Trump ought to be fired.
Whenever the political events of the 20th century were brought up, there was so much praise of conservative figures and an enormous lack of writing regarding their failures, such as all the people who died in the AIDS epidemic because the Reagan administration would not acknowledge or help, or the torture carried out by the Bush administration.
The final disagreement that made me realize just how disappointed I was in the final product, was the argument that Trump ought to be fired by the American people in the 2020 election, and not via impeachment.
Two months ago, I agreed with this statement. Since then, it has been made abundantly clear that Trump doesn't give a damn about the integrity of the election, and will happily cheat, likely with Russia's help, if given the chance.
Because of that, I believe that he has forfeited his right to an election. Because of that, I realize that this book has taught me nothing, aside from deepening my understanding of just how ridiculous this Presidency has been.
If you're a Republican, I do recommend it to you. It's well-written, unabashed, and the author is someone I imagine you'll relate to a great deal more than I did. For me, though, I just feel tired.