Playing with Fire

The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics

By: Lawrence O'Donnell

Narrated by: Lawrence O'Donnell

The New York Times bestseller!

"A thriller-like, propulsive tour through 1968, told by a man who is in love with American politics and who knows how all the dots connect. Brilliant and totally engrossing."
-Rachel Maddow

"Delightful...brings to life the most fascinating election of modern times."
-Walter Isaacson

From the celebrated host of MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, an enthralling account of the presidential election that created American politics as we know it today

Long before Lawrence O'Donnell was the anchor of his own political talk show, he was a senior adviser to Senator Patrick Moynihan, one of postwar America’s wisest political minds. The 1968 U.S. presidential election—marked by RFK’s assassination, massive upheaval in the Democratic Party, and the first of Richard Nixon’s dirty tricks—was O’Donnell’s own political coming of age. In the decades since, the election has remained one of his abiding fascinations, as it set the tone for so much of what followed in American politics, all the way through to today. Playing with Fire represents his master class in American electioneering, as well as an extraordinary human drama that captures a system, and a country, coming apart at the seams.

Enlightening!

Who knew that Lawrence O’Donnell was such a good actor and performer? Certainly not me. His ability to inhabit characters enough to make clear who was who made the story and complex cast of political players understandable.
It is also eye opening to learn the historical context of many things happening today.

Reliving 1968 Is An Emotional Experience

When I was living in the middle of historical and dangerous times, I just got through it day to day. My classmates were heading to Veitnam even though they did not want to go. Some came back in body bags. The ones who came back alive did not escape the war unchanged. At any time, the war could have been stopped, but powerful men with big egos would not stop a war that we should never have fought. This book brings back the memories of that war and that time. 1968 was a dark time. It was an emotional experience to relive that year, but I am glad I did. I have a better understanding of those events at the age of sixty nine than I did at the age of nineteen. Lawrence O'Donnell has produced a masterful work and his narration is just what the book needed. There were times that I did not want to keep listening, but I could not stop, and that tells the story of 1968.

Riveting!

The writing is exciting and the reading of it is fabulous. It was hard to stop listening. I highly recommend this audiobook.

Enlightening

Having been born in 1966, and educa0ted in the 1980's, I always felt that my grasp of the events recounted in this book lacked clarity. Boy, was I right. I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Fascinating!

As a 35 year old I had only cursory knowledge of this period of modern American history. This book lays out extraordinary events that I had little knowledge of. It has provided me perspective on my parent's and grandparent's generations and I can see now reasons for some of their opinions. Great book!