Codename: Renegade: The Inside Account of How Obama Won the Biggest Prize in Politics

The paperback edition of the New York Times bestselling account of Barack Obama's gripping election campaign Written by British political reporter Richard Wolffe, Renegade is an election epic as well as an insightful biography of the new President of the United States. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama told Wolffe that, 'You'll get more access than anyone else', resulting in a riveting first-hand account of the 21-month journey from candidate to president. Wolffe covers the campaign in untold detail as well as revealing how Obama learned his personal and political skills in his youth and early career, which led him from his university lecturer's office in Iowa, to his nomination as the Democratic candidate, and finally to the Oval Office in Washington. Combining history, political psychology and biography, Renegade is an essential guide to understanding the president.

About the Author :
British born Richard Wolffe was most recently Newsweek's senior White House correspondent. He covered the length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, travelling with the candidate from his announcement through to Election Day, 21 months later and was granted Obama's first print interview inside the Oval Office. Prior to writing for Newsweek, Wolffe was a senior journalist at the Financial Times, working as its deputy bureau chief and US diplomatic correspondent in Washington, D.C. He is a political analyst for NBC, appears frequently on MSNBC, as well as on international media including the BBC and CBC.

Review :
Insightful ... a thoughtful meditation on Mr Obama's life and character Wolffe's technique is to combine biography and reportage, to take milestones along the campaign trail and use them as portals into the character and make-up of the man behind the candidate ... An insider's tour of the travelling circus/endurance test that is the 21st-century American presidential race Obama gave [Wolffe] exclusive interviews and invited him into his inner circle to play basketball. The result, Renegade - Obama's secret service codename - is peppered with interviews with Obama's best friends and political accomplices, who were equally eager to help A fly's-eye view of one of the most thrilling political insurgencies in modern American history The first of the President Obama books--and a good one--insightful, thorough and straight A superb achievement. With an almost painterly eye, compelling insights and extraordinary access to Barack Obama and his inner circle, Richard Wolffe's Renegade tells the hidden, dramatic story of the 2008 campaign and also reveals much we did not know about the 44th President's life before politics. Many journalists covered the 2008 presidential campaign for newsrooms and blogvilles. Not the intrepid Richard Wolffe. With gumshoe persistence he tracked Barack Obama's historic march to victory with grace and cunning. Renegade offers a deft mix of biography, personal reflection, British wit and old-style journalism. Destined to be a classic in its genre. Richard Wolffe takes the reader deep inside the campaign, revealing--often for the first time--how the candidate and his closest confidants dealt with the biggest crises in the election. He earned their trust and it paid off handsomely in that he reveals new details and new aspects of the candidate's character that have remained sequestered from view...until now.