Overview

• Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf use counterfactual what-if scenarios to explore moments that could have altered last year’s election outcome.
• The Telegraph review criticizes the book’s failure to provide new insights on familiar controversies such as Russiagate, impeachment hearings and the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
• The retrospective devotes only anecdotal attention to the July 2024 assassination attempt on Trump and omits examination of underlying security failures.
• Its discussion of the October Gaza war asserts an early electoral impact on youth turnout and grassroots recruitment but stops short of deeper analysis.
• Despite its ambitious premise, the book under-delivers by prioritizing trivial campaign anecdotes over substantive context, earning a two-star rating.