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The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power By David E. Sanger Harmony; 528 pages

Sanger's behind-the-scenes account of the Bush Administration's foreign policy is laced with scoops and secret conversations about a world spinning out of America's control. He tracks scientists in Pakistan trying to keep nuclear material out of al-Qaeda's hands; commandos at Fort Bragg blasting a Cabinet official for the lack of a strategy to get Osama bin Laden; and Condoleezza Rice telling George W. Bush, "I don't think you can invade another Muslim country ... even for the best of reasons." Sanger uncovers a sheaf of covert operations, like an effort to sabotage Iran's nuclear program, but concludes that Bush was too rigid and unimaginative to react to challenges beyond Iraq: "The 'decider' became the ditherer." As a result, Barack Obama faces an Iran "that is getting the Bomb," a war in Afghanistan that will keep U.S. troops tied down "for decades to come" and a nuclear-armed Pakistan "more unstable than ever." Obama's task is "to get the world growing again and to get the most imminent threats dealt with fast." Over to you, Mr. President.

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