During his seven years covering the White House for the "New York Times", Chief Washington Correspondent David E. Sanger has had extraordinary and unrivaled access to presidents, world leaders and secretaries of state. Here, in "The Inheritance", he gathers together all the evidence he has uncovered, both on and off the record, to offer us an insider's look at the many complex and oftentimes terrifying challenges that Obama now faces. Uncovering in fascinating detail the inner workings of the US military and intelligence communities, and describing the huge cost of the decision to invest so much of America, and Britain's, future on what once seemed like an easy mission in Iraq, Sanger talk us through the world this visionary new president now faces - a war gone bad in Afghanistan, a power-hungry Iran on the brink of nuclear weapons, an unstable alliance with Pakistan, a rising China and a worsening worldwide economic crisis. Mapping the political landscape that Obama will inherit, this book examines the international arenas that will remain the focus of the entire western world throughout the years to come, and gives us a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the Situation Room of the presidency. If you want to understand the world today in all its complexity, there's only one book for you: "The Inheritance" by David E. Sanger.

* 'Somehow David Sanger has broken through the secrecy and the government gobbledygook to tell us how we got to where we are and the choices this leaves for the next administration. He reveals inside stuff that we have never heard in detail that will surprise and sometimes shock, yet he has framed it all in language that the specialist will appreciate and the layman can understand. One of the most important books of the year.' - Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News

David E. Sanger has twice been a member of New York Times reporting teams that won the Pulitzer Prize. He has also been awarded, twice, the Merriman Smith Award for his coverage of national security, the Weintal prize for diplomatic reporting, and earlier last year he and his colleagues won a DuPont Award for the documentary, Nuclear Jihad: Can Terrorists Get the Bomb? Twice weekly he delivers the Washington Report for WQXR-FM, and he appears frequently on public affairs and news programmes.