All the President's Men, by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (Bloomsbury Film Classics, £8.99 in UK)

A book regurgitating corruption in American politics in the early Seventies? Old hat? Well, with the possible impeachment of …

A book regurgitating corruption in American politics in the early Seventies? Old hat? Well, with the possible impeachment of the present incumbent of that country's highest office, the fall of Richard Nixon and the events leading up to it have surely become news again. The affair began when two Washington Post reporters were assigned to cover what appeared a routine burglary in the Watergate building in downtown Washington. We now know how the ripples from that seemingly innocuous business spread to bring down the world's most powerful leader. At the time, the Post's editor, Ben Bradlee, rated the story no more than a B-plus, but Woodword and Bernstein, aided by the mysterious Deep Throat, gnawed at it like dogs with a bone, until the marrow was well and truly revealed. Even after twentyfive years, their account of the affair is fascinating.