THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

A matter-of-fact account of the impeachment’s proximate causes, course, and outcome.

Making a try for evenhanded language, Allen describes how an “alleged quid pro quo” in a July 2019 phone conversation between Donald Trump, “one of the most polarizing presidents ever,” and Ukraine’s newly elected leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, sparked a whistleblower complaint that, along with the White House’s subsequent stonewalling, led to a congressional scrimmage and, after much sound and fury, a 2020 Senate trial with a “foregone conclusion.” Arguing that said conclusion was based not on principle but party, the author notes and quotes many more logical and impassioned arguments for the impeachment than against it, so leaving the “anti” side relatively silent. Nor, beyond a few passing references, does he give readers willing to make their own judgments about the merits of the case much legal or historical background to work with. Still, by diligently wrestling an array of published documents and news reports into a coherent narrative and closing with several pages of resources, he does give report-driven students a leg up in their research. Color photos add interest, and text boxes provide additional context and quotes from experts and key individuals.

Straight-up assignment fodder, staid but steady, stronger on reportage than analysis.