This book offers an oral history of the first Obama election. Reading it opens up a side of American politics that I imagine most British readers don't know outside of the West Wing. Election night is significant, but the build-up to this takes years. The groundwork in particular states at particular times appears to be laid by young, utterly and entirely ordinary volunteers, in a way that most British readers would find unfathomable.
This is also a book about being young, about being on (literally) the ground floor during a political revolution, the experience of being part of a movement with all the "joy and terror, inspiration and anxiety, loneliness and fellowship."

It's also a book that gives us a snapshot of a time that's now already gone - the time when the Iraq War was the fault-line in politics, and the generations, before the apparent rehabilitation of Bush Jnr. It also acts as a reminder of the unstoppable pace of change, showing us what politics looked like in that strange time after Facebook, but before Twitter, and before smartphones. One of the most fascinating anecdotes was how everything had fallen together just at that moment, and if this had occurred in 2000, would it have been at all successful?

It's also the story of how Obama himself moved from being a comparatively new, young Senator to a Presidential Candidate. Still, the man himself does not feature as much as you might imagine. This book is about the people and the work that surrounded him at such great distances, but without whom he would never have made it as a Presidential Nominee. The people of this book had one overwhelming goal, which took over their lives, their health and relationships - to simply convince every voter they could find that Obama was worth a shot.

Part of the reason for this book is that whilst it now seems like inevitable history, at that time, nothing could be guaranteed. It was crucial that the history of the first campaign should not be read in the light of his second election and second term.

This is predominantly a history of conversion - of how, person by person, conversation by conversation, hour by hour, the people of the United States went about nominating and electing the first black president. The people doing this were making history and were aware of the astonishing weight on their shoulders each and every day. It was also about belief, how people believed in the man himself, in change, at finally being excited. The repeated refrain of the book is that something about him, about the time, 'struck the imagination.' This was a new and different type of politics and election to that which had come before, one focused on harnessing ordinary people and combatting apathy.

The text gives a history of how a group of young people - some out of high school, some who had left college or not even yet finished it - embedded themselves in communities across the country to prepare for the election. "It was an adventure in the best way....A lot was being asked of us. I felt at every stage so far out of my depth in terms of the enormity of what I was doing and how to do it." Focused entirely on that area, on names and streets and towns, away from the broader campaign across the media. They would sleep on sofas, sleep in cars, wear the same clothes for days on end, mystifying their parents. "School would always be there, but there would never be another moment like this." It is the story of how it all began, of their mistakes and persistence. It's also a revealing of exactly how unglamorous the hard work of political organisation can be, of the long journey from volunteer to campaign leader, and for the very, very lucky few, a position in the Obama Administration.

This is also a history of a diverse election, of being embedded in African-American communities, and the experience of both white and black volunteers as they traversed the radically different parts of America, some places still flying the Confederate flag. The most sobering part of this book was firstly how so many people they met feared for Obama's long-term safety, and how a young black volunteer - and a veteran! - was warned how to keep safe as he travelled the country. Something I had never considered was the overnight shift from Hilary volunteers being adversaries to being swift colleagues and comrades. The text details how these hundreds of young people then had to go pick up their lives after the election ended - and an epilogue reveals how so many of them ended up in public service in one way or another.

Initially, I was unsure about recommending this book. It is an oral history, with all the difficulties that come with this. I would prefer in many ways a definitive narrative history, but this book was designed to capture a moment, to capture the memories and experiences of a generation before they are lost. It was overlong, and perhaps only really the people who were actually involved would be interested in reading about the campaign in this level of detail, but as a text, it opened my eyes to a level of politics I'd never considered and reminded me how quickly politics - and the world - changes.

I hugely enjoy books like this. It’s well written, factually researched very well and ways to read and follow.

This book is a fascinating insight into Obama’s political journey and life. Having read it before A Promised Land it was a great way to have a basic understanding of what made Obama such a great leader and the turbulent journey it took him to get there.

A compilation of oral history recollections of Obama's campaign. What an incredible book! I know very little about how American elections work (or British other than voting) but found this book not only super insightful about that but also it really felt like you were on the journey with every person who was part of the campaign. I highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I found myself searching for images so I'd be tempted to buy the print copy if it included photos from the campaign and of the people involved.