Peril was published by Simon & Schuster in September 2021, written by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, a Washington Post reporter. The book covers the period from the autumn of 2020 through the early months of the Biden presidency, with its central focus on the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and the institutional crisis that surrounded it.
The book’s most explosive revelation concerned General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who made two secret phone calls to his Chinese counterpart, General Li Zuocheng — one on October 30, 2020, and another on January 8, 2021 — to reassure him that the United States would not launch a military attack against China. Milley told Li: “If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.” The calls were prompted by intelligence suggesting that China believed the increasingly erratic behavior of the Trump administration might presage a military strike, and Milley acted to prevent a catastrophic miscalculation.
The revelation ignited a political firestorm. Critics accused Milley of insubordination — of usurping the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief by conducting secret diplomacy with a foreign adversary. Defenders argued that Milley was fulfilling his duty to prevent war and that his actions were within the normal scope of military-to-military communication channels. The debate exposed a genuine constitutional tension: in a system designed to ensure civilian control of the military, what happens when senior military leaders believe the civilian commander poses a threat to national security?
Collecting Peril
First edition (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2021): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $10–$25
- Very good: $5–$15
- Signed: $30–$80