The break-in at Watergate and the cover-up that followed brought about the resignation of Richard Nixon, creating a political shockwave that reverberates to this day. But as Ken Hughes reveals in his powerful new book, in all the thousands of hours of declassified White House tapes, the president orders a single break-in--and it is not at the Watergate complex. Hughes's examination of this earlier break-in, plans for which the White House ultimately scrapped, provides a shocking new perspective on a long history of illegal activity that prolonged the Vietnam War and was only partly exposed by the Watergate scandal.

As a key player in the University of Virginia's Miller Center Presidential Recordings Program, Hughes has spent more than a decade developing and mining the largest extant collection of transcribed tapes from the Johnson and Nixon White Houses. Hughes's unparalleled investigation has allowed him to unearth a pattern of actions by Nixon going back long before 1972, to the final months of the Johnson administration. Hughes identified a clear narrative line that begins during the 1968 campaign, when Nixon, concerned about the impact on his presidential bid of the Paris peace talks with the Vietnamese, secretly undermined the negotiations through a Republican fundraiser named Anna Chennault. Three years after the election, in an atmosphere of paranoia brought on by the explosive appearance of the Pentagon Papers, Nixon feared that his treasonous--and politically damaging--manipulation of the Vietnam talks would be exposed. Hughes shows how this fear led to the creation of the Secret Investigations Unit, the "White House Plumbers," and Nixon's initiation of illegal covert operations guided by the Oval Office. Hughes's unrivaled command of the White House tapes has allowed him to build an argument about Nixon that goes far beyond what we think we know about Watergate.

"Chasing Shadows" is also available as a special e-book that links to the massive collection of White House tapes published by the Miller Center through Rotunda, the electronic imprint of the University of Virginia Press. This unique edition allows the reader to move seamlessly from the book to the recordings' expertly rendered transcripts and to listen to audio files of the remarkable--and occasionally shocking--conversations on which this dark chapter in American history would ultimately turn.

Richard Harris and Sir Alec Guinness star in this sweeping, handsomely-mounted epic drama recounting the battle which raged between the monarchy and a commoner over the very soul of Great Britain.

In 17th century England, ambitious country gentleman Oliver Cromwell (Harris) dared to challenge the political oppression and corruption which besieged his nation. Watching his power being usurped by a commoner, King Charles I (Guinness) springs to challenge his adversary. One man will become absolute ruler, the other will be executed.

Rousing battle sequences, excellent lead and supporting performances from Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutun and Timothy Dalton, make Cromwell an outstanding historical drama in the tradition of Braveheart.

British crime drama written and directed by Ken Hughes. The film follows Sammy Lee (Anthony Newley), the master of ceremonies at a sleazy London strip club, as he tries to come up with enough money to clear his debt with local bookie Fred (Kenneth J. Warren). With time running out and Fred's enforcers on their way, Sammy looks to set up a number of shady deals in a last-ditch attempt to come up with the cash.

In his widely acclaimed Chasing Shadows (""the best account yet of Nixon's devious interference with Lyndon Johnson's 1968 Vietnam War negotiations""-- Washington Post), Ken Hughes revealed the roots of the covert activity that culminated in Watergate. In Fatal Politics, Hughes turns to the final years of the war and Nixon's reelection bid of 1972 to expose the president's darkest secret.Forty years after the fall of Saigon, and drawing on more than a decade spent studying Nixon's secretly recorded Oval Office tapes--the most comprehensive, accurate, and illuminating record of any presidency in history, much of it never transcribed until now-- Fatal Politics tells a story of political manipulation and betrayal that will change how Americans remember Vietnam.

In this provocative predecessor to Fatal Politics, presidential tapes expert Ken Hughes provides a shocking new perspective on a pattern of illegal actions by Richard Nixon only partly exposed by the Watergate scandal. Going back to the final months of the Johnson administration, Hughes reveals how Nixon secretly undermined the Paris peace talks with the Vietnamese. He goes on to show how Nixon’s fears of his treasonous act's being exposed eventually led to illegal covert actions guided by the Oval Office. Through his unrivaled command of the secret White House tapes, Hughes builds an argument about Nixon that goes far beyond what we think we know about Watergate.