In collaboration with the History Book Festival, join us for a talk with Carol Leonnig, author of Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, an offering of the 2021 virtual History Book Festival. Joining Leonnig in conversation is author Ed Ruggero.

This is the first definitive account of the Secret Service, from the Kennedy assassination in 1963 to the alarming scandals, secrets, and mismanagement during the Obama and Trump years, right up to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The book reveals a toxic and politicized work culture, outdated equipment and training, a deep resentment of the agency’s leadership, and a dedicated band of patriots who battle it all to try to keep the president safe. To expose these shortcomings, the author interviewed numerous current and former agents and whistleblowers who risked their careers to speak to her.

Carol Leonnig is a national investigative reporter at The Washington Post, where she has covered the Secret Service for much of the past decade. She is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and co-author with Philip Rucker of the bestsellers A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America and I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year. 

Ed Ruggero is a West Point graduate and former Army officer who has written fiction, military history, and titles on leadership. His World War II novel Blame the Dead was featured at the 2020 History Book Festival; a sequel, Comes the War, was released in February 2021.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing copy of their book from Browseabout Books. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website. Each copy purchased comes with a signed bookplate.

NOTE: this meeting is being conducted through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER to receive instructions for joining the meeting.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email the History Book Festival.

Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here. Closed captioning is available for this session. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.