Chasing History

A Kid in the Newsroom

By: Carl Bernstein

Narrated by: Carl Bernstein, Robert Petkoff

The digital version of this audiobook contains an introduction read by Carl Bernstein.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of All the President’s Men—the chronicle of the investigative report about the Watergate break-in and resultant political scandal which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation—recalls his formative years as a teenage newspaper reporter in JFK’s Washington—a tale of adventures, scrapes, clever escapes, and the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Carl Bernstein, Washington Star.”

With these words, the sixteen-year-old senior at Montgomery Blair High School set himself apart from the high school crowd and set himself on a track that would define his life. Carl Bernstein was far from the best student in his class—in fact, he was in danger of not graduating at all—but he had a talent for writing, a burning desire to know things that other people didn’t, and a flair for being in the right place at the right time. Those qualities got him inside the newsroom at the Washington Star, the afternoon paper in the nation’s capital, in the summer of 1960, a pivotal time for America, for Washington, D.C., and for a young man in a hurry on the cusp of adulthood.

Chasing History opens up the world of the early 1960s as Bernstein experienced it, chasing after grisly crimes with the paper’s police reporter, gathering colorful details at a John F. Kennedy campaign rally, running afoul of union rules, and confronting racial tensions as the civil rights movement gained strength. We learn alongside him as he comes to understand the life of a newspaperman, and we share his pride as he hunts down information, gets his first byline, and discovers that he has a talent for the job after all.

By turns exhilarating, funny, tense, and poignant, Chasing History shows us a country coming into its own maturity along with young Carl Bernstein, and when he strikes out on his own after five years at the Star, his hard-won knowledge and experience feels like ours as well.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company



"Narrator Robert Petkoff, with an occasional assist from the author, takes listeners back to the beginning. Sounding like an indulgent grandfather telling his life story to his grandchildren, Petkoff recounts how a scrappy high schooler managed to worm his way into the WASHINGTON STAR newsroom at age 16.... This audiobook will provide hope to any would-be journalist." --AudioFile

Carl Bernstein's tale of his early years in the news business

This audiobook has more detail about the author's career than I cared to hear, and yet his enthusiasm for every aspect of how a newspaper works is infectious, and also fascinating. Also worth hearing are Bernstein's accounts of important people and events during the 1960s.

At All The Big Stories

I'm an unabashed fan of Messrs. Bernstein and Woodward as reporters for All The President's Men since I read it in high school.
This book, as the reporter writing his own story, was obviously a new tack for the reporter (or at least for me). Very honest, very direct, and even almost "amateurish" and enthusiastic. Like a fresh reporter.
But the span of the stories he saw, close up, during the Sixties... are beyond compare. JFK on the stump, his inauguration, assassination, MLK... Interspersed with how he grew up, the newspaper folks he worked for and with along the way, how he brought his humanity and decency, or at least tried to, to his stories...
Thanks for sharing this Mr. Bernstein.

Good Story of a Newsman

Carl does a good job of recounting his years in the news business. Candidly, he recounts what he was like as a young person. He describes the early newsroom and what it was like, which I found interesting. He was able to explain the passion that the early newspaper people had and what it felt like to be in the newspaper room. It is amazing how different things were and how they had to chase a story. If you like history and are a bit nostalgic, this is a great read. He did a very good job of reading.

Sentimental fun read for news room junkies and DC lovers

I enjoyed this book so much, largely because I grew up in Northern Virginia/DC, and I remember so many of the places and events in history Bernstein talks about. My mom subscribed to The Washington Star, and as a little girl I loved reading the front page and dreaming of becoming a reporter there some day. By the time I got to a newsroom the Star was gone, but I loved being in that environment, learning from wise old editors from The Post and The Star, feeling like I was doing something important. So reading Bernstein’s account of his early days, chasing history, and recalling a time when newspapers thrived was so much fun.

I loved how his writing makes you feel you were right there with him in DC, sharing details and events in of the different places like Silver Spring, NW DC, Georgetown, Anacostia, and the history he witnessed and reported on that was part of the local and national narrative.

It was also very fun to learn more about Bernstein’s beginning at age 16 when he started skipping school to be at the paper, flunked out of University, dictated copy for big shots in news, and reported on some of the most important stories of our time…well before Watergate. Fun listen. The only thing I missed was hearing Bernstein narrate it himself. Although he does make a cameo in the Epilogue.

Clarity. Fluidity. Context… Everything!

I loved it! I did not grow up in the US. I am thirsty for history! I always admired the author and respected his journalism testimony.