Bob Spitz's Reagan is an absorbing, richly detailed chronicle of Ronald Reagan's epic life - giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics to run as California governor, and ultimately, his iconic presidency. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn't flinch from a full reckoning with the man's strengths and limitations. Written with love and irony, which in a great biography is arguably the same thing, Bob Spitz's masterpiece will give no comfort to partisans at either extreme; for the rest of us, it is cause for celebration.