New book gives in-depth account of Obama's years in office

A new book on Barack Obama will give an in-depth account of the former US President's years in office, while examining his legacy as it stands today, publishers Penguin India announced in a statement on Wednesday.

"Obama: The Call of History" written by Peter Baker, the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, chronicles a period of "great hope, tumult, accomplishments, and, yes, failure".

The book tells the story of a young president who "took on the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression, forged a controversial health care program, watched anxiously in the Situation Room after approving the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden and endured mid-term election defeats".

"In a presidency buffeted by one crisis after another, he struggled with the Syrian civil war, a Russian invasion of its neighbor, the rise of the Islamic State, and, at home, often violent racial strife and recalcitrant Congress," the publishers said.

The book also features new details about the final months of the Obama presidency as Russia sought to intervene in American democracy, and assesses the impact of the ongoing Donald Trump presidency on Obama's legacy.

"His first line in the history books was written the day he won office as the first African-American president, but he was determined to offer more than simply a new complexion in the Oval Office," writes Baker.

Vivid colour photographs by New York Times photographers and others of events, major and minor, public and behind-the scenes, that defined Obama's eight years in office will also be part of the book.