Summers has written about historical figures including Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia, President
John F. Kennedy, FBI Director
J. Edgar Hoover, President
Richard Nixon, and Admiral
Husband Kimmel, who commanded the
U.S. fleet at
Pearl Harbor. He is author of a major book on the
9/11 attacks on
New York and
Washington. He has also written biographies of celebrities
Marilyn Monroe and
Frank Sinatra, and investigations of
Britain's
Profumo Affair and the 2007 disappearance in
Portugal of the British child,
Madeleine McCann. Most of Summers' books were developed as TV documentaries.
Honeytrap was credited as a source for the
John Hurt movie
Scandal. The File on the Tsar, with Tom Mangold (1976) Summers published
The File on the Tsar with former
BBC colleague,
Tom Mangold, in 1976. The book is on the disappearance and presumed execution of
Nicholas II, last
Tsar of
Russia,
and his family. In the UK,
The Sunday Times said it "demolished the massacre story beyond recovery. There is not a dull page in this book." In the U.S.A., the
Los Angeles Times called it "a compelling and impressive work",
Cosmopolitan deemed it "sensational...a masterful work of great suspense, meticulously researched". In a comparison that must surely have pleased the authors,
The Toronto Sun rated the book's "superlative investigative reporting that makes Woodward and Bernstein seem like beginners."
Conspiracy (1980), since updated as Not in Your Lifetime (1998 and 2013) In the late 1970s Summers was working on a documentary for
Panorama about the recently released report from the
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations. Interviews for that program served as the impetus for Summers' 1980 book on the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy,
Conspiracy.
Conspiracy was later updated as
Not in Your Lifetime: The Defining Book on the JFK Assassination. In the most recent, 2013, edition, Summers was first to report the alleged confession of a Cuban sharpshooter,
Herminio Díaz García, to have taken part in the assassination. Summers was interviewed for the 1993 documentary
Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? produced by
PBS's
Frontline. The book won the
Crime Writers' Association's
Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction in 1980.
The Boston Globe described
Conspiracy as "the closest thing we have that literary chimera, a definitive work on the events in Dallas." In the UK,
The Daily Telegraph described Summers' approach as "dismissing the more fevered theories while casting doubt on the
Warren Commission". Author and journalist
Burton Hersh described
Conspiracy as "bedrock to the literature".
The New York Times Christopher Lehmann Haupt wrote that the book made for "extraordinary reading...the ghost of Marilyn Monroe cries out in these pages." Lehmann-Haupt wrote that one of Summers's most sensational conclusions was that Robert F. Kennedy was involved with Monroe's death and that at some point he removed evidence that she was sexually involved with him and his brother from the scene. About these conclusions, Lehmann-Haupt wrote "[I]t's possible that the exposure of hidden weaknesses in [Summers'] case may turn his reconstruction to dust. But his case is singularly impressive." Summers' research is criticised by the literature professor
Sarah Churchwell in her work
The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe. Churchwell observes that although Summers interviewed 650 people, "The interviews often repeat second- or third-hand accounts of what someone else said, and neither Summers nor his sources is particularly dispassionate". Churchwell writes that "Summers proffers – but does not prove – a series of sensational claims". In April 2022,
Netflix premiered a feature-length documentary film,
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, based on the
Goddess book, directed by Emma Cooper. Summers features prominently in the film, which includes Summers' previously unreleased audiotaped interviews of close friends and contacts of the actress.
Honeytrap, the Secret Lives of Stephen Ward, with Stephen Dorril (1987) Summers' and
Stephen Dorril's investigation of the British political scandal known as the
Profumo Affair was widely reviewed in the British press.
The Observer said the book "ought to be read...Profumo is Italian for perfume, but the whole thing stinks to high heaven."
The Tribune judged it "quite exceptional...massive demystification of the social and sexual lives of the English ruling class."
Official and Confidential, The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover (1993) The
Christian Science Monitor described Summers' 1993 biography of former FBI Director
J. Edgar Hoover as "gritty, fast-paced and disturbing", that his "case against Hoover is overwhelming."
The Philadelphia Inquirer review considered Summers' take on Hoover "an important book that should give all of us pause, especially policy makers." In a review for
The New York Times, by contrast,
Christopher Lehmann-Haupt characterised the writing and presentation in Summers' book on Hoover as "slapdash." The review judged Summers' fact checking as "unsatisfying," and his sourcing as "ill-organized and impenetrable." As a whole, the Hoover book set "a new standard of what might gently be called revisionism." The book gained a great deal of publicity and aroused controversy.
ABC News journalist Susan Donaldson James stated that Summers "exposed the secret sex life of Hoover" but also disputed the book's allegation that Hoover was a crossdresser. Summers interviewed more than 800 witnesses, including Hoover's Stork Club companion
Luisa Stuart. There was such widespread press coverage of the controversial cross-dressing allegation that
Bill Clinton, President at the time of the book's publication, joked to reporters that he was having a problem filling the post of FBI director. It was "hard", he said, "to fill J. Edgar Hoover's...pumps."
The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon, with Robbyn Swan (2000) In
The New York Times Book Review, Christopher Hitchens wrote that the "inescapable conclusion" of the book, "well-guarded by meticulous research and footnotes, is that in the Nixon era, the United States was, in essence, a 'rogue state.'".
Publishers Weekly thought the book "impressive...the most thorough case against Nixon yet." In
The San Francisco Chronicle, Steve Weinberg wrote that, "in many ways,
The Arrogance of Power is the best single-volume, full-life biography of Nixon ever published." After describing the book as "a muckraking, gossipy biography that goes well beyond any previous one-sided assaults against [Nixon]", historian
Melvin Small concluded: "What we get with Summers is a juicy story of scandal, mental illness, and evil. Nixon haters will love it. As for historians, that is another matter."
Sinatra, The Life, with Robbyn Swan (2005) ''
USA Today's'' reviewer praised the "extensive documentation of the legendary crooner's involvement with the Mafia." Author
Norman Mailer praised the book as "one of the very few bona fide, three-dimensional portraits of an amazingly complex, interesting and sometimes god-awful guy." In the UK,
The Times reviewer, Christopher Silvester, wrote that "Summers and Swan tell us much that is new, and with panache."
The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden, with Robbyn Swan (2011) In 2011, Summers' and Swan's
The Eleventh Day: The Ultimate Account of 9/11 was published to mark the tenth anniversary of
9/11.
John Farmer, a 9/11 Commission senior counsel, praised the book as "meticulous and fair...an extraordinary synthesis of what is known about the 9/11 attacks." According to
The Daily Telegraphs
Toby Harnden, the authors' "principal criticisms are that the Bush administration was asleep at the switch on 9/11; that vital intelligence was ignored; that the FBI and CIA did not share information; and that Saudi Arabia was intimately connected to al-Qaeda and is sometimes overindulged by the US." and was awarded the
Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction in 2012.
The Daily Telegraph described the book as "compelling."
Judy Finnigan, who presented the program "
Richard & Judy", observed that it was "forensically detailed". In 2019, Summers and Swan were a major on-screen element in "
The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann", an 8-part series for
Netflix. The authors frequently contribute their views and analysis on the case in the press and on broadcasts.
''A Matter of Honor: Pearl Harbor, Betrayal, Blame, and a Family's Quest for Justice,'' with Robbyn Swan (2016) Published to mark the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor, Summers' and Swan's
A Matter of Honor considered the circumstances in which Admiral
Husband Kimmel, then the commander in chief of the
U.S. Pacific Fleet, had been blamed, accused of dereliction of duty, and publicly disgraced. They published new documentary evidence and found that Admiral Kimmel had been unjustly blamed and that
President Roosevelt - contrary to charges made over the years - had not known in advance that the attack was imminent. Admiral
James Lyons, himself a former commander-in-chief Pacific, thought the book "the most comprehensive, accurate, thoroughly researched book...ever written" on the case. The book was also praised by historians
Douglas Brinkley and
David Kennedy. ==Filmography==