Other books that might interest you

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  Homer Simpson Goes To Washington...

  Joseph J. Foy

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  “Informative and entertaining . . . convincingly argue[s] that an interest in popular culture can counterbalance the growing tide of political apathy.” —Publishers Weekly   While pundits may accuse popular culture of brainwashing, indoctrinating, distracting, or dumbing down the masses, the fact is that Americans have long turned to entertainment sources to make sense of politics, through television shows such as The Simpsons, The West Wing, The Daily Show, and Chappelle’s Show and films such as Election, Bulworth, and Wag the Dog. In Homer Simpson Goes to Washington, Joseph J. Foy has assembled a multidisciplinary team of scholars with backgrounds in political science, philosophy, law, cultural studies, and music. Their essays tackle common assumptions about government and explain fundamental concepts such as civil rights, democracy, and ethics—through the lens of drama and comedy.

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  Chasing Gideon - The Elusive...

  Karen Houppert

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  The Washington Post reporter delivers a groundbreaking investigation into the nation’s crisis of indigent defense—“a hugely important book” (New York Law Journal).  A Nieman Report’s Top Ten Investigative Journalism Books of 2013   First published to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright, which guaranteed all criminal defendants the right to legal counsel, Chasing Gideon offers a personal journey through our systemic failure to fulfill this basic constitutional right. Written in the tradition of Anthony Lewis’s landmark work Gideon’s Trumpet, it focuses on the stories of four defendants in four states—Washington, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia—that are emblematic of nationwide problems. Revealing and disturbing, it is “a book of nightmares” because it shows that the “‘justice system’ that too often produces the exact opposite of what its name suggests, particularly for its most vulnerable constituents” (The Miami Herald).   Following its publication, Chasing Gideon became an integral part of a growing national conversation about how to reform indigent defense in America and inspired an HBO documentary as well as the resource website GideonAt50.org.   “Chasing Gideon is a wonderful book, its human stories gripping, its insight into how our law is made profound.” —Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon’s Trumpet

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  Five Days in London May 1940

  John Lukacs

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  A “gripping [and] splendidly readable” portrait of the battle within the British War Cabinet—and Churchill’s eventual victory—as Hitler’s shadow loomed (The Boston Globe).   From May 24 to May 28, 1940, members of Britain’s War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue what became known as the Second World War. In this magisterial work, John Lukacs takes us hour by hour into the critical events at 10 Downing Street, where Winston Churchill and his cabinet painfully considered their responsibilities. With the unfolding of the disaster at Dunkirk, and Churchill being in office for just two weeks and treated with derision by many, he did not have an easy time making his case—but the people of Britain were increasingly on his side, and he would prevail. This compelling narrative, a Washington Post bestseller, is the first to convey the drama and world-changing importance of those days.   “[A] fascinating work of historical reconstruction.”—The Wall Street Journal   “Eminent historian Lukacs delivers the crown jewel to his long and distinguished career.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)   “A must for every World War II buff.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer   “Superb…can be compared to such classics as Hugh Trevor-Roper’s The Last Days of Hitler and Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August.”—Harper’s Magazine

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  Alt-America - The Rise of the...

  David Neiwert

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  Just as Donald Trump's victorious campaign for the US presidency shocked the world, the seemingly sudden national prominence of white supremacists, xenophobes, militia leaders, and mysterious "alt-right" figures mystifies many. But the American extreme right has been growing steadily in number and influence since the 1990s with the rise of patriot militias. Following 9/11, conspiracy theorists found fresh life; and in virulent reaction to the first black US president, militant racists have come out of the woodwork. Nurtured by a powerful right-wing media sector in radio, TV, and online, the far right, Tea Party movement conservatives, and Republican activists found common ground. Figures such as Stephen Bannon, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Alex Jones, once rightly dismissed as cranks, now haunt the reports of mainstream journalism. 
  Investigative reporter David Neiwert has been tracking extremists for more than two decades. In Alt-America, he provides a deeply researched and authoritative report on the growth of fascism and far-right terrorism, the violence of which in the last decade has surpassed anything inspired by Islamist or other ideologies in the United States.

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  The Ideological Origins of the...

  Bernard Bailyn

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  To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment," as a Postscript. Here he discusses the intense, nation-wide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution. This detailed study of the persistence of the nation's ideological origins adds a new dimension to the book and projects its meaning forward into vital current concerns.

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  The Best Worst President - What...

  Mark Hannah

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  Political analyst and Democratic campaign veteran Mark Hannah and renowned New Yorker illustrator Bob Staake give Barack Obama the victory lap he deserves in this compendium that takes the president's critics head-on and celebrates the president's many underappreciated triumphs. 
  Barack Obama's election in 2008 was a watershed moment in American history that inspired supporters on the Left-and fired up enemies on the Right. Elected in the midst of multiple crises-a Wall Street meltdown that imperiled the global economy and American troops entangled in two foreign wars-Barack Obama's presidency promised, from the start, to be one of the most consequential presidencies in modern American history. 
  Although he stabilized the economy and restored America's prestige on the global stage, President Obama has been denied the credit he deserves, receiving instead acidic commentary from political opponents such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, who declared that Obama was "the worst president in [his] lifetime"-an accusation that reflects the politics of resentment and recrimination that has come to characterize the president's critics. 
  In The "Best Worst" President, Mark Hannah and New Yorker illustrator Bob Staake swiftly and systematically debunk conservative lies and disinformation meant to negate the president's accomplishments and damage his reputation-baseless charges too often left unchallenged by the national media. The "Best Worst" President is a whip-smart takedown of these half-truths and hypocrisies, each refuted in a smart, witty, fact-based style. Hannah and Staake not only defend the president but showcase his administration's most surprising and underappreciated triumphs-making clear he truly is the best "worst president" our nation has ever known.

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