Reagan’s War is the story of Ronald Reagan’s personaland political journey as an anti-communist, from his early days asan actor to his years in the White House. Challenging popularmisconceptions of Reagan as an empty suit who played only a passiverole in the demise of the Soviet Union, Peter Schweizer detailsReagan’s decades-long battle against communism. Bringing to light previously secret information obtained fromarchives in the United States, Germany, Poland, Hungary, andRussia—including Reagan’s KGB file—Schweizer offers a compellingcase that Reagan personally mapped out and directed his war againstcommunism, often disagreeing with experts and advisers. Anessential book for understanding the Cold War, Reagan’s War should be read by open-minded readers across the politicalspectrum.

Warfighting is an authentic American philosophy ofaction that will thrill the millions of fans of SunTzu's The Artof War and Musashi's T he Book of Five Rings . Thismodern classic of strategy and philosophy is the quintessentialguide to prevailing in competitive situations, be it war, work,play, or daily living. Sometimes life is war and sometimes business is war andsometimes you need to call in the Marines. Over the past twohundred years, the Marines have developed a reputation for gettingthe job done-fearlessly, boldly, and taking no prisoners. Whatbetter role model for the hidden warriors in ourselves? What betteradvice to call on when the stakes are high and sensitivity justisn't going to work? Written in 1989 as a philosophical andstrategic guide-book for the US. Marine Corps, Warfighting is a worthy successor to SunTzu's The Art Of War . Withclarity, brevity, and wisdom, it describes the basic forces at workin every competitive situation whether on the field of battle, inthe boardro

A cartoon book about Marx? Are you sure it's Karl, notGroucho? How can you summarize the work of Karl Marx in cartoons?It took Rius to do it. He's put it all in: the origins of Marxistphilosophy, history, economics; of capital, labor, the classstruggle, socialism. And there's a biography of "Charlie" Marxbesides. Like the companion volumes in the series, Marx for Beginners isaccurate, understandable, and very, very funny.

Since it was first published in 1952, Lincoln and HisGenerals has remained one of the definitive accounts ofLincoln’s wartime leadership. In it T. Harry Williams dramatizesLincoln’s long and frustrating search for an effective leader ofthe Union Army and traces his transformation from a politician withlittle military knowledge into a master strategist of the CivilWar. Explored in depth are Lincoln’s often fraught relationshipswith generals such as McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Fremont,and of course, Ulysses S. Grant. In this superbly writtennarrative, Williams demonstrates how Lincoln’s persistent“meddling” into military affairs was crucial to the Northern wareffort and utterly transformed the president’s role ascommander-in-chief.

As a defender of national unity, a leader in war, and theemancipator of slaves, Abraham Lincoln lays ample claim to beingthe greatest of our presidents. But the story of his rise togreatness is as complex as it is compelling. In this superb,prize-winning biography, acclaimed historian Richard Carwardineexamines Lincoln’s dramatic political journey, from his early yearsin the Illinois legislature to his nation-shaping years in theWhite House. Here, Carwardine combines a new perspective with acompelling narrative to deliver a fresh look at one of the pillarsof American politics. He probes the sources of Lincoln’s moral andpolitical philosophy and uses his groundbreaking research to cutthrough the myth and expose the man behind it.

As the world's largest democracy and a rising internationaleconomic power, India has long been heralded for its great stridesin technology and trade. Yet it is also plagued by poverty,illiteracy, unemployment, and a vast array of other social andeconomic issues. Here, noted journalist and former Financial TimesSouth Asia bureau chief Edward Luce travels throughout India's manyregions, cultures, and religious circles, investigating its fragilebalance between tradition and modernity. From meetings with keypolitical figures to fascinating encounters with religious pundits,economic gurus, and village laborers, In Spite of the Gods is afascinating blend of analysis and reportage that comprehensivelydepicts the nuances of India's complex situation and its place inthe world.

In retrospect, writes David Halberstam, "the pace of thefifties seemed slower, almost languid. Social ferment, however, wasbeginning just beneath this placid surface." He shows how theUnited States began to emerge from the long shadow of FDR's 12-yearpresidency, with the military-industrial complex and the Beatmovement simultaneously growing strong. Television brought not onlysituation comedies but controversial congressional hearings intomillions of living rooms. While Alfred Kinsey was studying people'ssex lives, Gregory Pincus and other researchers began work on apill that would forever alter the course of American reproductivepractices. Halberstam takes on these social upheavals and more,charting a course that is as easy to navigate as it iswide-ranging.

In The Fatal Englishman, his first work of nonfiction,Sebastian Faulks explores the lives of three remarkable men. Eachhad the seeds of greatness; each was a beacon to his generation andleft something of value behind; yet each one died tragicallyyoung. Christopher Wood, only twenty-nine when he killed himself, was apainter who lived most of his short life in the beau monde of 1920sParis, where his charm, good looks, and the dissolute life thatfollowed them sometimes frustrated his ambition and achievement asan artist. Richard Hillary was a WWII fighter pilot who wrote a classicaccount of his experiences, The Last Enemy, but died in a mysterious trainingaccident while defying doctor’s orders to stay grounded afterhorrific burn injuries; he was twenty-three. Jeremy Wolfenden, hailed by his contemporaries as the brightestEnglishman of his generation, rejected the call of academia to become a hackjournalist in Cold War Moscow. A spy, alcoholic, and openhomosexual at a time when su

For nearly twenty years, Aaron David Miller has played acentral role in U.S. efforts to broker Arab-Israeli peace as anadvisor to presidents, secretaries of state, and national securityadvisors. Without partisanship or finger-pointing, Miller recordswhat went right, what went wrong, and how we got where we aretoday. Here is a look at the peace process from a place at thenegotiation table, filled with behind-the-scenes strategy, colorfulanecdotes and equally colorful characters, and new interviews withpresidents, secretaries of state, and key Arab and Israelileaders. Honest, critical, and often controversial, Miller’s insider’saccount offers a brilliant new analysis of the problem ofArab-Israeli peace and how it still might be solved.

To this landmark biography of our first president, Joseph J.Ellis brings the exacting scholarship, shrewd analysis, and lyricprose that have made him one of the premier historians of theRevolutionary era. Training his lens on a figure who sometimesseems as remote as his effigy on Mount Rushmore, Ellis assessesGeorge Washington as a military and political leader and a manwhose “statue-like solidity” concealed volcanic energies andemotions. Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculous survival incombat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is thefree-spending landowner whose debts to English merchants instilledhim with a prickly resentment of imperial power. We see the generalwho lost more battles than he won and the reluctant president whotried to float above the partisan feuding of his cabinet. HisExcellency is a magnificent work, indispensable to anunderstanding not only of its subject but also of the nation hebrought into being.

Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments andevidence about the influence of political parties in the U.S.Congress. Steven S. Smith argues that theory must reflect policy,electoral, and collective party goals. These goals call forflexible party organizations and leadership strategies. They demandthat majority party leaders control the flow of legislation;package legislation and time action to build winning majorities andattract public support; work closely with a president of theirparty; and influence the vote choices for legislators. Smithobserves that the circumstantial evidence of party influence isstrong, multiple collective goals remain active ingredients afterparties are created, party size is an important factor in partystrategy, both negative and positive forms of influence areimportant to congressional parties, and the needle-in-the-haystacksearch for direct influence continues to prove frustrating.

Drawing upon dozens of other "declarations of independence"written to protest the repression of the colonies by King GeorgeIII, as well as carefully analyzing the drafts of the Declarationsigned on July 4, 1776, Maier reveals the extent to whichJefferson's words and ideas were indebted to popular politicalbeliefs.

Commemorating the 200th anniversary of Lincoln s birth, hereis his extraordinary story as only the Smithsonian could tell it,featuring the unpublished Lincoln collections at the NationalMuseum of American History. For the first time, the Smithsonian is publishing its unparalleledLincoln collection. Its many historical treasures include: Lincolns top hat, his gold pocket watch from his days as a Springfieldlawyer, the inkstand he used to draft the EmancipationProclamation, his patent model for lifting boats, one of MaryLincoln s White House gowns and jewelry, and prison hoods andshackles worn by the Lincoln conspirators. With more than 125 colorphotographs, Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life tells a new andintimate story of the life and legacy of this remarkable Americanicon.

An instant classic of war reporting, The Forever War isthe definitive account of America's conflict with Islamicfundamentalism and a searing exploration of its human costs.Through the eyes of Filkins, a foreign correspondent for the NewYork Times, we witness the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, theaftermath of the attack on New York on September 11th, and theAmerican wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Filkins is the only Americanjournalist to have reported on all these events, and hisexperiences are conveyed in a riveting narrative filled withunforgettable characters and astonishing scenes.

A WATERSHED ACCOUNT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL FRIENDSHIPIN AMERICAN HISTORY In Madison and Jefferson, esteemed historians Andrew Burstein andNancy Isenberg join forces to reveal the crucial partnership of twoextraordinary founders, creating a superb dual biography that is athrilling and unprecedented account of early America. The third and fourth presidents have long been considered properand noble gentlemen, with Thomas Jefferson’s genius overshadowingJames Madison’s judgment and common sense. But in this revelatorybook, both leaders are seen as men of their times, ruthless andhardboiled operatives in a gritty world of primal politics wherethey struggled for supremacy for more than fifty years. In most histories, the elder figure, Jefferson, looms larger. YetMadison is privileged in this book’s title because, as Burstein andIsenberg reveal, he was the senior partner at key moments in theformation of the two-party system. It was Madison who did the mostto initiate George W

“This is a thriller, a page-turner, a probing look into theinner workings of the assassination squads that Israel mobilizedafter the Munich massacre.” –David K. Shipler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Arab andJew “Gratitude is due to Mr. Klein for his painstaking . . . book, thebest one could possibly hope for.” –Walter Lacquer, The Wall Street Journal Award-winning journalist Aaron J. Klein tells, for the firsttime, the complete story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre andthe Israeli counterterrorism operation it spawned. Withunprecedented access to Mossad agents and an nparalleled knowledgeof Israeli intelligence, Klein peels back the layers of myth andmisinformation that have permeated previous books, films, andmagazine articles about the “shadow war” against Black Septemberand other related terrorist groups. In this riveting account,long-held secrets are finally revealed, including who was killedand who was not, how it was done, which targets were hit and whichwere m

Capitalism has never been a subject for economists alone.Philosophers, politicians, poets and social scientists have debatedthe cultural, moral, and political effects of capitalism forcenturies, and their claims have been many and diverse. The Mindand the Market is a remarkable history of how the idea ofcapitalism has developed in Western thought. Ranging across an ideological spectrum that includes Hobbes,Voltaire, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Hegel, Marx, and MatthewArnold, as well as twentieth-century communist, fascist, andneoliberal intellectuals, historian Jerry Muller examines afascinating thread of ideas about the ramifications of capitalismand its future implications. This is an engaging and accessiblehistory of ideas that reverberate throughout everyday life.

On September 11, 2001, hours after the terrorist attacks onNew York and Washington, the eminent military historian VictorDavis Hanson wrote an article in which he asserted that the UnitedStates, like it or not, was now at war and had the moral right torespond with force. An Autumn of War , which opens with thatfirst essay, will stimulate readers across the political spectrumto think more deeply about the attacks, the war, and their lessonsfor all of us.

Who were the three men the American and Soviet superpowersexchanged at Berlin's Glienicke Bridge and Checkpoint Charlie inthe first and most legendary prisoner exchange between East andWest? Bridge of Spies vividly traces their paths to that exchangeon February 10, 1962, when their fate helped to define theconflicts and lethal undercurrents of the most dangerous years ofthe Cold War. Bridge of Spies is the true story of three extraordinarycharacters – William Fisher, alias Rudolf Abel, a British born KGBagent arrested by the FBI in New York City and jailed as a Sovietsuperspy for trying to steal America’s most precious nuclearsecrets; Gary Powers, the American U-2 pilot who was captured whenhis plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission overthe closed cities of central Russia; and Frederic Pryor, a youngAmerican graduate student in Berlin mistakenly identified as a spy,arrested and held without charge by the Stasi, East Germany’ssecret police. By weaving

“H.W Brands has given us the authoritative Franklin biographyfor out time.” —Joseph J. Ellis author of the PulitzerPrize-winning Founding Brothers “Like its subject, this biography is both solid and enchanting.”—The New Yorker “[A] biography with a rich cast of secondary characters and alarge and handsome stock of historical scenery.... Brands writesclearly and confidently about the full spectrum of the polymath’sinterests.... This is a Franklin to savor.” —The Wall StreetJournal “Benjamin Franklin’s life is one every American should know well,and it has not been told better than by Mr. Brands.” —The DallasMorning News “A vivid portrait of the 18th-century milieu and of the18th-century man.... [Brands is] a master storyteller.” —TheChristian Science Monitor “A thorough biography of Benjamin Franklin, America’s firstRenaissance man.... In graceful, even witty prose.... Brandsrelates the entire, dense-p

Long before Rosa Parks became famous for resisting Jim Crowlaws, she was engaged in advocating for social justice for blackwomen who were the victims of sexual violence at the hands of whitemen. Historian McGuire aims to rewrite the history of the civilrights movement by highlighting sexual violence in the broadercontext of racial injustice and the fight for freedom. Parks workedas an investigator for the NAACP branch office in Montgomery,Alabama, specializing in cases involving black women who had beensexually assaulted by white men––cases that often went untried andwere the political opposite of the allegations of black men rapingwhite women ending in summary lynching with or without trials.McGuire traces the history of several rape cases that triggeredvehement resistance by the NAACP and other groups, including the1975 trial of Joan Little, who killed a white jailer who sexuallyassaulted her. Despite the long tradition of dismissing chargesbrought by blacks against whites, several of the cases e

If you follow politics or the news, America is a country ofculture wars and great divides, a partisan place of red states andblue states, of us against them. From pundits to politicians itseems that anyone with an audience sees a polarized country - acountry at war with itself. In a radical departure from this "conventional wisdom," CarlAnderson explores what the talking heads have missed: anoverwhelming American consensus on many of the country's seeminglymost divisive issues. If the debates are shrill in public, he says,there is a quiet consensus in private - one that America'sinstitutions ignore at their peril. From health care, to the roleof religion in America, to abortion, to the importance oftraditional ethics in business and society, Anderson uses freshpolling data and keen insight in BEYOND A HOUSE DIVIDED toshow that a surprising consensus has emerged despite these debates.He sheds light on what's been missing in the public and politicaldebates of the last several years: the consensus that isn't ha

The former president's personal tale of political intrigue andsocial conflict during his first campaign for public office.Iluminates the origins of his commitment to human rights and bearsfurther witness to the accomplishments of an extraordinary man.