As a former star reporter for NPR, Sarah Chayes developed adevoted listenership for her on-site reports on conflicts aroundthe world. In The Punishment of Virtue , she reveals themisguided U.S. policy in Afghanistan in the wake of the defeat ofthe Taliban, which has severely undermined the effort to builddemocracy and allowed corrupt tribal warlords back into positionsof power and the Taliban to re-infiltrate the country. This is aneyeopening chronicle that highlights the often infuriatingrealities of a vital front in the war on terror, exposing deeper,fundamental problems with current U.S. strategy.
The complete American presidential inaugural addressesfeaturing historical background by a National Book Awardwinner A testament to the power of oratory, this stirring and oftensurprising collection includes all fifty-five United Statespresidential inaugural addresses, as well as a general introductionand commentary that provides historical context for each speech.Marking pivotal moments in American history, readers willlearn: ? How George Washington came to ad-lib “So help me, God” at theend of his first inaugural address ? Why Thomas Jefferson’s first inaugural address is consideredone of the finest ever delivered ? The historical background behind Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Theonly thing we have to fear is fear itself” and John F. Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what youcan do for your country.”
One of the most celebrated units in the military for more thana century, by 1990, New York City's Fighting 69th Infantry Regimentof the Army National Guard was scarcely fit for duty. Its equipmentwas derelict, its discipline nonexistent, many of its leadersinept, and its ranks filled with kids barely out of high school whohad little intention of serving their country for any longer thanit took to get their paycheck, college credit, or job training.Then came the attacks of September 11 and the invasion of Iraq. InThe Fighting 69th, Sean Michael Flynn, himself a member of theunit, chronicles the extraordinary transformation of this band ofamateur soldiers into a battle-hardened troop at one of the mostlethal sites of war.
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.
On August 28, 1963, over a quarter-million people—two-thirdsblack and one-third white—held the greatest civil rightsdemonstration ever. In this major reinterpretation of the GreatDay—the peak of the movement—Charles Euchner brings back thetension and promise of the march. Building on countless interviews,archives, FBI files, and private recordings, this hour-by-houraccount offers intimate glimpses into the lives of those keyplayers and ordinary people who converged on the National Mall tofight for civil rights in the March on Washington.
In his inspiring new book, You Don’t Need a Title to Be aLeader , Mark Sanborn, the author of the national bestseller The Fred Factor , shows how each of us can be a leader in ourdaily lives and make a positive difference, whatever our title orposition. Through the stories of a number of unsung heroes, Sanbornreveals the keys each one of us can use to improve ourorganizations and enhance our careers. Genuine leadership – leadership with a “little l ”, as heputs it, is not conferred by a title, or limited to the executivesuite. Rather, it is shown through our everyday actions and the waywe influence the lives of those around us. Among the qualities thatgenuine leaders share: ? Acting with purpose rather than getting bogged down by mindlessactivity ? Caring about and listening to others ? Looking for ways to encourage the contributions and developmentof others rather than focusing solely on personalachievements ? Creating a legacy of accomplishment and contribution ineverything they do As reade
Spy tells, for the first time, the full, authoritative storyof how FBI agent Robert Hanssen, code name grayday, spied forRussia for twenty-two years in what has been called the “worstintelligence disaster in U.S. history”–and how he was finallycaught in an incredible gambit by U.S. intelligence. David Wise, the nation’s leading espionage writer, has called onhis unique knowledge and unrivaled intelligence sources to writethe definitive, inside story of how Robert Hanssen betrayed hiscountry, and why. Spy at last reveals the mind and motives of a man who was awalking paradox: FBI counterspy, KGB mole, devout Catholic,obsessed pornographer who secretly televised himself and his wifehaving sex so that his best friend could watch, defender of familyvalues, fantasy James Bond who took a stripper to Hong Kong andcarried a machine gun in his car trunk. Brimming with startling new details sure to make headlines, Spydiscloses: -the previously untold story of how the FBI got the a
Your high-school history teachers never gave you a book likethis one! Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents features outrageousand uncensored profiles of the men in the White House, completewith hundreds of little-known, politically incorrect, and downrightwacko facts. You'll discover that George Washington spent a whopping 7 percent of his salary onbooze John Quincy Adams loved to skinny-dip in the Potomac River Warren G. Harding gambled with White House china when he ran lowon cash Jimmy Carter reported a UFO sighting in Georgia And Richard Nixon sheesh, don't get us started on Nixon! Now with a new chapter on the winner of the 2008 presidentialelection, Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents tackles all the toughquestions that other history books are afraid to answer: Are therereally secret tunnels underneath the White House? Whichpresidential daughter bared everything for Playboy? And what wasNancy Reagan thinking when she appeared on Diff'rent Strokes?American histor
“Nearly forty years after I first got involved, I remaincaptivated by the possibilities of politics and public service. Infact, I believe that my chosen profession is a noble calling.That’s why I wanted to be a part of it.” –Joe Biden As a United States senator from Delaware since 1973, Joe Biden hasbeen an intimate witness to the major events of the past fourdecades and a relentless actor in trying to shape recent Americanhistory. He has seen up close the tragic mistake of the VietnamWar, the Watergate and Iran-contra scandals, the fall of the BerlinWall, the reunification of Germany, the disintegration of theSoviet Union, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a presidentialimpeachment, a presidential resignation, and a presidentialelection decided by the Supreme Court. He’s observed Nixon, Ford,Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and two Bushes wrestling with thepresidency; he’s traveled to war zones in Europe, the Middle East,and Africa and seen firsthand the devastation of genocide. Heplayed a vital role
During the civil rights movement, epic battles for justicewere fought in the streets, at lunch counters, and in theclassrooms of the American South. Just as many battles were waged,however, in the hearts and minds of ordinary white southernerswhose world became unrecognizable to them. Jason Sokol’s vivid andunprecedented account of white southerners’ attitudes and actions,related in their own words, reveals in a new light thecontradictory mixture of stubborn resistance and pragmaticacceptance–as well as the startling and unexpected personaltransformations–with which they greeted the enforcement of legalequality.
During an impassioned address to the UN'S General Assembly,the Soviet Premier Khrushchev,irritatred by the in difference of his audience,astounded his peers by taking off his shoe and pounding it vigor-ously on his desk.His indelible gesture not only captured the attention of the audience,but it also transformed their lack of interest into outrage. In Khnushchev's Shoe,Roy Underhill recounts this incident and offers dozens of other stories to illus-trate how our efforts to engage an audience can make or break a presentation.It draws on lessons from some of today's greatest communicators such as Garrison Keillor,and Larry King,Jr.,Mark Twain,and Francis Bacon,to show Readers how to enter-tain,inform or persuade a group of any size. 作者简介: Roy Underhill has been host of the popular PBS series The Woodwright's Shop for twenty years.He is the author of five previous books.In addition,Underhill works as a communications consultant and conducts workshops and seminars throughour the country.
Starred Review。 Some failures lead to phenomenal successes,andthis American nurse’s unsuccessful attempt to climb K2,the world’ssecond tallest mountain,is one of them。Dangerously ill when hefinished his climb in 1993,Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeksby the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised tobuild the impoverished town’s first school, a project that grewinto the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed morethan 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan。 CoauthorRelin recounts Mortenson’s efforts in fascinating detail,presenting compelling portraits of the village elders,con artists,philanthropists,mujahideen, Taliban officials,ambitious schoolgirls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way。As the bookmoves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that theUnited States must fight Islamic extremism in the region throughcollaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access toeducation,
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Burke's seminal work was written during the early months ofthe French Revolution, and it predicted with uncanny accuracy manyof its worst excesses, including the Reign of Terror. A scathingattack on the revolution's attitudes to existing institutions,property and religion, it makes a cogent case for upholdinginherited rights and established customs, argues for piecemealreform rather than revolutionary change - and deplores theinfluence Burke feared the revolution might have in Britain."Reflections on the Revolution in France" is now widely regarded asa classic statement of conservative political thought, and is oneof the eighteenth century's great works of political rhetoric.
Stupid White Men, Michael Moore's screed against "Thief-in-Chief" George Bush's power elite, hit No. 1 at Amazon.com within days of publication. Why? It's as fulminating and crammed with infuriating facts as any right-wing bestseller, as irreverent as The Onion, and as noisily entertaining as a wrestling smackdown. Moore offers a more interesting critique of the 2000 election than Ralph Nader's Crashing the Party (he argued with Nader, his old boss, who sacked him), and he's serious when he advocates ousting Bush. But Moore's rage is outrageous, couched in shameless gags and madcap comedy: "Old white men wielding martinis and wearing dickies have occupied our nation's capital.... Launch the SCUD missiles! Bring us the head of Antonin Scalia!... We are no longer [able] to hold free and fair elections. We need U.N. observers, U.N. troops." Moore's ideas range from on-the-money (Arafat should beat Sharon with Gandhi's nonviolent shame tactics) to over-the-top: blacks should put inflatable white dolls in their ca
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.
A compelling and deeply felt exploration and defense ofliberalism: what it actually is, why it is relevant today, and howit can help our society chart a forward course. The Future of Liberalism represents the culmination of fourdecades of thinking and writing about contemporary politics by AlanWolfe, one of America’s leading scholars, hailed by one critic as“one of liberalism’s last and most loyal sons.” Wolfe mines thebedrock of the liberal tradition, explaining how Immanuel Kant,John Stuart Mill, John Dewey, and other celebrated minds helpedshape liberalism’s central philosophy. Wolfe also examines thosewho have challenged liberalism since its inception, fromJean-Jacques Rousseau to modern conservatives, religiousfundamentalists, and evolutionary theorists such as RichardDawkins. Drawing on both the inspiration and insights of seminal workssuch as John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, Adam Smith’sTheory of Moral Sentiments, Kant’s essay “What is Enlightenment?,”and Mil
The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has broughtnew attention to the huge costs of our oil dependence. In thisstunning and revealing book, Peter Maass examines the social,political, and environmental impact of petroleum on the countriesthat produce it. Every unhappy oil-producing nation is unhappy in its own way, butall are touched by the “resource curse”—the power of oil toexacerbate existing problems and create new ones. Peter Maasspresents a vivid portrait of the troubled world oil has created.From Saudi Arabia to Equatorial Guinea, from Venezuela to Iraq, thestories of rebels, royalty, middlemen, environmentalists,indigenous activists, and CEOs—all deftly and sensitivelypresented—come together in this startling and essential account ofthe consequences of our addiction to oil.
Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful and popularAmerican presidents. The key to understanding his political successand the remarkable likability and effortless charisma that made itpossible is hidden in his early years as a Hollywood moviestar. Other biographers and Reagan in his two memoirs have skimmed overthe thirty years he spent as an actor, union activist, and ladies’man. Now, for the first time, in this highly entertaining andprovocative new work, acclaimed film critic and historian MarcEliot reveals the truth of those formative years and presents a fardifferent and infinitely more detailed portrait of Reagan than everbefore. Based on original research and never-before-published interviews,documents, and other materials, Eliot sheds new light on Reagan’sfilm and television work opposite some of the most talented womenof the time, including Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and GingerRogers; his starlet-strewn bachelor days when his name was linkedwith Lana Turner and Susan Hayward
On September 11, 2011, the world will be watching astheNational September 11 Memorialopens on the site of the WorldTrade Center. With photographs and architectural plans never beforepublished, paired with comments in the very voices of those whowitnessed the event, those who struggled in its shadow for days andmonths after, and those who have dedicated the years since torebuilding a place of hope and meditation at Ground Zero, this bookwill stand apart from all the reston the tenth anniversary of thatworld-changing event. Heavily illustrated and elegantly designed,the book recalls the excitement and symbolism of the Twin Towers,the horror and chaos of the attack of 9/11, the fierce devotion andexhaustion as rescue of living victims became recovery of remains.But it also carries on from that date in history to tell the insidestory of the long, complex, and sometimes contentious efforts toturn eight acres of Downtown Manhattan into a lasting memorial tothose lost in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon.
这是作者公开出版的第二部文集,包含了作者对世界事务的看法和对一些关于中国的问题的回答。 全书共分 9 章,包括世界秩序、全球变化与中国角色、中美关系、中俄关系和亚洲问题等。鉴于当前国际形势的深刻变化,她希望这本书能让读者更多地了解中国人如何看待世界。 This is the second anthology by the author. It contains her views on world affairs, including her response to some of the questions raised about China. The anthology is divided into nine chapters that include: world order, global changes and China s role, China-US relations, China-Russia relations and Asian issues. Given the profound changes in the current international situation, she hopes this book will give readers more insights about how people in China see the world.
One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of theYear National BestsellerWith a New AfterwordNational Book CriticsCircle Award Finalist A Best Book of the Year: Salon , Slate , The Economist , The Washington Post , Cleveland Plain-Dealer The Dark Side is a dramatic,riveting, and definitive narrative account of how the United Statesmade terrible decisions in the pursuit of terrorists around theworld—decisions that not only violated the Constitution, but alsohampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. In spellbinding detail, JaneMayer relates the impact of these decisions by which key players,namely Vice President Dick Cheney and his powerful, secretiveadviser David Addington, exploited September 11 to further a longheld agenda to enhance presidential powers to a degree never knownin U.S. history, and obliterate Constitutional protections thatdefine the very essence of the American experiment.
At a time when a lasting peace between the Palestinians andthe Israelis seems virtually unattainable, understanding the rootsof their conflict is an essential step in restoring hope to theregion. In The Iron Cage, Rashid Khalidi, one of the most respectedhistorians and political observers of the Middle East, homes in onPalestinian politics and history. By drawing on a wealth ofexperience and scholarship, Khalidi provides a lucid context forthe realities on the ground today, a context that has been, untilnow, notably lacking in our discourse. The story of the Palestinian search to establish a state beginsin the mandate period immediately following the breakup of theOttoman Empire, the era of British control, when fledgling Arabstates were established by the colonial powers with assurances ofeventual independence. Mandatory Palestine was a place of realpromise, with unusually high literacy rates and a relativelyadvanced economy. But the British had already begun to construct aniron cage to hem in t