“Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state—a place thatspawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient anddeeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family thatcan’t get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum wewant the global economy to balance on?” In his explosive New York Times bestseller, See No Evil ,former CIA operative Robert Baer exposed how Washington politicsdrastically compromised the CIA’s efforts to fight globalterrorism. Now in his powerful new book, Sleeping with the Devil,Baer turns his attention to Saudi Arabia, revealing how ourgovernment’s cynical relationship with our Middle Eastern ally andAmerica’ s dependence on Saudi oil make us increasingly vulnerableto economic disaster and put us at risk for further acts ofterrorism. For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been locked ina “harmony of interests.” America counted on the Saudis for cheapoil, political stability in the Middle East, and lucrative businessrelati

Before September 11, 2001, one terrorist group had killed moreAmericans than any other: Hezbollah, the “Party of God.” Today itremains potentially more dangerous than even al Qaeda. Yet littlehas been known about its inner workings, past successes, and futureplans–until now. Written by an accomplished journalist and a law-enforcementexpert, Lightning Out of Lebanon is a chilling and essentialaddition to our understanding of the external and internal threatsto America. In disturbing detail, it portrays the degree to whichHezbollah has infiltrated this country and the extent to which itintends to do us harm. Formed in Lebanon by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1982,Hezbollah is fueled by hatred of Israel and the United States. Its1983 truck-bomb attack against the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirutkilled 241 soldiers–the largest peacetime loss ever for the U.S.military–and caused President Reagan to withdraw all troops fromLebanon. Since then, among other atrocities, Hezbollah has mu

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

The only Major League ballplayer whose baseball card is ondisplay at the headquarters of the CIA, Moe Berg has the singulardistinction of having both a 15-year career as a catcher for suchteams as the New York Robins and the Chicago White Sox and that ofa spy for the OSS during World War II. Here, Dawidoff provides "acareful and sympathetic biography" (Chicago Sun-Times) of thisenigmatic man. Photos.

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.

In this provocative and timely book, Middle East expert LeeSmith overturns long-held Western myths and assumptions about theArab world, offering advice for America’s future success in theregion. Seeking the motivation behind the September 11 attacks, Smithmoved to Cairo, where he discovered that the standard explanation—aclash of East and West—was simply not the case. Middle Eastconflicts have little to do with Israel, the United States, or theWest in general, but are endemic to the region. According toSmith’s “Strong Horse Doctrine,” the Arab world naturally alignsitself with strength, power, and violence. He argues that Americamust be the strong horse in order to reclaim its role there, andthat only by understanding the nature of the region’s ancientconflict can we succeed.

In this amazing and at times ribald story, Laton McCartneytells how Big Oil handpicked Warren G. Harding, an obscure Ohiosenator, to serve as our twenty-third president. Harding and his“oil cabinet” made it possible for cronies to secure vast fuelreserves that had been set aside for use by the U.S. Navy. Inexchange, the oilmen paid off senior government officials, bribednewspaper publishers, and covered the GOP campaign debt. When newsof the scandal finally emerged, the consequences were disastrous.Drawing on contemporary records newly made available to McCartney,The Teapot Dome Scandal reveals a shocking, revelatory picture ofjust how far-reaching the affair was, how high the stakes, and howpowerful the conspirators–all told in a dazzling narrativestyle.

Jefferson Davis is one of the most complex and controversialfigures in American political history (and the man whom Oscar Wildewanted to meet more than anyone when he made his tour of the UnitedStates). Elected president of the Confederacy and later accused ofparticipating in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he is asource of ongoing dissension between northerners and southerners.This volume, the first of its kind, is a selected collection of hiswritings culled in large part from the authoritative Papers ofJefferson Davis , a multivolume edition of his letters andspeeches published by the Louisiana State University Press, andincludes thirteen documents from manu* collections and oneprivately held document that have never before appeared in a modernscholarly edition. From letters as a college student to his sister,to major speeches on the Constitution, slavery, and sectionalissues, to his farewell to the U.S. Senate, to his inauguraladdress as Confederate president, to letters from prison to hiswif

If the Watergate scandal was a previous generation'sNational Nightmare, then maybe the Clinton scandal was our NationalWet Dream, and who better to narrate it than the screenwriter JoeEszterhas? In American Rhapsody , Eszterhas, whosecredits include Basic Instinct and Showgirls, and Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse, for which he was nominated fora National Book Award, takes us through the events that threatenedto topple a president and left most of the nation's citizens with,at the very least, a bad taste in their mouths. Taking full advantage of his considerablejournalistic and storytelling talents, Eszterhas gives us everyfact, rumor, or innuendo surrounding the president's foibles in thecontext of late century American politics and entertainment. Here Washington and Hollywood do more than just flirt with eachother; they share the same bed. From scandalmongers MattDrudge (who began as a Hollywood gossip) and Ken Starr, to would-bepresident paramours Sharon Stone and Barbra Streisand, to hisfinal,

The Unexplored Connections Between Two of History’s GreatestLeaders Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill were true giants of thetwentieth century, but somehow historians have failed to notice themany similarities between these extraordinary leaders. Untilnow. In Greatness, Steven F. Hayward–who has written acclaimed studiesof both Reagan and Churchill–goes beneath superficial differencesto uncover the remarkable parallels between the two statesmen. Inexploring these connections, Hayward shines a light on the natureof political genius and the timeless aspects ofstatesmanship–critical lessons in this or any age.

Mike May spent his life crashing through. Blinded at agethree, he defied expectations by breaking world records in downhillspeed skiing, joining the CIA, and becoming a successful inventor,entrepreneur, and family man. He had never yearned for vision.Then, in 1999, a chance encounter brought startling news: arevolutionary stem cell transplant surgery could restore May’svision. It would allow him to drive, to read, to see his children’sfaces. But the procedure was filled with gambles, some of themdeadly, others beyond May’s wildest dreams. Beautifully written andthrillingly told, Crashing Through is a journey of suspense,daring, romance, and insight into the mysteries of vision and thebrain. Robert Kurson gives us a fascinating account of one man’schoice to explore what it means to see–and to truly live.NAMED ONEOF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The wide ranging adventures of outdoorsman, naturalist andU.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, are collected in this anthologyof African safaris, ranch life in the American West, and a perilfilled trip down Brazil's legendary River of Doubt.

The remarkable story of a teacher who ran a grassrootscampaign for Congress . . . from her sixth-grade classroom “You can’t run for office in this country unless you’re amillionaire or you know a lot of millionaires.” This offhand remarkfrom one of her sixth-grade students dismayed public school teacherTierney Cahill. When she told the kids that in a democracy anyonecan run for office, they dared her to prove it–by running herself.She accepted their challenge on one condition: that they, herstudents, manage the campaign. A single mom with three kids and more than one job to make endsmeet, Cahill was in for a decidedly uphill battle, especially as aDemocrat in largely Republican Reno, Nevada. But Cahill had alwaysfelt a responsibility to make a positive impact on an increasinglyinequitable world. With her eager students leading the way, and awar chest of just seven thousand dollars (compared to opponentswith one hundred times the funds), Cahill not only got her name onthe ballot bu

You've heard of the SEALs. . . . now meet their bloodbrothers! The Official United States Air Force Elite Workout: An OfficialFive Star Fitness Guide Featuring: Running ? Swimming ? Weight Training ? O'Course ?Calisthenics ? and much more! Known as the PJ's and the CCT's, the pararescuemen and combatcontrol technicians are the elite forces of the United States AirForce. PJ's, whose motto is "that others may live", routinely go inharm's way to bring back downed pilots and crewmembers. CCT's,"first to fight", are responsible to enter hostile territory aheadof the rest and establish safe landing sites for arrivingforces. Their self-sacrificing efforts are heroic. Their training isintense, exciting, and before this book, little known. Now for thevery first time, their powerful training techniques are brought tolight in this profusely illustrated and documentedpresentation. Includes sections on: stretching, weight training, calisthenics,running, swimming, rope climbing, e

COP: “Buddy, I think this is a whorehouse.” BUDDY CIANCI: “Now I know why they made you a detective.” Welcome to Providence, Rhode Island, where corruption isentertainment and Mayor Buddy Cianci presided over thelongest-running lounge act in American politics. In The Prince ofProvidence, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mike Stanton tells aclassic story of wiseguys, feds, and politicians on a carousel ofcrime and redemption. Buddy Cianci was part urban visionary, part Tony Soprano—a flawedpolitical genius in the mold of Huey Long and James Michael Curley.His lust for power cost him his marriage, his family, and closefriendships. Yet he also revitalized the city of Providence, whereethnic factions jostle with old-moneyed New Englanders andblack-clad artists from the Rhode Island School of Design rubshoulders with scam artists from City Hall. For nearly a quarter of a century, Cianci dominated this uneasymelting pot. During his first administration, twenty-two politic

In The Breakthrough , veteran journalist Gwen Ifillsurveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on theimpact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential victory andintroducing the emerging young African American politicians forginga bold new path to political power. Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during theCivil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men andwomen who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominentleaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor DevalPatrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama (allinterviewed for this book), and also covers numerous up-and-comingfigures from across the nation. Drawing on exclusive interviewswith power brokers such as President Obama, former Secretary ofState Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, hisson Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., and many others, as well as herown razor-sharp observations an

Start your workout today with the US Navy SEALs! The Official United States Navy SEAL Workout presents an accuratedocumentation of the demanding physical training (or P.T., as it'sknown in military circles) that students encounter at BUD/S. Thephysical expectations of BUD/S graduates are awesome...but they areachievable, as this book demonstrates. You'll learn what it's like to be a SEAL in this incredible bookthat brings together the fitness requirements, history, andtraditions of the US Navy SEALs. Whether you're seriously intoexercising or just want to start a personal fitness program, youcan follow this All-American workout to strengthen and tone yourentire body! You'll find: * Workouts you can perform at home, the gym or on the road * Tips on stretching, lower and upper body workouts, andabdominal workouts * Intense photos of SEALs as they prepare for missions around theworld * What it takes to become a Navy SEAL ...and more!

Using information and techniques gathered by the InternationalSpy Museum and an ex-CIA agent, this book shows how the tricks andmethods used by spies can be incorporated into everyday life, suchas how to hide valuables in your home or how to avoid carjacking orpickpockets.