iBooks Top Political Ebooks

The top most popular and best selling ebooks about politics and current events available at the Apple iBookstore. Chart of the top political and current event iBook best sellers is updated daily.

Chart list of the top political ebook ebook best sellers was last updated:

Top Political and Current Event Ebook Best Sellers

1

Original Sin - Jake Tapper & Alex Thompson Cover Art

Original Sin

Original Sin President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by Jake Tapper & Alex Thompson

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Superbly reported . . . Reads like a Shakespearean drama on steroids." — Los Angeles Times "Explosive." —The New York Times "[The] most significant book to date about Biden’s cognitive decline." — The Atlantic "Destined to stand alongside classics like Theodore White’s The Making of the President 1960 and even Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s All the President’s Men as one of the great books about American electoral politics.” — Richard Aldous, Persuasion From two of America’s most respected journalists comes an unflinching and explosive reckoning with one of the most fateful decisions in American political history: Joe Biden’s run for reelection despite evidence of his serious decline—amid desperate efforts to hide the extent of that deterioration. In Greek tragedy, the protagonist’s effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, American politics became a Greek tragedy. Joe Biden launched his successful 2020 bid for the White House with the stated goal of saving the nation from a second Trump presidential term. He, his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations. At his debate with Trump on June 27, 2024, the consequences of that deception were exposed to the world. It was shocking and upsetting. Now the full, unsettling truth is being told for the first time. Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson take us behind closed doors and into private conversations between the heaviest of hitters, revealing how big the problem was and how many people knew about it. From White House staffers at the highest to lowest levels, to leaders of Congress and the Cabinet, from governors to donors and Hollywood players, the truth is finally being told. What you will learn makes President Biden’s decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless—a desperate bet that went bust—and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents. The story the authors tell raises fundamental issues of accountability and responsibility that will continue for decades. The irony is biting: In the name of defeating what they called an existential threat to democracy, Biden and his inner circle ensured it, tossing aside his implicit promise to serve for only one term, denying the existence of health issues the nation had been watching for years, dooming the Democrats to defeat. The decision to run again, the Original Sin of this president, led to a campaign of denial and gaslighting, leading directly to Donald Trump's return to power and all that has happened as a consequence. Rarely does hubris meet nemesis more explosively. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, Original Sin is essential reading.

2

Abundance - Ezra Klein Cover Art

Abundance

Abundance What Progress Takes by Ezra Klein

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A terrific book...Powerful and persuasive.” —Fareed Zakaria “Spectacular…Offers a comprehensive indictment of the current problems and a clear path forward…Klein and Thompson usher in a mood shift. They inspire hope and enlarge the imagination.” —David Brooks, The New York Times “A raging political fad has taken over the Democratic Party….The Abundance movement cuts across the party’s ideological fissures….Democratic politicians are rushing to embrace the new mantra.” — The Wall Street Journal From bestselling authors and journalistic titans Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, Abundance is a once-in-a-generation, paradigm-shifting call to renew a politics of plenty, face up to the failures of liberal governance, and abandon the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life. To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don’t have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven’t built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget—if they are ever finished at all. The crisis that’s clicking into focus now has been building for decades—because we haven’t been building enough. Abundance explains that our problems today are not the results of yesteryear’s villains. Rather, one generation’s solutions have become the next gener­ation’s problems. Rules and regulations designed to solve the problems of the 1970s often prevent urban-density and green-energy projects that would help solve the problems of the 2020s. Laws meant to ensure that government considers the consequences of its actions have made it too difficult for government to act consequentially. In the last few decades, our capacity to see problems has sharpened while our ability to solve them has diminished. Progress requires facing up to the institutions in life that are not working as they need to. It means, for liberals, recognizing when the government is failing. It means, for conservatives, recognizing when the government is needed. In a book exploring how we can move from a liberalism that not only protects and pre­serves but also builds , Klein and Thompson trace the political, economic, and cultural barriers to progress and propose a path toward a politics of abundance. At a time when movements of scarcity are gaining power in country after country, this is an answer that meets the challenges of the moment while grappling honestly with the fury so many rightfully feel.

3

The Haves and Have-Yachts - Evan Osnos Cover Art

The Haves and Have-Yachts

The Haves and Have-Yachts Dispatches on the Ultrarich by Evan Osnos

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the National Book Award–winning author Evan Osnos comes a timely and provocative collection of essays exploring American oligarchy and the culture of excess, providing a wry, unfiltered look at how the ultrarich shape—and sometimes warp—our social and political landscape. The ultrarich hold more of America’s wealth than they did in the heyday of the Carnegies and Rockefellers. Here, Evan Osnos’s incisive reportage yields an unforgettable portrait of the tactics and obsessions driving this new Gilded Age, in which superyachts, luxury bunkers, elite tax dodges, and a torrent of political donations bespeak staggering disparities of wealth and power. With deft storytelling and meticulous reporting, this is a book about the indulgences, incentives, and psychological distortions that define our economic age. In each essay, Osnos delves into a world that is rarely visible, from the outrageous to the fabulous to the ridiculous: a private wealth manager who broke with members of an American dynasty and spilled their secrets; the pop stars who perform at lavish parties for thirteen-year-olds; the status anxieties that spill out of marinas in Monaco and Palm Beach like real-world episodes of Succession and The White Lotus ; the ethos behind the largest Ponzi scheme in Hollywood history; the confessions of disgraced titans in a “white-collar support group.” A celebrated political reporter, Osnos delves into the unprecedented Washington influence of Silicon Valley and Wall Street, drawing on in-depth interviews with Mark Zuckerberg and other billionaires, about their power and the explosive backlash it stirs. Originally published in The New Yorker , these essays have been revised and expanded to deliver an unflinching portrait of raw ambition, unimaginable fortune, and the rise of America’s modern oligarchy. Osnos’s essays are a wake-up call—a case against complacency in the face of unchecked excess, as the choices of the ultrarich ripple through our lives. Entertaining, unsettling, and eye-opening, The Haves and the Have-Yachts couldn’t be more relevant to today’s world.

4

On Tyranny - Timothy Snyder Cover Art

On Tyranny

On Tyranny Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “bracing” ( Vox ) guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism, from “a rising public intellectual unafraid to make bold connections between past and present” ( The New York Times ) “Timothy Snyder reasons with unparalleled clarity, throwing the past and future into sharp relief. He has written the rare kind of book that can be read in one sitting but will keep you coming back to help regain your bearings.”—Masha Gessen The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. On Tyranny is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.

5

Far from Home - Lisa Murkowski & Charles Wohlforth Cover Art

Far from Home

Far from Home An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, D.C. by Lisa Murkowski & Charles Wohlforth

A voice of reason in a polarized U.S. Senate, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska tells the story of how she learned to adapt to the harsh climate of Washington, D.C., and issues a fervent appeal for a politics grounded in compromise and compassion. “Two paths diverged—Lisa Murkowski took the one less traveled. In Far from Home, we see how the solitary course she chose has made all the difference.”—Senator Mitt Romney Lisa Murkowski has repeatedly stood at the center of our nation’s most challenging issues, serving as a swing vote and a voice willing to challenge the president, regardless of who holds the office. In this candid memoir that offers hope for a functional Washington, she guides readers through the defining events of her more than twenty-year career: her beginnings in Alaska and appointment to the U.S. Senate, the rise of the Tea Party and her historic 2010 write-in reelection campaign, and the pivotal events of the Trump era, including her vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, the 2020 election, January 6, the impeachment trials, the overturning of Roe, and Trump’s second election . Written at a time when Americans’ trust in their institutions is in crisis, Far from Home is a candid account of how things get done in Washington. It is an uplifting narrative for anyone seeking reassurance that our political system can still work.

6

On Democracies and Death Cults - Douglas Murray Cover Art

On Democracies and Death Cults

On Democracies and Death Cults Israel and the Future of Civilization by Douglas Murray

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In his travels through Israel and Gaza, #1 International Bestselling author Douglas Murray has seen the best and the worst humanity has to offer, and he has no trouble choosing a side. Murray is not Jewish and before October 7, he had never lived in Israel. However, he objects to being lied to, and Israel has been on the receiving end of the biggest, deepest, longest lies in history.  Israel's commitment to fundamental Western values—capitalism, individual rights, democracy, and reason—has made it a beacon of progress in a region dominated by authoritarianism and extremism. Israel’s principles vividly contrast with the ideology of Hamas, which openly proclaims its love of death over life. With incisive moral clarity, On Democracies and Death Cults exposes how the campus left and international establishment confuse this conflict by: Calling on Israel for restraint and proportionality, while Hamas commits genocide.Slandering Israelis as white colonialists, while only a third of Israelis are Jews of European ancestry.Framing the conflict as oppressor vs. oppressed, when it is really between a thriving multi-ethnic democracy and a death cult bent on its annihilation.  Drawing from intensive on-the-ground reporting in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon, Douglas Murray places the latest violence in its proper historical context. He takes readers on a harrowing journey through the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, piecing together the exclusive accounts from victims, survivors, and even the terrorists responsible for the atrocities. If left unchecked, misplaced sympathy could embolden forces that seek to undermine not only Israel, but all of Western civilization.

7

The Paranoid Style in American Politics - Richard Hofstadter & Sean Wilentz Cover Art

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstadter & Sean Wilentz

This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs.In The Paranoid Style in American Politics , acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence — and derail — the larger agendas of a political party. He investigates the politics of the irrational, shedding light on how the behavior of individuals can seem out of proportion with actual political issues, and how such behavior impacts larger groups. With such other classic essays as “Free Silver and the Mind of 'Coin' Harvey” and “What Happened to the Antitrust Movement?, ” The Paranoid Style in American Politics remains both a seminal text of political history and a vital analysis of the ways in which political groups function in the United States.

8

Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler Cover Art

Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

Mein Kampf written by Adolf Hitler is known as one of the most dangerous books in history. It is a fundamental exposition of Nazi ideology, which caused deaths of milions of people. The publisher would like to inform, that propaganda of any totalitarianism, such as Nazism, Fascism and Communism is not his target and this book should be only perceived as a historical source. Every man wanting to understand the complexity of the World War II should be acquainted with this position. 

9

Extremism - J. M. Berger Cover Art

Extremism

Extremism by J. M. Berger

AN INTRODUCTION TO EXREMISM: Explore how extremist ideologies grow and escalate—with fascinating case studies, from the ancient Romans to the American alt-right. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, J. M. Berger offers a nuanced introduction to the extremist movements threatening to destabilize civil societies around the globe. He explains what extremism is, how extremist ideologies are constructed, and why extremism can escalate into violence. Berger shows that although the ideological content of extremist movements varies widely, there are common structural elements. Berger describes the evolution of identity movements and individual and group radicalization, offering case studies and examples such as: • The destruction of Carthage by the Romans—often called “the first genocide” • The apocalyptic jihadism of Al Qaeda • America's new “alt-right” • The anti-Semitic conspiracy tract The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Berger, an expert on extremist movements and terrorism, explains that extremism arises from a perception of “us versus them,” intensified by the conviction that the success of “us” is inseparable from hostile acts against “them.” Extremism differs from ordinary unpleasantness—run-of-the-mill hatred and racism—by its sweeping rationalization of an insistence on violence. If we understand its causes and the common elements of its movements, Berger says, we will be more effective in countering it.

10

Who Is Government? - Michael Lewis Cover Art

Who Is Government?

Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service by Michael Lewis

“Perhaps never before has there been a book better timed or more urgent.” — Washington Post “Michael Lewis has this incredible ability to zoom in on one person's story, and from there reveals something much bigger about our culture. His books leave you seeing the world differently, and his books about federal workers are no exception.” —Katie Couric As seen on CBS Mornings , CNN Anderson Cooper , ABC News Live , MSNBC Morning Joe, and many more Who works for the government and why does their work matter? An urgent and absorbing civics lesson from an all-star team of writers and storytellers. The government is a vast, complex system that Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It’s also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it’s made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone. Michael Lewis invited his favorite writers, including Casey Cep, Dave Eggers, John Lanchester, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Vowell, and W. Kamau Bell, to join him in finding someone doing an interesting job for the government and writing about them. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees. Whether they’re digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. Expanding on the Washington Post series, the vivid profiles in Who Is Government? blow up the stereotype of the irrelevant bureaucrat. They show how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.

11

The Samson Option - Seymour M. Hersh Cover Art

The Samson Option

The Samson Option Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy by Seymour M. Hersh

"Almost defies belief . . . a riveting tale of Israeli determination and cunning—and Washington's indecision, ineptitude and acquiescence."— Dallas Morning News An investigation into Israel's nuclear capabilities discloses information about the country's rush toward nuclear status, its collaboration with South Africa and Iran, and its espionage activities.

12

Wild Faith - Talia Lavin Cover Art

Wild Faith

Wild Faith How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America by Talia Lavin

Esquire Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 The acclaimed author of Culture Warlords investigates the rise of the Christian Right over the last half-century that lays out the grim vision evangelicals are enforcing on our democracy. All across America, a storm is gathering: from book bans in school libraries to anti-trans laws in state legislatures; firebombings of abortion clinics and protests against gay rights. The Christian Right, a cunning political force in America for more than half a century, has never been more powerful than it is right now—it propelled Donald Trump to power, and it won’t stop until it’s refashioned America in its own image. In Wild Faith, critically acclaimed author Talia Lavin goes deep into what motivates the Christian Right, from its segregationist past to a future riddled with apocalyptic ideology. Using primary sources and firsthand accounts, Lavin introduces you to “deliverance ministers” who carry out exorcisms by the hundreds; modern-day, self-proclaimed prophets and apostles; Christian militias, cults, zealots, and showmen; and the people in power who are aiding them to achieve their goals. Along the way, she explores anti-abortion terrorists, the Christian Patriarchy movement, with its desire to place all women under absolute male control; the twisted theology that leads to rampant child abuse; and the ways conspiracy theorists and extremist Christians influence each other to mutual political benefit. From school boards to the Supreme Court, Christian theocracy is ascendant in America—and only through exploring its motivations and impacts can we understand the crisis we face. In Wild Faith, Lavin fearlessly confronts whether our democracy can survive an organized, fervent theocratic movement, one that seeks to impose its religious beliefs on American citizens.

13

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory - Tim Alberta Cover Art

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta

Instant New York Times Bestseller One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year An Economist and Air Mail Best Book of the Year "Brave and absorbing." -- New York Times “Alberta is not just a thorough and responsible reporter but a vibrant writer, capable of rendering a farcical scene in vivid hues.” -- Washington Post “An astonishingly clear-eyed look at a murky movement.” -- Los Angeles Times Evangelical Christians are perhaps the most polarizing—and least understood—people living in America today. In his seminal new book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, journalist Tim Alberta, himself a practicing Christian and the son of an evangelical pastor, paints an expansive and profoundly troubling portrait of the American evangelical movement. Through the eyes of televangelists and small-town preachers, celebrity revivalists and everyday churchgoers, Alberta tells the story of a faith cheapened by ephemeral fear, a promise corrupted by partisan subterfuge, and a reputation stained by perpetual scandal. For millions of conservative Christians, America is their kingdom—a land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. This love of country, however, has given way to right-wing nationalist fervor, a reckless blood-and-soil idolatry that trivializes the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Alberta retraces the arc of the modern evangelical movement, placing political and cultural inflection points in the context of church teachings and traditions, explaining how Donald Trump's presidency and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated historical trends that long pointed toward disaster. Reporting from half-empty sanctuaries and standing-room-only convention halls across the country, the author documents a growing fracture inside American Christianity and journeys with readers through this strange new environment in which loving your enemies is "woke" and owning the libs is the answer to WWJD. Accessing the highest echelons of the American evangelical movement, Alberta investigates the ways in which conservative Christians have pursued, exercised, and often abused power in the name of securing this earthly kingdom. He highlights the battles evangelicals are fighting—and the weapons of their warfare—to demonstrate the disconnect from scripture: Contra the dictates of the New Testament, today's believers are struggling mightily against flesh and blood, eyes fixed on the here and now, desperate for a power that is frivolous and fleeting. Lingering at the intersection of real cultural displacement and perceived religious persecution, Alberta portrays a rapidly secularizing America that has come to distrust the evangelical church, and weaves together present-day narratives of individual pastors and their churches as they confront the twin challenges of lost status and diminished standing. Sifting through the wreckage—pastors broken, congregations battered, believers losing their religion because of sex scandals and political schemes—Alberta asks: If the American evangelical movement has ceased to glorify God, what is its purpose?

14

The Reluctant Spy - John Kiriakou Cover Art

The Reluctant Spy

The Reluctant Spy My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror by John Kiriakou

Long before the waterboarding controversy exploded in the media, one CIA agent had already gone public. In a groundbreaking 2007 interview with ABC News, John Kiriakou called waterboarding torture—but admitted that it probably worked. This book, at once a confessional, an adventure story, and a chronicle of Kiriakou’s life in the CIA, stands as an important, eloquent piece of testimony from a committed American patriot. In February 2002 Kiriakou was the head of counterterrorism in Pakistan. Under his command, in a spectacular raid coordinated with Pakistani agents and the CIA’s best intelligence analyst, Kiriakou’s field officers took down the infamous terrorist Abu Zubaydah. For days, Kiriakou became the wounded terrorist’s personal “bodyguard.” In circumstances stranger than fiction, as al-Qaeda agents scoured the streets for their captured leader, the best trauma surgeon in America was flown to Pakistan to make sure that Zubaydah did not die. In The Reluctant Spy , Kiriakou takes us into the fight against an enemy fueled by fanaticism. He chillingly describes what it was like inside the CIA headquarters on the morning of 9/11, the agency leaders who stepped up and those who protected their careers. And in what may be the book’s most shocking revelation, he describes how the White House made plans to invade Iraq a full year before the CIA knew about it—or could attempt to stop it.   Chronicling both mind-boggling mistakes and heroic acts of individual courage, The Reluctant Spy is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the inner workings of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, the truth behind the torture debate, and the incredible dedication of ordinary men and women doing one of the most extraordinary jobs on earth.  

15

How to Read the Constitution—and Why - Kim Wehle Cover Art

How to Read the Constitution—and Why

How to Read the Constitution—and Why by Kim Wehle

“A must-read for this era” that lays out in common sense language how the US Constitution works, and how its protections are eroding before our eyes (Jake Tapper, CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent). The Constitution is the most significant document in America. But do you fully understand what it means to you? In  How to Read the Constitution—and Why , legal expert and educator Kimberly Wehle spells out in clear, simple, and common-sense language what is in the Constitution, and most importantly, what it means. In compelling terms and including text from the United States Constitution, she describes how its protections are eroding—not only in express terms but by virtue of the many legal and social norms that no longer shore up its legitimacy—and why every American needs to heed to this “red flag” moment. This invaluable—and timely—resource includes the Constitution in its entirety and covers nearly every significant aspect of the text, from the powers of the President and how the three branches of government are designed to hold each other accountable, to what it means to have individual rights—including free speech, the right to bear arms, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to an abortion. Finally, the book explains why it has never been more important than now for all Americans to know how our Constitution works—and why, if we don’t step in to protect it, we could lose its protections forever. How to Read the Constitution—and Why  is essential reading for anyone who cares about maintaining an accountable government and the individual freedoms that the Constitution enshrines for everyone in America—regardless of political party.

16

Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza - Peter Beinart Cover Art

Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza

Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza A Reckoning by Peter Beinart

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A bold, urgent appeal from the acclaimed columnist and political commentator, addressing one of the most important issues of our time “At this painful moment, Peter Beinart’s voice is more vital than ever. His reach is broad—from the tragedy of today’s Middle East to the South Africa he knows well to events centuries ago—his scholarship is deep, and his heart is big. This book is not just about being Jewish in the shadow of today’s war, but about being a person who cares for justice.” —Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight and King Leopold’s Ghost In Peter Beinart’s view, one story dominates Jewish communal life: that of persecution and victimhood. It is a story that erases much of the nuance of Jewish religious tradition and warps our understanding of Israel and Palestine. After Gaza, where Jewish texts, history, and language have been deployed to justify mass slaughter and starvation, Beinart argues, Jews must tell a new story. After this war, whose horror will echo for generations, they must do nothing less than offer a new answer to the question: What does it mean to be a Jew? Beinart imagines an alternate narrative, which would draw on other nations’ efforts at moral reconstruction and a different reading of Jewish tradition. A story in which Israeli Jews have the right to equality, not supremacy, and in which Jewish and Palestinian safety are not mutually exclusive but intertwined. One that recognizes the danger of venerating states at the expense of human life. Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza is a provocative argument that will expand and inform one of the defining conversations of our time. It is a book that only Peter Beinart could write: a passionate yet measured work that brings together his personal experience, his commanding grasp of history, his keen understanding of political and moral dilemmas, and a clear vision for the future.

17

Why We're Polarized - Ezra Klein Cover Art

Why We're Polarized

Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022 One of Bill Gates’s “5 books to read this summer,” this New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller shows us that America’s political system isn’t broken. The truth is scarier: it’s working exactly as designed. In this “superbly researched” ( The Washington Post ) and timely book, journalist Ezra Klein reveals how that system is polarizing us—and how we are polarizing it—with disastrous results. “The American political system—which includes everyone from voters to journalists to the president—is full of rational actors making rational decisions given the incentives they face,” writes political analyst Ezra Klein. “We are a collection of functional parts whose efforts combine into a dysfunctional whole.” “A thoughtful, clear and persuasive analysis” ( The New York Times Book Review ), Why We’re Polarized reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America’s descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics. Over the past fifty years in America, our partisan identities have merged with our racial, religious, geographic, ideological, and cultural identities. These merged identities have attained a weight that is breaking much in our politics and tearing at the bonds that hold this country together. Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century, and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and one another. And he traces the feedback loops between polarized political identities and polarized political institutions that are driving our system toward crisis. “Well worth reading” ( New York magazine), this is an “eye-opening” ( O, The Oprah Magazine ) book that will change how you look at politics—and perhaps at yourself.

18

Statecraft 2.0 - Dennis Ross Cover Art

Statecraft 2.0

Statecraft 2.0 What America Needs to Lead in a Multipolar World by Dennis Ross

In a world that is multipolar and America has less relative power, the United States no longer has the luxury to practice statecraft badly. The United States may still be the world's strongest country, but it now faces real challenges at both a global and regional level. The unipolar world which was dominated by America after the Cold War is gone. Unlike the Soviet Union, China is both a military and economic competitor and it is actively challenging the norms and institutions that the US used to shape an international order during and after the Cold War. Directly and indirectly, it has partners trying to undo the American-dominated order, with Russia seeking to extinguish Ukraine, and Iran trying to undermine American presence, influence, and any set of rules for the Middle East that it does not dominate. The failures of American policy in Afghanistan and Iraq have weakened the domestic consensus for a US leadership role internationally. Traditions in US foreign policy, especially the American sense of exceptionalism, have at different points justified both withdrawal and international activism. Iraq and Afghanistan fed the instinct to withdraw and to end the "forever wars." But the folly of these US interventions did not necessarily mean that all use of force to back diplomacy or specific political ends was wrong; rather it meant in these cases, the Bush Administration failed in the most basic task of good statecraft: namely, marrying objectives and means. Nothing more clearly defines effective statecraft than identifying well-considered goals and then knowing how to use all the tools of statecraft--diplomatic, economic, military, intelligence, information, cyber, scientific, education--to achieve them. But all too often American presidents have adopted goals that were poorly defined and not thought through. In Statecraft 2.0, Dennis Ross explains why failing to marry objectives and means has happened so often in American foreign policy. He uses historical examples to illustrate the factors that account for this, including political pressures, weak understanding of the countries where the US has intervened, changing objectives before achieving those that have been established, relying too much on ourselves and too little on allies and partners. To be fair, there have not only been failures, there have been successes as well. Ross uses case studies to look more closely at the circumstances in which Administrations have succeeded and failed in marrying objectives and means. He distills the lessons from good cases of statecraft--German unification in NATO, the first Gulf War, the surge in Iraq 2007-8--and bad cases of statecraft--going to war in Iraq 2003, and the Obama policy toward Syria. Based on those lessons, he develops a framework for applying today a statecraft approach to our policy toward China, Iran, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The book concludes with how a smart statecraft approach would shape policy toward the new national security challenges of climate, pandemics, and cyber.

19

Irreversible Damage - Abigail Shrier Cover Art

Irreversible Damage

Irreversible Damage The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier

NAMED A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2021 BY THE TIMES AND THE SUNDAY TIMES "Irreversible Damage . . . has caused a storm. Abigail Shrier, a Wall Street Journal writer, does something simple yet devastating: she rigorously lays out the facts." —Janice Turner, The Times of London Until just a few years ago, gender dysphoria—severe discomfort in one’s biological sex—was vanishingly rare. It was typically found in less than .01 percent of the population, emerged in early childhood, and afflicted males almost exclusively. But today whole groups of female friends in colleges, high schools, and even middle schools across the country are coming out as “transgender.” These are girls who had never experienced any discomfort in their biological sex until they heard a coming-out story from a speaker at a school assembly or discovered the internet community of trans “influencers.” Unsuspecting parents are awakening to find their daughters in thrall to hip trans YouTube stars and “gender-affirming” educators and therapists who push life-changing interventions on young girls—including medically unnecessary double mastectomies and puberty blockers that can cause permanent infertility. Abigail Shrier, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, has dug deep into the trans epidemic, talking to the girls, their agonized parents, and the counselors and doctors who enable gender transitions, as well as to “detransitioners”—young women who bitterly regret what they have done to themselves. Coming out as transgender immediately boosts these girls’ social status, Shrier finds, but once they take the first steps of transition, it is not easy to walk back. She offers urgently needed advice about how parents can protect their daughters. A generation of girls is at risk. Abigail Shrier’s essential book will help you understand what the trans craze is and how you can inoculate your child against it—or how to retrieve her from this dangerous path.

20

The Origins Of Totalitarianism - Hannah Arendt Cover Art

The Origins Of Totalitarianism

The Origins Of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt's definitive work on totalitarianism—an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political history. The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. Arendt explores the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, focusing on the two genuine forms of totalitarian government in our time—Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia—which she adroitly recognizes were two sides of the same coin, rather than opposing philosophies of Right and Left. From this vantage point, she discusses the evolution of classes into masses, the role of propaganda in dealing with the nontotalitarian world, the use of terror, and the nature of isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination.

21

How We Show Up - Mia Birdsong Cover Art

How We Show Up

How We Show Up Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong

An Invitation to Community and Models for Connection After almost every presentation activist and writer Mia Birdsong gives to executives, think tanks, and policy makers, one of those leaders quietly confesses how much they long for the profound community she describes. They have family, friends, and colleagues, yet they still feel like they're standing alone. They're "winning" at the American Dream, but they're lonely, disconnected, and unsatisfied. It seems counterintuitive that living the "good life"--the well-paying job, the nuclear family, the upward mobility--can make us feel isolated and unhappy. But in a divided America, where only a quarter of us know our neighbors and everyone is either a winner or a loser, we've forgotten the key element that helped us make progress in the first place: community. In this provocative, groundbreaking work, Mia Birdsong shows that what separates us isn't only the ever-present injustices built around race, class, gender, values, and beliefs, but also our denial of our interdependence and need for belonging. In response to the fear and discomfort we feel, we've built walls, and instead of leaning on each other, we find ourselves leaning on concrete. Through research, interviews, and stories of lived experience, How We Show Up returns us to our inherent connectedness where we find strength, safety, and support in vulnerability and generosity, in asking for help, and in being accountable. Showing up--literally and figuratively--points us toward the promise of our collective vitality and leads us to the liberated well-being we all want.

22

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy - John J. Mearsheimer & Stephen M. Walt Cover Art

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer & Stephen M. Walt

Originally published in 2007, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy , by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, provoked both howls of outrage and cheers of gratitude for challenging what had been a taboo issue in America: the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy. A work of major importance, it remains as relevant today as it was in the immediate aftermath of the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006. Mearsheimer and Walt describe in clear and bold terms the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. They provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America's posture throughout the Middle East―in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict―and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America's national interest nor Israel's long-term interest. The lobby's influence also affects America's relationship with important allies and increases dangers that all states face from global jihadist terror. The publication of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy led to a sea change in how the U.S-Israel relationship was discussed, and continues to be one of the most talked-about books in foreign policy.

23

When the Stones Speak - Doron Spielman Cover Art

When the Stones Speak

When the Stones Speak The Remarkable Discovery of the City of David and What Israel's Enemies Don't Want You To Know by Doron Spielman

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER This is the untold story of the rediscovery of the ancient City of David in Jerusalem and the powerful evidence that proves the Jewish people’s historical and indigenous connection to the Holy Land. Since the founding of Israel in 1948, the Jewish people have faced nine wars against multiple enemies. Yet, beyond the physical conflicts, a deeper ideological battle has been waged against Israel and the Jewish people. This war, crafted by certain Arab leaders and echoed by international organizations like the United Nations, seeks to erase the Jewish people’s ancestral ties to the land, casting them as outsiders, imposters, and “settlers.” One thing, however, stands in the way of the denialists: the 3,800-year history of the City of David, a site lying just south of the Old City. Archeologists at the site are unearthing evidence that proves the Jewish people’s origin story in the land for over three millennia. Every shovel of dirt reveals that while others may claim to be indigenous to Jerusalem, the Jewish people are, in fact, more indigenous to the Land of Israel than perhaps any other group living anywhere in the world. This is the timely story of those who transformed City of David from a neglected hilltop village into one of the most important archeological heritage sites in the world, while facing powerful global institutions and terror groups that would do almost anything to keep this truth hidden. Highly relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this book foreshadows the events and historical denialism that unfolded with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

24

The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation - The Founding Fathers Cover Art

The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation

The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation by The Founding Fathers

Collected here in one affordable volume are the most important documents of the United States of America: The Constitution of the United States of America, with the Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; and the Articles of Confederation. These three documents are the basis for our entire way of life. Every citizen should have a copy.

25

Reign of Terror - Spencer Ackerman Cover Art

Reign of Terror

Reign of Terror How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackerman

A New York Times Critics’ Top Book of 2021   "An impressive combination of diligence and verve, deploying Ackerman’s deep stores of knowledge as a national security journalist to full effect. The result is a narrative of the last 20 years that is upsetting, discerning and brilliantly argued." — The New York Times   "One of the most illuminating books to come out of the Trump era." — New York Magazine An examination of the profound impact that the War on Terror had in pushing American politics and society in an authoritarian direction For an entire generation, at home and abroad, the United States has waged an endless conflict known as the War on Terror. In addition to multiple ground wars, the era pioneered drone strikes and industrial-scale digital surveillance; weakened the rule of law through indefinite detentions; sanctioned torture; and manipulated the truth about it all. These conflicts have yielded neither peace nor victory, but they have transformed America. What began as the persecution of Muslims and immigrants has become a normalized feature of American politics and national security, expanding the possibilities for applying similar or worse measures against other targets at home, as the summer of 2020 showed. A politically divided and economically destabilized country turned the War on Terror into a cultural—and then a tribal—struggle. It began on the ideological frontiers of the Republican Party before expanding to conquer the GOP, often with the acquiescence of the Democratic Party. Today’s nativist resurgence walked through a door opened by the 9/11 era. And that door remains open. Reign of Terror shows how these developments created an opportunity for American authoritarianism and gave rise to Donald Trump. It shows that Barack Obama squandered an opportunity to dismantle the War on Terror after killing Osama bin Laden. By the end of his tenure, the war had metastasized into a bitter, broader cultural struggle in search of a demagogue like Trump to lead it.   Reign of Terror is a pathbreaking and definitive union of journalism and intellectual history with the power to transform how America understands its national security policies and their catastrophic impact on civic life.

26

Unit X - Raj M. Shah & Christopher Kirchhoff Cover Art

Unit X

Unit X How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War by Raj M. Shah & Christopher Kirchhoff

Shortlisted for the 2024 Financial Times Business Book of the Year A riveting inside look at an elite unit within the Pentagon—the Defense Innovation Unit, also known as Unit X—whose mission is to bring Silicon Valley’s cutting-edge technology to America’s military: from the two men who launched the unit. A vast and largely unseen transformation of how war is fought as profound as the invention of gunpowder or advent of the nuclear age is occurring. Flying cars that can land like helicopters, artificial intelligence-powered drones that can fly into buildings and map their interiors, microsatellites that can see through clouds and monitor rogue missile sites—all these and more are becoming part of America’s DIU-fast-tracked arsenal. Until recently, the Pentagon was known for its uncomfortable relationship with Silicon Valley and for slow-moving processes that acted as a brake on innovation. Unit X was specifically designed as a bridge to Valley technologists that would accelerate bringing state of the art software and hardware to the battle space. Given authority to cut through red tape and function almost as a venture capital firm, Shah, Kirchhoff, and others in the Unit who came after were tasked particularly with meeting immediate military needs with technology from Valley startups rather than from so-called “primes”—behemoth companies like Lockheed, Raytheon, and Boeing. Taking us inside AI labs, drone workshops, and battle command centers—and, also, overseas to Ukraine’s frontlines—Shah and Kirchhoff paint a fascinating picture of what it takes to stay dominant in a fast-changing and often precarious geopolitical landscape. In an era when America’s chief rival, China, has ordered that all commercial firms within its borders make their research and technology available for military exploitation, strengthening the relationship between Washington and Silicon Valley was always advisable. Today, it is an urgent necessity.

27

Code Name: Pale Horse - Scott Payne & Michelle Shephard Cover Art

Code Name: Pale Horse

Code Name: Pale Horse How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis by Scott Payne & Michelle Shephard

New York Times bestseller • The thrilling true story of one man who risked his life to infiltrate the most dangerous neo-Nazi group in the United States, an “urgent and exciting look into the life of an FBI undercover agent” (Joseph D. Pistone, New York Times bestselling author) by “one of the top undercover agents in the Bureau” (Joaquin “Jack” Garcia, retired FBI agent and New York Times bestselling author). When Scott Payne was growing up, an ‘80s kid with a big attitude and a taste for sleeveless shirts, he could never have envisioned where he’d find himself on Halloween night 2019. Having transformed into “Pale Horse” and infiltrated the nation’s most dangerous, fastest-growing white supremacy group, The Base, he was huddled with a cell of neo-Nazis in the backwoods of Georgia as they slaughtered a goat and drank its blood in a ritual sacrifice. A decorated agent dubbed the “Hillbilly Donnie Brasco,” Payne takes readers along with him on some of the most terrifying and riskiest assignments in FBI history. He went deep undercover with the lethal Outlaw Motorcycle Club in Massachusetts; to the front lines of the opioid epidemic in Tennessee; and infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama. Through it all, he stayed married to the love of his life, raised two girls, and spent his Sundays at church, sustained by family and faith. Timely and unputdownable, Code Name: Pale Horse is a hard look at some of the most pressing threats facing America today. Honest and inspiring, it’s the story of a hero determined to take down a hateful army—before the unthinkable could come to pass.

28

The Grand Chessboard - Zbigniew Brzezinski Cover Art

The Grand Chessboard

The Grand Chessboard American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives by Zbigniew Brzezinski

Bestselling author and eminent foreign policy scholar Zbigniew Brzezinski's classic book on American's strategic mission in the modern world. In The Grand Chessboard , renowned geostrategist Zbigniew Brzezinski delivers a brutally honest and provocative vision for American preeminence in the twenty-first century. The task facing the United States, he argues, is to become the sole political arbiter in Eurasian lands and to prevent the emergence of any rival power threatening our material and diplomatic interests. The Eurasian landmass, home to the greatest part of the globe's population, natural resources, and economic activity, is the “grand chessboard” on which America's supremacy will be ratified and challenged in the years to come. In this landmark work of public policy and political science, Brzezinski outlines a groundbreaking and powerful blueprint for America's vital interests in the modern world. In this revised edition, Brzezinski addresses recent global developments including the war in Ukraine, the re-emergence of Russia, and the rise of China.

29

The War on Warriors - Pete Hegseth Cover Art

The War on Warriors

The War on Warriors Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free by Pete Hegseth

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NOMINEE FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Real men fought for our freedoms. It’s time we fought for theirs. Pete Hegseth joined the Army to fight extremists. Then that same Army called him one. The military Pete joined twenty years ago was fiercely focused on lethality, competency, and color blindness. Today our brass are following the rest of our country off the cliff of cultural chaos and weakness. Americans with common sense are fighting this on many fronts, but if we can’t save the meritocracy of our military, we’re definitely going to lose everywhere else. The War on Warriors uncovers the deep roots of our dysfunction—a society that has forgotten the men who take risks, cut through red tape, and get their hands dirty. The only kind of men prepared to face the dan­gers that the Left pretends don’t exist. Unlike issues of education or taxes or crime, this problem doesn’t have a zip code solution. We can’t move away from it. We can’t avoid it. We have only one Pentagon. Either we take it back or surrender it altogether. Combining his own war experiences, tales of outrage, and an incisive look at how the chain of com­mand got so kinked, this book is the key to saving our warriors—and winning future wars. The War on War­riors must be won by the good guys, because when the shooting really starts, they’re the only ones who can save us.

30

Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler Cover Art

Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

Mein Kampf  written by Adolf Hitler is known as one of the most dangerous books in history. It is a fundamental exposition of Nazi ideology, which caused deaths of milions of people. The publisher would like to inform, that propaganda of any totalitarianism, such as Nazism, Fascism and Communism is not his target and this book should be only perceived as a historical source. Every man wanting to understand the complexity of the World War II should be acquainted with this position. 

31

How Not to Be a Political Wife - Sarah Vine Cover Art

How Not to Be a Political Wife

How Not to Be a Political Wife by Sarah Vine

‘You think you’ve married a journalist, then, horrors, he becomes a politician.' 'Sarah Vine is the Bridget Jones of politics.' Plum Sykes How Not to Be a Political Wife is an unflinching account of life at the heart of politics, and what it's like to have politics rip the heart out of your life. It’s a story of high hopes and dirty tricks, broken friendships and divided loyalties, laughter and glamour. Recollections, as a great woman once said, may of course vary, but this is my story, the way I remember it, written with no fear, no favour – and no f***s left to give. Buckle up. I thought long and hard about writing this memoir. I’ve done so not to settle old scores or plead my case, but more because I hope it’s a tale worth telling, not just for those who are interested in the political events of the past few years, but also because it’s about the people and characters behind those events, and why things ended up the way they did. For nearly 20 years I was inside the rooms of government, a sanctioned eavesdropper on the rise – and fall – of the Cameroon style of Conservatism. At the same time I was building a career in journalism, raising two children and doing my best to support my own husband, Michael Gove, on his political journey. I was both an insider and an outsider; an observer – via my journalism – as well as a participant in the cut and thrust (mainly cut, if I’m honest) of frontline politics. After my divorce from Michael and the demise of the Conservatives’ Old Guard, that all came to an end. I’m no longer officially a Westminster WAG, but you won’t find me mourning. Politics trampled my health, my happiness, my marriage, my sanity; it placed intolerable pressure on my loved ones, especially my children; it twisted my sense of self, and others’ sense of me; it tainted everything I did or said. I can’t say I miss it. I do, however, miss the life and the relationships I had before it all. These are the recollections of a survivor, but they are also a love letter to all that was lost in the wreck. Reviews ‘Witty, wry and incredibly touching – a unique insight into the personalities behind the politics.’ Santa Montefiore ‘Moving and heartfelt – what a journey. I’m amazed she’s still standing.’ Imogen Edwards-Jones 'I take it all back; she's fabulous. Nobody in Westminster can afford not to buy this book.' Rachel Johnson 'Sarah Vine is the Bridget Jones of politics.' Plum Sykes 'Everyone in Westminster is talking about it.' – The London Standard ‘We come for the political gossip and stay for the kabuki-style prose.’ – The Guardian ‘Excoriatingly raw account.’ – The Telegraph 'A brutally frank memoir.' The Times 'Raw, unfiltered, painfully honest…the political memoir Westminster is dreading.' – Daily Mail ‘Exceptionally clever. An excellent writer. Insanely fast. And very very brave. In the tumultuous last 18 months Sarah Vine has become the beating heart of The Mail – the columnist readers turn to first to make sense of it all – and now, for the fourth time in five years, Tabloid Columnist of the Year, the only writer ever to win it so many times. What she provides is a masterclass in writing tabloid columns.’ – The Press Awards 2024, Tabloid Columnist of the Year Award

32

On Power - Mark R. Levin Cover Art

On Power

On Power by Mark R. Levin

The eight-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, radio host, and Fox News star Mark R. Levin delivers a profound analysis of the philosophy and structure of power and the critical impact of liberty on our collective future. Throughout history, from ancient civilizations to modern Western republics, power has been used to both oppress and liberate. To reward and exploit. To destroy and build. Monarchs, dictators, and elites who impose tyranny seek to consolidate power, stripping freedom from individuals to maintain control over societies. They use force and deception to ensure their rules remain unchallenged, claiming to act in the name of the common good while stripping individuals of their freedoms. In contrast, those who seek to use power for good—such as America’s Constitutional Framers—understand that strong societies are born not from force, but consent. Societies built on checks and balances, fair elections, and the preservation of individual rights not only survive, but thrive. Following in the footsteps of works by thinkers such as Alexis de Tocqueville and Frédéric Bastiat, Mark R. Levin’s On Power examines how power shapes history, offering invaluable insights into individual liberty, unalienable rights, and conservative principles from one of the leading philosophers of modern conservatism.

33

The Echo Machine - David Pakman Cover Art

The Echo Machine

The Echo Machine How Right-Wing Extremism Created a Post-Truth America by David Pakman

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER "For anyone who wants to stand up to disinformation and deepen their understanding of politics without getting lost in jargon, this book is essential reading.” —Brian Tyler Cohen, YouTuber and bestselling author of Shameless From the host of The David Pakman Show comes a vital exploration of how right-wing extremism, media manipulation, and ideological echo chambers have eroded critical thinking and deepened political divisions —and how we can fight back to save our democracy The 2024 election cycle made one thing clear: disinformation isn’t just a byproduct of our political system—it’s a weaponized force shaping public opinion. In The Echo Machine , popular radio and podcast host David Pakman unpacks how misinformation spreads, why people become trapped in ideological bubbles, and the real-world consequences of media echo chambers on democracy. With his trademark clarity and sharp analysis, Pakman offers a roadmap for breaking free from cycles of manipulation and reclaiming critical thinking. Deeply researched and accessibly written, The Echo Machine is not just an exposé but a call to action. Beyond dissecting how we got to this point, Pakman also offers tangible solutions for how we can fix our broken system: increasing media literacy, cultivating intellectual humility, and consciously engaging with diverse viewpoints. As one early reader put it, "Pakman doesn’t just diagnose the disease of disinformation—he prescribes the cure." Whether you’re left-leaning, right-leaning, or somewhere in between, The Echo Machine challenges you to rethink the information you consume and recognize the forces shaping modern discourse. In an era where misinformation is rampant and democracy hangs in the balance, this book is an essential guide to navigating the political landscape with clarity and reason.

34

Propaganda - Edward Bernays Cover Art

Propaganda

Propaganda by Edward Bernays

“Bernays’ honest and practical manual provides much insight into some of the most powerful and influential institutions of contemporary industrial state capitalist democracies.”— Noam Chomsky “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”— Edward Bernays A seminal and controversial figure in the history of political thought and public relations, Edward Bernays (1891–1995), pioneered the scientific technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion, which he famously dubbed “engineering of consent.” During World War I, he was an integral part of the U.S. Committee on Public Information (CPI), a powerful propaganda apparatus that was mobilized to package, advertise and sell the war to the American people as one that would “Make the World Safe for Democracy.” The CPI would become the blueprint in which marketing strategies for future wars would be based upon. Bernays applied the techniques he had learned in the CPI and, incorporating some of the ideas of Walter Lipmann, as well as his uncle, Sigmund Freud, became an outspoken proponent of propaganda as a tool for democratic and corporate manipulation of the population. His 1928 bombshell Propaganda lays out his eerily prescient vision for using propaganda to regiment the collective mind in a variety of areas, including government, politics, art, science and education. To read this book today is to frightfully comprehend what our contemporary institutions of government and business have become in regards to organized manipulation of the masses.

35

In Covid's Wake - Stephen Macedo & Frances Lee Cover Art

In Covid's Wake

In Covid's Wake How Our Politics Failed Us by Stephen Macedo & Frances Lee

Featured on the New York Times' The Daily podcast and CNN 's Fareed Zakaria GPS What our failures during the pandemic cost us, and why we must do better The Covid pandemic quickly led to the greatest mobilization of emergency powers in human history. By early April 2020, half the world’s population—3.9 billion people—were living under quarantine. People were told not to leave their homes; businesses were shuttered, employees laid off, and schools closed for months or even years. The most devastating pandemic in a century and the policies adopted in response to it upended life as we knew it. In this eye-opening book, Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee examine our pandemic response and pose some provocative questions: Why did we ignore pre-Covid plans for managing a pandemic? Were the voices of reasonable dissent treated fairly? Did we adequately consider the costs and benefits of different policy options? And, aside from vaccines, did the policies adopted work as intended? With In Covid’s Wake , Macedo and Lee offer the first comprehensive—and candid—political assessment of how our institutions fared during the pandemic. They describe how, influenced by Wuhan’s lockdown, governments departed from their existing pandemic plans. Hard choices were obscured by slogans like “follow the science.” Benefits and harms were distributed unfairly. The policies adopted largely benefited the laptop class and left so-called essential workers unprotected; extended school closures hit the least-privileged families the hardest. Science became politicized and dissent was driven to the margins. In the next crisis, Macedo and Lee warn, we must not forget the deepest values of liberal democracy: tolerance and open-mindedness, respect for evidence and its limits, a willingness to entertain uncertainty, and a commitment to telling the whole truth.

36

Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic - Ilan Pappe Cover Art

Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic

Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic by Ilan Pappe

In 1896, a Jewish state was a pipe dream. Today the overwhelming majority of Jews identify as Zionists. How did this happen? Ilan Pappe unveils how over a century of aggressive lobbying changed the map of the Middle East. Pro-Israel lobbies convinced British and American policymakers to condone Israel’s flagrant breaches of international law, grant Israel unprecedented military aid and deny Palestinians rights. Anyone who questioned unconditional support for Israel, even in the mildest terms, became the target of relentless smear campaigns. Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic shows us how an unassailable consensus was built – and how it might be dismantled.

37

Beyond Peace - Richard Nixon Cover Art

Beyond Peace

Beyond Peace by Richard Nixon

“ Beyond Peace is Mr. Nixon’s best book.” — The New York Times Beyond Peace is a manifesto for a new America, written with visionary insight and a realistic idealism by the 37th President of the United States—and only completed weeks before his death. In this last testament, Nixon offers a new agenda for the United States and defines its role in the complex post-Cold War era. Nixon charts the course America should take in the future to ensure that the opportunities of this new era beyond peace are not lost. America’s issues, he argues, extend from a crisis of spirit which manifests itself in a corrosive entitlement mentality that he describes as “one of the greatest threats to our fiscal health, our moral fiber, and our ability to renew our nation.” With his unrivaled experience in foreign affairs gained over many years as a statesman in the international arena, he gives answers to complex foreign issues facing the United States. And his intimate portraits and analyses of world leaders—past and present—offer us a unique, bird’s-eye view of leadership and international politics. This book challenges us to seek more than just peace; it must be a mission that will unify and inspire the country, built on peace but able to transcend it.

38

Cobalt Red - Siddharth Kara Cover Art

Cobalt Red

Cobalt Red How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

The revelatory Pulitzer Prize finalist for General Nonfiction, New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller, shortlisted for the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year Award. An unflinching investigation reveals the human rights abuses behind the Congo’s cobalt mining operation—and the moral implications that affect us all. Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt. Cobalt is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, the batteries that power our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt is mined in the Congo, often by peasants and children in sub-human conditions. Billions of people in the world cannot conduct their daily lives without participating in a human rights and environmental catastrophe in the Congo. In this stark and crucial book, Kara argues that we must all care about what is happening in the Congo—because we are all implicated.

39

The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin Cover Art

The Fire Next Time

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The book that galvanized the nation, gave voice to the emerging civil rights movementin the 1960s—and still lights the way to understanding race in America today. • "The finest essay I’ve ever read.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism.  Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle … all presented in searing, brilliant prose," The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of literature.

40

Confidence Man - Maggie Haberman Cover Art

Confidence Man

Confidence Man The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America by Maggie Haberman

The #1 New York Times bestseller • Updated with new reporting through the 2024 election "The definitive biography of Trump." — Financial Times “Will be a primary source about the most vexing president in American history for years to come.” — Joe Klein, The New York Times "A political epic." — The Guardian “ A uniquely illuminating portrait. ” — Sean Wilentz, The Washington Post From the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter most central to our knowledge of Donald J. Trump, the magnificent and disturbing Confidence Man chronicles his life and its meaning, including a reckoning with the 2024 election. Few journalists working today have covered Donald Trump more extensively than Maggie Haberman. Now with a revelatory afterword on Trump's second presidential victory, Haberman shares the full depth of her understanding of the forty-fifth and forty-seventh president and of the Trump phenomenon. Interviews with hundreds of sources, including Trump himself, portray a complicated and often contradictory historical figure. Capable of kindness but reliant on casual cruelty. Pugnacious. Insecure. Lonely. Menacing. Smarter than his critics contend and colder and more calculating than his allies believe. A man whose path to high office began thirty years before he became a president who pushed American democracy to the brink. Inevitably, Confidence Man is also about the world that produced such a singular character, and how the New York of the 1970s and '80s shaped Trump's rise. As Haberman makes clear, relentlessly transactional relationships, an overpowering survival instinct, and a fixation with loyalty have been throughlines of Trump's life - and continue to guide him. Her mastery of this illuminating biography, and her singular newsbreaking ability, make Confidence Man the definitive account of one of the most consequential eras in American history.

41

The Jakarta Method - Vincent Bevins Cover Art

The Jakarta Method

The Jakarta Method Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World by Vincent Bevins

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR, THE FINANCIAL TIMES , AND GQ “A radical new history of the United States abroad” ( Wall Street Journal ) which uncovers U.S. complicity in the mass-killings of left-wing activists in Indonesia, Latin America and around the world In 1965, the US government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians—eliminating the largest Communist Party outside China and the Soviet Union and inspiring other copycat terror programs.   In this bold and comprehensive new history, Vincent Bevins draws from recently declassified documents, archival research, and eyewitness testimony to reveal a shocking legacy that spans the globe. For decades, it’s been believed that the developing world passed peacefully into the US-led capitalist system. The Jakarta Method demonstrates that the brutal extermination of unarmed leftists was a fundamental part of Washington’s final triumph in the Cold War.

42

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends - Nicole Perlroth Cover Art

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award * Bronze Medal, Arthur Ross Book Award (Council on Foreign Relations) "Written in the hot, propulsive prose of a spy thriller" (The New York Times), the untold story of the cyberweapons market-the most secretive, government-backed market on earth-and a terrifying first look at a new kind of global warfare. Zero-day: a software bug that allows a hacker to break into your devices and move around undetected. One of the most coveted tools in a spy's arsenal, a zero-day has the power to silently spy on your iPhone, dismantle the safety controls at a chemical plant, alter an election, and shut down the electric grid (just ask Ukraine). For decades, under cover of classification levels and nondisclosure agreements, the United States government became the world's dominant hoarder of zero-days. U.S. government agents paid top dollar-first thousands, and later millions of dollars-to hackers willing to sell their lock-picking code and their silence. Then the United States lost control of its hoard and the market. Now those zero-days are in the hands of hostile nations and mercenaries who do not care if your vote goes missing, your clean water is contaminated, or our nuclear plants melt down. Filled with spies, hackers, arms dealers, and a few unsung heroes, written like a thriller and a reference, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is an astonishing feat of journalism. Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, Nicole Perlroth lifts the curtain on a market in shadow, revealing the urgent threat faced by us all if we cannot bring the global cyberarms race to heel.

43

Chip War - Chris Miller Cover Art

Chip War

Chip War The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller

The Financial Times Business Book of the Year, this epic account of the decades-long battle to control one of the world’s most critical resources—microchip technology—with the United States and China increasingly in fierce competition is “pulse quickening…a nonfiction thriller” ( The New York Times ). You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything —from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing. Now, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more on chips than any other product, is pouring billions into a chip-building initiative to catch up to the US. At stake is America’s military superiority and economic prosperity. Economic historian Chris Miller explains how the semiconductor came to play a critical role in modern life and how the US became dominant in chip design and manufacturing and applied this technology to military systems. America’s victory in the Cold War and its global military dominance stems from its ability to harness computing power more effectively than any other power. Until recently, China had been catching up, aligning its chip-building ambitions with military modernization. Here, in this paperback edition of the book, the author has added intriguing new material focused on "America's Chip Comeback,” which overviews the global consequences of the just passed CHIPS Act, the new export controls on China, and the effort to rally allies to better guard chip technology. Illuminating, timely, and fascinating, Chip War is “an essential and engrossing landmark study” ( The Times , London).

44

The Sirens' Call - Chris Hayes Cover Art

The Sirens' Call

The Sirens' Call How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource by Chris Hayes

An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller From the New York Times bestselling author and MSNBC and podcast host, a powerful wide-angle reckoning with how the assault from attention capitalism on our minds and our hearts has reordered our politics and the very fabric of our society “An ambitious analysis of how the trivial amusements offered by online life have degraded not only our selves but also our politics.” — New York Times “Brilliant book… Reading it has made me change the way I work and think.” —Rachel Maddow We all feel it—the distraction, the loss of focus, the addictive focus on the wrong things for too long. We bump into the zombies on their phones in the street, and sometimes they’re us. We stare in pity at the four people at the table in the restaurant, all on their phones, and then we feel the buzz in our pocket. Something has changed utterly: for most of human history, the boundary between public and private has been clear, at least in theory. Now, as Chris Hayes writes, “With the help of a few tech firms, we basically tore it down in about a decade.” Hayes argues that we are in the midst of an epoch-defining transition whose only parallel is what happened to labor in the nineteenth century: attention has become a commodified resource extracted from us, and from which we are increasingly alienated. The Sirens’ Call is the big-picture vision we urgently need to offer clarity and guidance. Because there is a breaking point. Sirens are designed to compel us, and now they are going off in our bedrooms and kitchens at all hours of the day and night, doing the bidding of vast empires, the most valuable companies in history, built on harvesting human attention. As Hayes writes, “Now our deepest neurological structures, human evolutionary inheritances, and social impulses are in a habitat designed to prey upon, to cultivate, distort, or destroy that which most fundamentally makes us human.” The Sirens’ Call is the book that snaps everything into a single holistic framework so that we can wrest back control of our lives, our politics, and our future.

45

Target Tehran - Yonah Jeremy Bob & Ilan Evyatar Cover Art

Target Tehran

Target Tehran How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination – and Secret Diplomacy – to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East by Yonah Jeremy Bob & Ilan Evyatar

A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year/Politics Winner of the Jewish Book Council’s Natan Notable Book Prize “One of the most accurate and fascinating books so far” (Michael Bar-Zohar, coauthor of Mossad ) about how Israel used sabotage, assassination, cyberwar—and diplomacy—to thwart Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and, in the process, begin to reshape the Middle East. Yonah Bob and Ilan Evyatar describe how Israel has used cyberwarfare, targeted assassinations, and sabotage of Iranian facilities to great effect, sometimes in cooperation with the United States. Even as it takes lethal action, Israel has managed to alter the politics of the Middle East, culminating in the Abraham Accords of 2020. Arab states such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalized relations with Israel, and the holy grail of normalization with Saudi Arabia may yet be achieved. Despite the war with Hamas, these Arab states share Israel’s concern with Iran, remaining silent while Israel undermines Iran’s nuclear program. Bob and Evyatar reveal how Israel has used documents stolen from Tehran in a daring, secret Mossad raid to show the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency how Iran has repeatedly violated the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement and lied about its active nuclear weapons program. Drawing from interviews with top confidential Israeli and US sources, including from the Mossad and the CIA, the authors tell the “thrilling” (Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds ) inside story of the tumultuous, and often bloody, history of how Israel has managed to outmaneuver Iran—so far.

46

Triumph of the Yuppies - Tom McGrath Cover Art

Triumph of the Yuppies

Triumph of the Yuppies America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation by Tom McGrath

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2024 The “entertaining and insightful” first history of the Yuppie phenomenon, chronicling the roots, rise, triumph and (seeming) fall of the young urban professionals who radically altered American life between 1980 and 1987 ( New York Times bestselling author Ben Mezrich).  By the time their obituary was being written in the late 1980s, Yuppies—the elite, uber‑educated faction of the Baby Boom generation—had become a cultural punchline. But amidst the Yuppies' preoccupation with money, work, and the latest status symbols, something serious was happening, too, something that continues to have profound ramifications on American culture four decades later.    Brimming with lively and nostalgic details (think Jane Fonda, The Sharper Image, and over-the-top fashion), Triumph of the Yuppies charts Boomers' transformation from hippy idealists in the late 1960s to careerists in the early 1980s, and details how marketers, the media, and politicians pivoted to appeal to this influential new group. Yuppie values had an undeniable impact on the worlds of fashion, food, and fitness, as well as affecting the broader culture—from gentrification and an obsession with career success to an indulgent materialism. Most significantly, the me‑first mindset typical of Yuppieness helped create the largest income inequality in a century.   Tom McGrath’s masterful cultural history reveals how Yuppies reshaped American society. It is a portrait of America just as it was beginning to come apart—and the origin story of the fractured country we live in today.

47

A Government of Wolves - John W. Whitehead Cover Art

A Government of Wolves

A Government of Wolves The Emerging American Police State by John W. Whitehead

In A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, John W. Whitehead charts America's transition from a society governed by "we the people" to a police state governed by the strong arm of the law. In such an environment, the law becomes yet another tool to oppress the people. As a constitutional attorney of national prominence, and as president of The Rutherford Institute, an international civil liberties organization, Whitehead has been at the forefront of the fight for civil liberties in this country. The recurring theme at the heart of A Government of Wolves is that the American people are in grave danger of losing their basic freedoms. The simple fact is that the Constitution - and in particular the Bill of Rights - is being undermined on virtually every front. Indeed, everything America was founded upon is in some way being challenged. The openness and freedom that were once the hallmarks of our society are now in peril. We were once a society that valued individual liberty and privacy. But in recent years we have turned into a culture that has quietly accepted surveillance cameras, police and drug-sniffing dogs in our children's schools, national databases that track our finances and activities, sneak-and-peek searches of our homes without our knowledge or consent, and anti-terrorism laws that turn average Americans into suspects. In short, America has become a lockdown nation, and we are all in danger. A Government of Wolves not only explains these acute problems but is a call to action offering timely and practical initiatives for Americans to take charge of present course of history and stop the growing police state. But time is running out. We are at critical juncture and every citizen who values his or her personal freedom needs to pay close attention to the message in this book!

48

The Kill Chain - Christian Brose Cover Art

The Kill Chain

The Kill Chain Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare by Christian Brose

From a former senior advisor to Senator John McCain comes an urgent wake-up call about how new technologies are threatening America's military might. For generations of Americans, our country has been the world's dominant military power. How the US military fights, and the systems and weapons that it fights with, have been uncontested. That old reality, however, is rapidly deteriorating. America's traditional sources of power are eroding amid the emergence of new technologies and the growing military threat posed by rivals such as China. America is at grave risk of losing a future war. As Christian Brose reveals in this urgent wake-up call, the future will be defined by artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and other emerging technologies that are revolutionizing global industries and are now poised to overturn the model of American defense. This fascinating, if disturbing, book confronts the existential risks on the horizon, charting a way for America's military to adapt and succeed with new thinking as well as new technology. America must build a battle network of systems that enables people to rapidly understand threats, make decisions, and take military actions, the process known as "the kill chain." Examining threats from China, Russia, and elsewhere, The Kill Chain offers hope and, ultimately, insights on how America can apply advanced technologies to prevent war, deter aggression, and maintain peace. 

49

Recoding America - Jennifer Pahlka Cover Art

Recoding America

Recoding America Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better by Jennifer Pahlka

Named one of NPR's Best Books of 2023 Named one of Ezra Klein's "Books That Explain Where We Are in 2023," The New York Times Learn more about Jennifer Pahlka's work at recodingamerica.us. “The book I wish every policymaker would read.” — Ezra Klein, The New York Times A bold call to reexamine how our government operates—and sometimes fails to — from President Obama’s former deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America Just when we most need our government to work—to decarbonize our infrastructure and economy, to help the vulnerable through a pandemic, to defend ourselves against global threats—it is faltering. Government at all levels has limped into the digital age, offering online services that can feel even more cumbersome than the paperwork that preceded them and widening the gap between the policy outcomes we intend and what we get. But it’s not more money or more tech we need. Government is hamstrung by a rigid, industrial-era culture, in which elites dictate policy from on high, disconnected from and too often disdainful of the details of implementation. Lofty goals morph unrecognizably as they cascade through a complex hierarchy. But there is an approach taking hold that keeps pace with today’s world and reclaims government for the people it is supposed to serve. Jennifer Pahlka shows why we must stop trying to move the government we have today onto new technology and instead consider what it would mean to truly recode American government.

50

Summary of Douglas Murray’s On Democracies and Death Cults - Slingshot Books Cover Art

Summary of Douglas Murray’s On Democracies and Death Cults

Summary of Douglas Murray’s On Democracies and Death Cults by Slingshot Books

Get the Summary of Douglas Murray’s On Democracies and Death Cults in 20 minutes. Journalist Douglas Murray’s On Democracies and Death Cults (2025) recounts the devastating Hamas incursion into Israel in October 2023, exploring the brutality of the attacks, the global response, and the broader implications for democracy. Drawing from firsthand reporting from Israel and Gaza, Murray defends Israel’s commitment to democratic values, contrasting them with Hamas’s extremism. He criticizes common media narratives that cast the conflict as a struggle between oppressor and oppressed, arguing instead that it is a fight between a democratic state and a death cult. Murray warns that misguided sympathy for extremists risks empowering those who threaten Western civilization as a whole...

Books

Book Charts

Apple Books Best Sellers

Fiction Ebook Best Sellers

Nonfiction Ebook Best Sellers

iTunes Audiobook Charts

Audiobook Best Sellers

iTunes Music Charts

Most Popular Music Charts

Movie Charts

Top Movies

iTunes TV Charts

Top Television Shows

iTunes iOS App Charts

Top iPhone Apps

Top iPad & iPad Mini Apps

International iTunes Charts

Apple Books Best Selling Ebook Charts