The Spirit Level; Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger

By Richard Wilkinson
"Popular wisdom would tell us that poverty is the breeding ground for many of society's ills. But British academics Wilkinson (emeritus, Univ. of Nottingham Medical Sch.) and Pickett (senior lecturer, Univ. of York) argue otherwise. They've woven together a great deal of international research to show that inequality, not poverty per se, is what contributes most to social problems. The authors not only compare data from a range of countries but also gather data from all 50 states to verify that relationships that exist on a national level also exist on a more local scale. The first element examined is trust as a measure of community life and social relations. Once it is established that people in unequal societies don't trust one another, the stage is set to examine a host of other dystopian problems from mental health to teenage births to social mobility. VERDICT In this fascinating sociological study, the authors do an excellent job of presenting the research, analyzing nuances, and offering policy suggestions for creating more equal and sustainable societies. For all readers, specialized or not, with an interest in understanding the dynamics today between economic and social conditions." (LJ Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Notes From A Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin And What It Will Take For A Woman To Win

By Anne E. Kornblut
"Although neither Hillary Clinton nor Sarah Palin managed to pull off the historic achievement of becoming the first woman president or vice president, they have added to the debate about the likely prospect of a woman ever reaching the highest office. Washington Post reporter Kornblut reviews the campaigns of Clinton and Palin from the perspective of how the media and voters reacted to female candidates. Based on her own observations, as well as those of campaign consultants and advisors, Kornblut explores how the candidates wrestled, or not, with gender issues from appearance to the role of their husbands and children in the campaign. Clinton was determined to downplay her gender in favor of her experience, while Palin apparently was unconcerned about the issue but more willing than Clinton to use gender to her advantage as Republicans and Democrats reversed themselves on traditional feminist issues. Kornblut analyzes the double standard applied to Clinton, Palin, and a number of other female politicians, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and self-made billionaire and Republican California governor hopeful Meg Whitman. Kornblut concludes with an analysis of the long-range implications of the two historic campaigns for the future prospects of women in public office." ( Booklist Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Inside Obama's Brain

By Sasha Abramsky

"Journalist Abramsky attempts to delineate the working of President Obama's mind by analyzing his voluminous record of speeches, interviews, and published writings, in addition to interviewing many of his friends, colleagues, classmates, and professors for this concise yet well-researched work. From the comprehensive range of interviews and interpretive analysis certain traits and talents emerge, notably the President's ability to listen, which Abramsky and others contend has been as instrumental in his rise as his lauded oratorical skills. Indeed, many argue that Obama's ability to listen, empathize, and craft pragmatic solutions made him an effective community organizer, which was in turn a formative influence on his subsequent career. Abramsky examines the academic milieus of Harvard and the University of Chicago to demonstrate how their competitive, demanding cultures honed Obama's intellect and, perhaps more important, his desire to familiarize himself with, and sometimes incorporate, ideas and philosophies contrary to his own. He also skillfully applies context, e.g., the Iowa Caucus, to illustrate Obama's use of his skills. " (LJ Reviews)

Check Our Catalog

How They See Us; Meditations On America

By James Atlas
"In this collection, Atlas... has asked disparate thinkers from around the world to offer their impressions, in essay form, of America in 2009. While other books, such as Ole R. Holsti's To See Ourselves as Others See Us: How Publics Abroad View the United States After 9/11, have tackled this topic from a more academic or partisan perspective, none has sought to hear from such a range of writers who are not foreign policy experts. The short essays vary from Da Chen's moving description of immigration from China to Leilah Nadir's bitter screed against the Iraq War to Terry Eagleton poking fun at American myths and culture. What ties the pieces together is an apt observation from Imraan Coovadia that there are only two ways of looking at America from the outside: submission or resentment. VERDICT This is an easy and interesting read.." (LJ Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Lobbying In America; A Reference Handbook

By Bryson Morgan

"This very informative reference handbook covers the background and history of lobbying and interest groups, the problems and controversies they face, and possible solutions. ......Morgan (law student, Harvard) also present(s) a worldwide perspective on lobbying. They offer a well-written chronology that covers interest group politics and lobbying from 1763 to the present, and biographical sketches featuring major scholars, commentators, interest group founders and leaders, and lobbyists such as Ralph Nader, Cesar Chavez, and Jack Abramoff. ....It also addresses attempts made by Congress to regulate lobbying activities through hearings, legislation, and other official means. A directory of organizations, associations, and agencies is featured, along with a selective bibliography of print and electronic resources related to interest groups, campaign finance, and lobbying. Laid out in a simple, clean manner with concise entries, this work nicely summarizes lobbying and interest group politics in a single, readable volume. (Choice Reviews)

Check Our Catalog

The Forty Years War; The Rise And Fall Of The Neocons From Nixon To Obama

By Len Colodny
"Chronicle of the decades-long battle between the pragmatists and the neocons for control of U.S. foreign policy.....In this readable history, the authors tell many intriguing tales, including the neocon incubator that was Scoop Jackson's senate office; the military spying on Nixon's National Security Council; Haig's maneuverings during Nixon's final days; the rise of Cheney and Rumsfeld under Ford and their denouement under Bush II; the neocon's shameless readopting of Reagan after his accords with Gorbachev proved successful; the controversial decision to leave Saddam Hussein in power after the Gulf War; and the continuing and curious role of reporter Bob Woodward in the neocon story.A well-reported, fast-paced history lesson on the eternal conflict between ideologues and policymakers and the hubris that always accompanies success." (Kirkus Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Becoming Americans; Four Centuries Of Immigrant Writing

By Ilan Stavans
"Becoming Americans presents the full range of the experience of coming to America: the reasons for departure, the journey itself, the shock and spectacle of first arrival, the passionate ambivalence toward the old country and the old life, and above all the struggle with the complexities of America. Arranged in chronological order by date of arrival, this unprecedented collection presents a collective history of the United States that is both familiar and surprisingly new, as seen through the fresh eyes and words of newcomers from more than forty different countries." (Publisher Description)
Check Our Catalog

An American Original: the Life And Constitution of Antonin Scalia

by Joan Biskupic
"The legal affairs correspondent for USA Today examines the life and legal philosophy of the Supreme Court's most colorful, combative and controversial Justice.Antonin Scalia did not invent the doctrine of originalism, but he has been its most prominent practitioner during his 22 years on the Court. Rejecting the notion of a so-called "living" or "evolving" Constitution and disparaging the influence of international law, Scalia has emerged as a conservative champion, decrying the meddlesome ways of Court colleagues "busy designing a Constitution for a country I do not recognize." Skeptical about the authority, indeed, the capacity of judges, Scalia prefers a legislative resolution of democracy's contentious issues—abortion, affirmative action, etc.—and takes a broad view of executive power. Fluently discussing the cases he has authored and those in which he has famously dissented, Biskupic (Sandra Day O'Connor, 2005) sets out the origins of Scalia's judicial philosophy and explains its increasing influence. The book's real charm, however, lies in her treatment of the man. She traces the important influences on Scalia—the lessons from his immigrant parents, the centrality of his Catholic faith, the early professional experiences in the Nixon justice department—and offers a portrait of a man quite unlike any
other judge" (Kirkus Reviews)


Check Our Catalog

The Arabs; A History

By Eugene L. Rogan
"Rogan, an Oxford University lecturer, comments that Western intellectuals and leaders have an inadequate grasp of how Arabs understand their own history, which generates many grievances...Framing modern history as viewed from the Arab world, Rogan eruditely furnishes Western readers with a background to current events." (Booklist Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Whole Earth Discipline; An Ecopragmatic Manifesto

By Stewart Brand
"Trained as a biologist and spectacularly well read and traveled, Brand is the entrepreneurial mastermind behind the Whole Earth Catalog, Wired magazine, and the Global Business Network. He now brings all his knowledge and creativity to the complex problems of climate change. Designating himself an ecopragmatist, he argues agilely that we must become "benevolent ecosystem engineers" and expand our definition of infrastructure to include both river and bridge. Nuclear power is the answer to our energy needs, Brand avers, and explains why at length, then does the same as he advocates for genetic engineering. Urbanization is the greenest form of human life, says Brand, and he even celebrates the ecology of the squatter cities that ring the planet's megalopolises. Here, Brand declares, human ingenuity triumphs; waste is eradicated, and opportunities arise. Brand's reasoning is lucid if disturbing, his perspective genuinely global and realistic. " (Booklist Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Waste; Uncovering The Global Food Scandal

By Tristam Stuart
"British author Stuart (The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times, 2007) knows firsthand that in one day a supermarket in a major city can throw out enough food to feed 100 people. A practitioner of the anti-consumerist "freegan" lifestyle, he has salvaged discarded, unspoiled food from store dumpsters in many countries. Here he shows how developed nations treat food as a "disposable commodity" at every step of the journey from farm to dinner table. In the United States alone, "around 50 per cent of all food is wasted." Farmers discard misshapen produce; fishermen throw back fish that are too small or the wrong species (killing most in the process). Supermarkets overstock to keep their shelves full and ensure they always have shoppers' favorite products; others simply predict sales badly. Consumers overbuy out of a "primeval hoarding instinct" and discard about one quarter of their food purchases in the form of leftovers or unopened packages. If all the waste stopped, Stuart argues, it would free up food for the world's hungry and reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions from agriculture that contribute to global warming. The global impact is such that the UN has called for a halving of food waste by 2025. Thus far, few governments and industries have acted. " (Kirkus Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Stones Into Schools; Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan

By Greg Mortenson
"In this follow-up to his phenomenal best seller, Three Cups of Tea, Mortenson continues to explore his efforts to bring education to girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan while dodging bullets and building relationships with Islamic clerics, commandants, and tribal leaders." (LJ Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

When China Rules The World; The End Of The Western World And The Birth Of A New Global Order

By Martin Jacques
"A British journalist with experience reporting from China and Japan, Jacques explores the increasing influence of a strengthening China on international relations. Citing economic statistics in abundance, Jacques depicts China's booming economy in relative ascendance over those of Europe, Japan, and the U.S. The author argues, however, that China's civilization rather than its GDP will be the crucial impact on the international system, which he sees as Western-created, U.S.-dominated, and—given Jacques' certainty that the U.S. is a declining power—destined to be modified by China. Essentially, Jacques refutes that Western theories of modernization and democratization apply to China and predicts a Chinese style of modernity characterized by a revival of a Chinese historical sense of civilizational superiority." (Book list Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

The Audacity To Win: The Inside Story And Lessons Of Barack Obama's Historic Election

By David Plouffe
"The 44th president's campaign manager reveals the strategies that he credits with Obama's successful primary and general elections, explaining how a combination of technology and grassroots organization is revolutionizing politics." (Baker & Taylor"
Check Our Catalog

Googled; The End Of The World As We Know It

By Ken Auletta
"A corporate upstart just over a decade old, Google has wormed its way into our lives, our vocabulary, and even the hallowed halls of academe, with Internet dominance and multibillion-dollar advertising revenues that make it one of the largest media entities of all time. New Yorker media critic Auletta (Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way), who spent several years researching Google and interviewing hundreds of company and industry players, delivers the real scoop on how this Internet giant fits into the larger media landscape. His fascinating examination illuminates Google's world from just about every conceivable angle: competitive, legal, regulatory, cultural, and ethical. He wraps up with an assessment of where the behemoth might be headed but provides enough insight to allow readers to draw their own conclusions about Google and whether its emergence really does spell the end of the world as we know it. VERDICT While the Google phenomenon has spawned dozens of books, Auletta's years of research and firsthand access to insiders, critics, competitors, and commentators give readers a well-rounded perspective on the company and how it fits into the wider milieu." (Library Journal)
Check Our Catalog

Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story Of How Wall Street And Washington Fought To Save The Financial System From Crisis --And Themselves

By Andrew Ross Sorkin
"A real-life thriller about the most tumultuous period in America’s financial history by an acclaimed New York Times Reporter.

Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami. From inside the corner office at Lehman Brothers to secret meetings in South Korea, and the corridors of Washington, Too Big to Fail is the definitive story of the most powerful men and women in finance and politics grappling with success and failure, ego and greed, and, ultimately, the fate of the world’s economy." (Barnes & Noble)

Check Our Catalog

You've Come A Long Way, Maybe; Sarah, Michelle, Hillary And The Shaping Of The New American Woman

By Leslie Sanchez
"Leslie Sanchez -- strategist, writer and political seer -- spent much of 2008 as an analyst on CNN, examining, investigating and deciphering the historic moment for women and politics that was the presidential election. And what she sees in the future is a landscape changed drastically for women the world over and their expectations. In You've Come a Long Way, Maybe, she debunks the cultural and political myths surrounding women, and looks at the wide range of reactions Hillary, Michelle and Sarah provoked from the small towns to the big city salons to the Sunday talk shows. She pays special attention to those most active and most examined during the election: the disappointed Hillary supporters, the rabid Sarah Palin fans, and everyone else wondering about the role of the new First Lady. Along the way, Leslie takes a hard look at what the election will mean for women now and in the future, and also at what leaders might emerge in 2012, and beyond." (Publisher Description)
Check Our Catalog

America For Sale; Fighting The New World Order, Surviving A Global Recession, and Preserving USA Sovereignty

By Jerome R. Corsi

"#1 New York Times bestselling author's sequel to The Late Great USA shows how we're driven by economic crises to accept globalist solutions. (Publisher Description) "Explains how the United States is being driven by economic crises to accept globalist solutions and offers a way to build a strong U.S. economy by enforcing employment laws, ending U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and strengthening the middle class." (Bookseller Description)

Check Our Catalog

Beyond Repair: The Decline And Fall Of The CIA

By Charles S. Faddis
"Faddis (Operation Hotel California), a career CIA operations officer, pulls no punches in this provocative critique of the iconic and dysfunctional spy agency. Noting that the CIA was created to protect the U.S. from another Pearl Harbor, the author points to 9/11 as proof that the agency can no longer perform that task and is so beyond reform that it must be replaced. In his portrayal of the CIA, "risk-taking, daring and creativity" are discouraged, bureaucratic concerns are given precedence, senior leadership is lacking and morale has been sapped by "crippling purges and witch hunts." The author concludes that the agency "is dying a death of a thousand cuts" and offers "a blueprint for a new OSS," modeled on the legendary Office of Strategic Services, FDR's WWII spy agency that spawned the CIA. " (PW Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Scroogenomics; Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents For The Holidays

By Joel Waldfogel
"Waldfogel (Business & Public Policy, Wharton Sch., Univ. of Pennsylvania; The Tyranny of the Market) assesses holiday gift giving through the lens of economic tenets such as opportunity costs and deadweight loss. The result is a short but engaging manifesto on the inefficiency of the tradition, concluding with several solutions to increase satisfaction for both givers and receivers. Although his own suggestions mandate that you not buy this book for someone who wanted something else, fans of Freakonomics and The Economic Naturalist may love it." (LJ Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Why Our Health Matters; A Vision Of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future

By Andrew Weil
"Rather than another advisor on healthy living, Weil's new book is a remarkably comprehensive brief for health-care reform. Three long-held American beliefs; the U.S. health care system is the best in the world, U.S. medical technology is that system's greatest asset, and U.S. medical schools and research facilities produce the best physicians and medical knowledge are now just myths, he says, as comparisons with other nations' health statistics and trends in domestic health confirm. Moreover, the system's costliness is bankrupting American business as well as the government. What is needed instead is a system in which doctors interact with patients much more than they do now; in which all citizens receive care; and in which insurance and care, the latter considered an art, not an industry, are affordable. The prevention of disease and the promotion of health should animate such a system, and if they entail legal restrictions on bad food similar to those on alcohol and tobacco, so be it. " (Booklist Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Superfreakonomics; Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

By Steven D. Levitt

"A sequel to the megaselling Freakonomics (2005). ... this follow-up is certainly more of the same, a relentlessly enthusiastic cheer for the application of the dismal science to everyday life. That is, everyday life as the world knows it,....not least that the average street hooker in Chicago earns only $27 an hour and works only 13 hours a week, drawing about $350 a week. They're priced out of the market, the ever-provocative authors assert, by women willing to have sex for free. ....The authors also write that it's safer to travel by car than by most other means of transport, thanks in part to no less a personage than Robert S. McNamara, and by far less safe to walk drunk than to drive drunk. The authors' view of the climate crisis through an economic lens is similarly spirited, but certainly worth adding to the debate.Jaunty, entertaining and smart. Levitt and Dubner do a good service by making economics accessible, even compelling. " (Kirkus Reviews)

Check Our Catalog

Aid Trap; Hard Truths About Ending Poverty

By Glenn R. Hubbard
"Hubbard and Duggan, respectively dean and lecturer at Columbia Business School, make the case that current foreign aid and Third World projects, particularly in Africa, aren't working and that the developed world must rethink how it allots aid money. The authors dissect (and disagree) with the U.N.'s Millennium Goals strategy for attacking poverty, pet project of Jeffrey Sachs and a host of celebrities. They condemn the strategy as a "charity trap," that perverts local economies and "keeps corrupt leaders rich." The authors contend that poor countries can attain prosperity and self-sufficiency only if aid money goes to cultivating a functioning business sector. Microfinance, they say, is working but stops short; they propose something much more ambitious: a new Marshall Plan, an almost prohibitively daunting task given the vast differences among developing countries, the controls each puts on business and the input required from other developed nations. But the plainly stated thesis and the authors' willingness to confront conventional wisdom and examine and energetically attack the problem are refreshing and necessary." (PW Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Losing The News; The Future Of The News That Feeds Democracy

By Alex S. Jones
"As a member of "the fourth generation of a newspaper-owning family," Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jones, currently at Harvard, knows news and the business of news inside and out. In this defining mix of history and analysis, he ponders the state of newspapers and, more importantly, the future of "serious" news. As the print world confronts the ever-morphing Internet, Jones focuses on the "iron core of information," that is, the "fact-based accountability news" that he asserts is "at the center of a functioning democracy." This "iron core" sustains radio, television, and Internet news, "free riders" who co-opt the difficult, risky, time-consuming work of investigative journalists. As newspapers gut their newsrooms, who will provide the resources necessary for authentic, responsible reporting? Jones tracks the evolution of journalism ethics, compares "citizen" and professional journalism, and reminds us of how crucial newspapers are to communities." (Booklist Reviews_
Check Our Catalog

The Making Of Americans; Democracy And Our Schools

By E.D. Hirsch
"Hirsch's 1987 bestseller, Cultural Literacy, generated an intense debate over its proposals for education reform, namely that all schools should teach a standard core curriculum, the information every American should be equipped with in order to participate in the national cultural life (e.g., everyone should understand the term "Achilles heel"; know who said, "To be or not to be" or who wrote the Gettysburg Address). Hirsch's new book fine-tunes his philosophy while rebutting the criticism that "cultural literacy" fostered a conservative "white" curriculum that didn't take into account the learning styles and knowledge base of minority groups. Although must reading for educators, the book undoubtedly will reignite the earlier controversy. For example, Hirsch questions the wisdom of charter schools and educational vouchers, insisting that a "trans-ethnic" common educational experience can be had only in public schools attended by rich and poor together. However, in the context of the continuing shortcomings of American education and armed with the support of prominent educators, Hirsch once again challenges the prevailing "child-centered" philosophy, championing a return to a "subject-centered" approach to learning." (PW Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

What Americans Really Want...Really; The Truth About Our Hopes, Dreams, and Fears

By Dr. Frank Luntz

"Luntz (Words That Work) draws on personal experiences and current focus group research to aggregate our understanding of attitudes about everyday life, work, consumption, corporations, religious institutions, government, family relationships and community membership. Ostensibly for a general readership, the real audience for Luntz's work are groups who benefit from knowing what drives choices in contemporary American culture. Market researchers, pollsters, lobbyists and public relations officials are offered insights into such topics as what college students care about, what people expect from their employers and government, and what religious beliefs count in "selling" God to congregants." (PW Reviews)

Check Our Catalog

Test Of Our Times; America Under Seige...And How We Can Be Safe Again

By Tom Ridge
"Ridge, the first secretary of homeland security, recalls the agency's creation and early history in a memoir of his time performing "the most thankless yet rewarding job in America." The author was governor of Pennsylvania when President Bush tapped him to coordinate the federal domestic counterterrorism effort after September 11.... Ridge acknowledges his missteps, laments the baleful effects of "politics and turf" on his department and decries unfavorable media coverage. He also endeavors, unconvincingly, to defend the work of the Transportation Security Administration and the color-coded terror alert system.... Ridge concludes with a series of recommendations for his successors, including "a national identification system," immigration reform, energy independence and a reorganization of DHS "along regional lines." DHS remains a work in progress, and Ridge's singular perspective recommends his memoir to policy makers, students and concerned citizens.
Check Our Catalog

The Great Progression; How Hispanics Will Lead America To A New Era Of Prosperity

By Geraldo Rivera

"The Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist offers insight on how Hispanics are revitalizing the economy and transitioning government, and features interviews with prominent Latinos including Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Jennifer Lopez." Check Our Catalog

Green Metropolis; Why Living Smaller, Living Closer and Driving Less Are The Keys To Sustainability

By David Owen
"While the conventional wisdom condemns it as an environmental nightmare, Manhattan is by far the greenest place in America, argues this stimulating eco-urbanist manifesto. According to Owen (Sheetrock and Shellac), staff writer at the New Yorker, New York City is a model of sustainability: its extreme density and compactness—and horrifically congested traffic—encourage a carfree lifestyle centered on walking and public transit; its massive apartment buildings use the heat escaping from one dwelling to warm the ones adjoining it; as a result, he notes, New Yorkers' per capita greenhouse gas emissions are less than a third of the average American's. The author attacks the "powerful anti-urban bias of American environmentalists" like Michael Pollan and Amory Lovins, whose rurally situated, auto-dependent Rocky Mountain Institute he paints as an ecological disaster area. The environmental movement's disdain for cities and fetishization of open space, backyard compost heaps, locavorism and high-tech gadgetry like solar panels and triple-paned windows is, he warns, a formula for wasteful sprawl and green-washed consumerism. Owen's lucid, biting prose crackles with striking facts that yield paradigm-shifting insights. The result is a compelling analysis of the world's environmental predicament that upends orthodox opinion and points the way to practical solutions. " (PW Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

Death Of Conservatism

By Sam Tanenhaus
"The arguments are more surprising than the conclusions in this slender book that simultaneously celebrates and mourns the end of the harshly ideological strain of conservatism that reached full flower during the presidency of George W. Bush. Tracing the movement's intellectual history from Edmund Burke to Rush Limbaugh, Tanenhaus (Whitaker Chambers), editor of the New York Times Book Review, argues that the "contemporary Right define[s] itself less by what it yearns to conserve than by what it longs to destroy"—and that pragmatic Democrats like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have usurped the Republicans' once winning focus on social stability. Tanenhaus argues that Republicans must moderate their focus on ideological purity if they are to return from the political wilderness and offers trenchant criticism of the liberal excesses that previously led to a long Democratic exile from the White House. Tanenhaus's positions are not entirely consistent, however; he aligns Nixon with George W. Bush and his destructively "revanchist course" before praising Nixon's "prodigious gifts" and "sheer intellectual ability." But the author recognizes the need for two strong parties to compete in American politics, and his impeccably well-written book insightfully summarizes the highs and lows of American conservatism over the decades. (Sept.) [Page 47]. " (PW Reviews)
Check Our Catalog

In Fed we trust : Ben Bernanke's war on the great panic /

By David Wessel
"It is often said that the Fed chairman is the second most powerful person in the world, and when Alan Greenspan left the post in 2005, his successor, Ben Bernanke, along with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, would soon face problems that were far more challenging than those of Greenspan's tenure. Wessel's account is a history of the Fed, a biography of Bernanke, and a blow-by-blow account of the decision-making process that took place as Bernanke and Paulson used desperate measures to try to right a rapidly sinking ship. Bernanke failed to anticipate the severity of the financial downturn, but perhaps he did the best that any man could be expected to do. "
Check Our Catalog

$20 Per Gallon; How The Inevitable Rise In The Price Of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives For The Better

By Christopher Steiner
"According to Steiner, senior staff reporter at Forbes magazine, surging fuel prices will transform Americans' daily lives almost beyond recognition. With traditional energy sources disappearing and global demand soaring, the U.S. will confront gas prices rocketing to $6, $8, $14 and beyond—prices that will compel sweeping changes in everything from urban planning to food production. He reveals the consequences of each incremental hike in gas prices: at $8 per gallon, air travel will essentially vanish; at $14 a gallon, Wal-Mart stores will become empty "ghost boxes"; when gas hits $16 a gallon, sushi will become an extravagance only for the extremely wealthy. While many changes will come at tremendous social and economic cost, Steiner envisions a better future, where human ingenuity will spur greater efficiency and less waste. Although it's unlikely all the author's predictions will come true—he goes so far as to forecast the order in which airlines will go out of business—the surprising snapshots of the future (where rising gas prices might revitalize Detroit) make for vivid and compelling reading. "
Check Our Catalog

The Healing Of America; A Global Quest For Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care

By T. R. Reid
"A timely survey filled with important lessons for the United States of how other nations have created systems that provide universal health care for their citizens.Washington Post correspondent and NPR commentator Reid... sees the health-care issue as a moral question to which all other technologically developed countries have responded well, creating affordable, effective systems. The author outlines four basic models.... The author provides a capsule history of each system, discusses its drawbacks as well as benefits and destroys some popular myths about so-called socialized medicine. Though he offers many image-shattering statistics that reveal how poorly the United States stacks up against other countries, the author's message is essentially optimistic: We can learn from the experience of other countries and use that knowledge to create a more efficient and humane system.A reasoned, well-balanced, highly readable account, especially welcome as the national debate over health care gets underway. "
Check Our Catalog

Kick The Habit; A U.N. Guide To Climate Neutrality

By Alex Kirby
"... written by experts from many disciplines and various countries, with leading research organizations involved in preparing and reviewing the publication. It presents solutions--from reducing consumption and increasing energy efficiency to offsetting emissions via carbon trading schemes--for individuals, businesses, cities and countries plus other groups that have similar characteristics such as NGO and intergovernmental organizations. The book contains case studies, illustrations, maps and graphics and serves also as reference publication."
Check Our Catalog

Say Everything; How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, And Why It Matters

By Scott Rosenberg
"As more people have discovered the joys of blogging, what has been created, Rosenberg claims, is nothing less than "a new kind of public sphere, at once ephemeral and timeless, sharing the characteristics of conversation and deliberation." Blogging allows for new possibilities in form and content and the blossoming of new talent; it's also fun. Yet Rosenberg also acknowledges the critiques of such an unbridled flood of verbiage. With patient detail—and for the most part jargon-free language—he addresses the concern that the blogosphere is nothing more than a mindless morass of trivia—that it may be creating an "echo chamber effect" where we talk to only those who agree with us, and may lead to cultural disintegration as millions of monologues replace a common discourse. Though he never dismisses them out of hand, the author concludes that these complaints are mostly baseless or overwrought.Rosenberg suggests that blogging's "outpouring of human expression" should "delight us." "
Check Our Catalog

Packing The Court; The Rise Of Judicial Power And The Coming Crisis Of The Supreme Court

By James MacGregor Burns
"This provocative book challenges the power of the U.S. Supreme Court to pass judgment on congressional legislation. Pulitzer Prize winner Burns (government, emeritus, Williams Coll.; Roosevelt, the Soldier of Freedom) rejects the precedent John Marshall set in 1803 that gave the Court that power and argues that FDR's packing plan should have been implemented, citing evidence that the framers never intended to give the judiciary veto power. ....Burns's elegant proposal is sure to stir controversy among scholars who accept judicial review as a pillar of American government. His readable history contends that the Court has been out of step too often with the needs of most Americans. "
Check Our Catalog

No Impact Man; The Adventures Of A Guilty Liberal Who Attempts To Save The Planet and The Discoveries He Makes About Himself And Our Way Of Life ...

By Colin Beavan
"Beavan... chronicles his yearlong effort to leave as little impact on the environment as possible. Realizing that he had erred in "thinking that condemning other people's misdeeds somehow made [him] virtuous," he makes a stab at genuine (and radical) virtue: forgoing toilet paper and electricity, relinquishing motorized transportation, becoming a locavore and volunteering with environmental organizations. Beavan captures his own shortcomings with candor and wit and offers surprising revelations:..."
Check Our Catalog

Unfriendly Fire: How The Gay Ban Undermines The Military And Weakens America

By Nathanial Frank
"Wide-ranging critique of the U.S. military's controversial policy. Frank....quickly and effectively sketches the long history of gays in the military, including many interesting details. Most readers will be unaware, for example, that the first homosexual American soldier was expelled during the Revolutionary War. The bulk of the book, however, is taken up with the debate over the current "don't ask, don't tell" guidelines, enacted into federal law in the early days of President Clinton's administration. The law bars gay service members from disclosing their sexual orientations or speaking about their relationships on penalty of expulsion."
Check Our Catalog

Israel Is Real; An Obsessive Quest To Understand The Jewish Nation And Its History

By Rich Cohen
"An accessible primer on a complex nation and its faith.Many of the facts about Israel are well-known. It's a Jewish state in the middle of an Islamic region of the world; its enemies question its right to exist; many European Jews have emigrated there in the decades following World War II; and its status in relation to Palestine and the rest of the region is complicated, controversial and often violent. Rolling Stone contributing editor Cohen ... takes a long, idiosyncratic view, explaining the history of a people and its religion from the time Zealots revolted against their Roman occupiers to the rise of the Zionists, who helped build the current republic. "
Check Our Catalog

Colossal Failure Of Common Sense; The Inside Story Of The Collapse Of Lehman Brothers

By Lawrence G. McDonald

"A former vice president of Lehman Brothers explains the financial collapse of the securities giant in 2008, what led to the financial crisis, and who had been responsible for its downfall."
Check Our Catalog

The Future Of America 2008; The Story Of An Extraordinary Election

By Dan Balz & Haynes Johnson
"A superior piece of political reportage and interpretation....By this account, the 2008 presidential campaign began in 2005....Although we all know how things turned out, the authors know how to work a cliffhanger, and, as they effectively demonstrate, things could have turned out differently at any number of turns."
Check Our Catalog

Inside Jihadism: Understanding Jihadi Movements Worldwide

By Farhad Khosrokhavar
"...as this thought-provoking book demonstrates, jihadism is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon that is much broader than al Qaeda. Khosrokhavar, a first-rate academic expert on Islamic radicalism, distinguishes two types of jihadi movements: one rooted primarily in the Sunni Islamic countries and the other based in the West. He explains the differences between these two movements and analyzes their major motivations for resorting to extreme acts of violence. In addition, he traces the origin and development of fundamentalism in Islam, distinguishes religious fundamentalism from jihadism, reviews the jihadi critique of conservative Islam, and identifies principal theological and political causes of jihadi violence in today's world. "
Check Our Catalog

Gangs In Garden City; How Immigration, Segregation and Youth Violence Are Changing America's Suburbs

By Sarah Garland
"In this engrossing case study of suburban gangs in Long Island's Nassau County, investigative journalist Garland demystifies the sensationalist rhetoric and simplistic media coverage stemming from the economic and demographic transformation of suburbia. Garland humanizes her subject through long-term, in-depth interviews with current and former gang members; extensive footwork across the U.S. and Central America; and a formidable command of relevant foreign and public policy decisions. While offering a detailed look inside such notorious gangs as Mara Salvatrucha and its self-styled affiliates, Garland makes a persuasive case that her subjects' attraction to gang life had less to do with what gangs offered than with "what America did not." "
Check Our Catalog

The Waxman Report; How Congress Really Works

By Henry Waxman
"How does Congress work? With utmost difficulty, reveals longtime House member Waxman, but those who hold it in low regard, he adds, "lack a full appreciation for what Congress really does."...After 35 years in the House of Representatives, Waxman, the mustached congressman from California, offers a very readable insider's account of his 35 years in the House. The longtime governmental watchdog crusaded for AIDS awareness, the Clean Air Act and stronger tobacco regulations as chairman of the Health and Environment subcommittee. The book chronicles the strategies and horse trading necessary to enact these regulations, including coalition building, raising public awareness and remaining informed on the countless issues affecting his constituency..... His conviction that government can better the lives of citizens is uplifting and strengthened by his record of implementing landmark legislation. "
Check Our Catalog

Next Stop, ReloVille; Life Inside America's New Rootless Professional Class

by Peter T. Kilborn
"Former New York Times reporter Kilborn examines the nomadic lifestyles of the estimated ten million American professionals "who were moved in the last year or two and will be moved again soon."The number of these "Relos" has boomed since the 1970s with the growth of the U.S. economy and foreign trade, giving rise to suburban communities across the country (Relovilles) where most residents are white, affluent and continually on-the-go. The author tells much of his story through portraits of nearly 20 Relo couples who create an "insular, portable, and parallel culture" as they move through the suburbs of Atlanta, Denver, Dallas and even Bombay and Beijing. Often starting out as top graduates at public universities in the Great Plains and Midwest, where job opportunities are limited, Relos transfer every few years within and across companies to get ahead. They often forego close ties to family, friends and the comforts of hometowns in exchange for higher salaries, growing home equity and a chance to enter senior management."
Check Our Catalog

Cheap; The High Cost Of Discount Culture

By Ellen Ruppel Shell
"Atlantic correspondent Shell (The Hungry Gene) tackles more than just "discount culture" in this wide-ranging book that argues that the American drive toward bargain-hunting and low-price goods has a hidden cost in lower wages for workers and reduced quality of goods for consumers. After a dry examination of the history of the American retail industry, the author examines the current industrial and political forces shaping how and what we buy. In the book's most involving passages, Shell deftly analyzes the psychology of pricing and demonstrates how retailers manipulate subconscious bargain triggers that affect even the most knowing consumers. The author urges shoppers to consider spending more and buying locally, but acknowledges the inevitability of globalization and the continuation of trends toward efficient, cost-effective production.
Check Our Catalog

Catastrophe: How Obama, Congress, and the Special Interests Are Transforming A Slump Into A Crash,Freedom Into Socialism...

By Dick Morris
"Explores the challenges facing America in 2009--from economic failures and two wars to what the authors describe as the world community's eagerness to take advantage of current issues--and assess the Obama administration's first one hundred days."
Check Our Catalog

Border Crosser: One Gringo's Illicit Passage From Mexico Into America

By Johnny Rico
"The vexed issue of illegal immigration is goosed in this raucous, hammy odyssey. Rico, a self-proclaimed gonzo journalist and "soft, white... middle-class American" with no Spanish, set out to portray the Mexican migrant experience by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, and spends the book searching the border's 2,000-mile length for a safe, convenient place to do so. Such does not exist along a frontier controlled on one side by the U.S. Border Patrol and on the other by drug cartels and gang-affiliated coyotes, and Rico's quest eventually reduces him to an almost authentic state of semicriminal desperation. Along the way, he debates and mocks ideologues on all sides, from nutty Minutemen border vigilantes to nave open-border activists. ..... he conveys an arresting panorama of an out-of-control borderland full of seething rancor and foolish dreams. "
Check Our Catalog

Enough; Why The World's Poorest Starve In An Age Of Plenty

By Roger Thurow
"Two reporters from the Wall Street Journal join to examine the global food crisis; to indict the economic, political, and social policies of the United States, Britain, and Europe, claiming that they perpetuate famine in Africa; and to issue a passionate call for change before it's too late."
Check Our Catalog

Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against An Out-Of-Control Government, Inspired By Thomas Paine

By Glenn Beck

"Revisits Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" in light of contemporary American issues, and suggests that some of the very freedoms given as reasons that independence was first necessary are again in jeopardy."
	"

Check Our Catalog