The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers

By Peter Tomsen
"Ambassador and special envoy to Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992, Tomsen combines scholarship, analysis, and personal experience in an encyclopedic if disturbing history of post-WWII Afghanistan. Tomsen addresses not only America's ignorance of Afghanistan's complex tribal networks but every previous foreign invader who made that error. America's unique blunder, according to Tomsen, has been outsourcing Afghan policy to Pakistan. At Pakistan's insistence, beginning with the 1979 Soviet invasion, the U.S. funneled aid to the mujahideen through Pakistan's military, which was dominated by radical Islamists. Afghanistan lapsed into lawless warlordism after the Soviet 1989 withdrawal. Then the brutal, Pakistan-supported Taliban took control in 1996. Pakistan, happy at receiving an avalanche of aid after 9/11, says Tomsen, stood by as American-supported rebels routed the Taliban, but resumed support of the Taliban when America turned its attention to Iraq. Tomsen explains how to fix things by "genuine Afghanization and de-Americanization." Most important, we must take back control of Afghan policy, stop praising Pakistan for its cooperation, stop pouring in unconditional military aid, and insist that Pakistan must help stabilize Afghanistan."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Gas Odyssey (DVD)

A Film by Aaron Price
"The development of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in the Southern Tier of New York and Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania....A Documentary film that gives voice to New Yorkers seeking to improve their communities through natural gas production. "  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

Gasland ( 2010 ) ( Docurama (Video) )

Directed By Josh Fox
"Filmmaker Josh Fox grew up in the verdant woods of the Delaware River valley. In 2009, he learned his land was on top of the Marcellus Shalea giant reservoir of natural gas that stretches across the Appalachiansand that he would be paid to lease his land for natural gas extraction. Part mystery, part travelogue, and part banjo showdown, GASLAND documents Joshs cross-country odyssey to find out if the controversial process of hydraulic fracturingor frackingis actually safe. As he interviews people who live on or around current fracking sites, Josh learns of things gone horribly wrong, from illness to hair loss to flammable water, and his inquiries lead him ever deeper into a web of secrets, lies, conspiracy, and contamination. Unearthing a shocking story about a practice that is understudied and inadequately regulated, GASLAND races to find answers about fracking before its far too late."  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party

By Margaret Hoover
" American Individualism" is Hoover's call to action for Republicans to embrace a conservatism that emphasizes individual freedom both in economic policy and in the realm of social issues in order to appeal to the new generation of voters. The Republican Party, Hoover asserts, can win the support of the millennials while at the same time remaining faithful to conservative principles. In a journey that is both political and personal, Hoover rediscovers these bedrock conservative values in the writings of her great-grandfather, President Herbert Hoover, who emphasized the vital importance of individual freedom to the American way of life and who sought to strike a delicate balance in identifying the limited yet essential role the federal government should play in the lives of Americans. "  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink ( Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America

By Louis Hyman
"Debtor Nation is an exceptional piece of scholarship. Beautifully written, painstakingly documented, and altogether persuasive, the book provides a comprehensive look at the history of consumer debt in the US. While all chapters are engrossing, chapters 1, 6, and 7 merit special attention. The first chapter provides an extended discussion of the origins of the modern credit system. Later, in chapters 6 and 7, Hyman, a historian, creates a detailed picture of how Americans have "created our contemporary indebted society." For example, chapter 6 explores issues of race, class, and gender and how these characteristics have affected access to credit. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the modern credit system in the US. It manages to weave together a long history of developments within America's credit markets in a narrative that is both fascinating and frightening. Summing Up: Essential. All readers."  (Choice)  Check Our Catalog

What's Gotten Into Us?: Staying Healthy in a Toxic World

By McKay Jenkins
An alarming view of the storm of synthetic chemicals sweeping into our homes, workplaces, retail shelves and, inevitably, our bodies.
Nonfiction adventure writer Jenkins (English/Univ. of Delaware; Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness, Murder and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913, 2005, etc.) developed a benign tumor the size of an orange and pondered how it could happen to him, someone who strives for healthful living. Among other places, his search led to an unnamed big-box store permeated with the smell of synthetic lavender, where he opened a jar of fabricated fragrance and gagged. The book goes on to detail in nontechnical terms the often oil-derived and frequently unlabeled concoctions that have soaked into much of what consumers buy, wear, eat and drink since the end of World War II. Even bathtub rubber ducks for children, rendered temptingly chewable by synthetics, are not immune. A rule of thumb is to avoid ingredients with unpronounceable names, like the ubiquitous phthalates. Jenkins provides suggestions for staying clear of the worst of it, but, like others before him, he recognizes that the cumulative impacts of synthetics are not yet scientifically understood and, in fact, painfully understudied. In the tradition of Rachel Carson, Jenkins has little doubt that those impacts are dire. There is still hope that humanity and nature are resistant to this toxic flood, but as the author makes clear, it's a thin hope at best."   (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

The End of Country

By Seamus McGraw
" In 2006, in a hardscrabble part of Pennsylvania that had long lost its allure as a farming and industrial area, geologists began investigating the Marcellus Shale. It turned out to be the richest deposit of natural gas ever discovered anywhere. When his widowed mother was approached about permitting natural-gas exploration on their farm, journalist McGraw had to weigh their need for money against the future prospects of the farmland. Chronicling the impact of the find on his mother and her neighbors, McGraws research led to this impressively detailed, highly engaging look at issues of energy policy, economics, and sociology that arose when a bucolic town was suddenly faced with the traveling circus of energy exploration. McGraw presents a rich history of the economics and geopolitics of energy as well as a fascinating cast of characters, including Victoria, the newcomer environmentalist and former teacher who signed on early and later had regrets; Ken, a cranky hermit skeptical of all parties who later joined ranks with his neighbors to stand up to the oil companies; and Pennsylvania native son Marshall, the sincere young man who signed the locals to leases but worried about the ultimate impact on the community as poor people suddenly found themselves rich. A completely engaging look at how energy policy affected a quiet, rural town."  (Booklist)  Check Our Catalog

A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters

By Newt Gingrich
"Republican stalwart Newt Gingrich outlines the theory that America's greatness is the result of American exceptionalism, i.e., that America is the most powerful, most prosperous, and most generous nation on earth because of its founding principles, especially the belief that no king, government, or ruling class has the power to infringe upon the rights of the individual."  (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog