Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State

By Dana Priest
""The government has built a national security and intelligence system so big, so complex and so hard to manage, no one really knows if it's fulfilling its most important purpose: keeping its citizens safe." As stated on the website of the "Washington Post", that's the thrust of this book, derived from a series that the "Post" published. Two years in the making, the series was written by multiple Pulitzer Prize winner Priest and Arkin, who has reported on national security for more than three decades. Appearing in July 2010, the series has so far received 11 million hits."  (Library Journal)  Check Our Catalog

Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America

By Adam Winkler
"Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA, mines 400 years of debate over gun control in America to analyze the Supreme Court's landmark 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller in this timely and persuasive history. Dismissing the extremist "gun nuts" and "gun grabbers" who have dominated the gun debate for decades, the author clearly shows that the right to bear arms and gun control have always coexisted in the U.S.even on the frontier where guns and gun regulation were widespread. The brainchild of a pair of libertarian lawyers, the Heller case revolved around the District of Columbia's total ban on handguns and the contention of Heller's lawyers that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own guns. Clearly mirroring the impasse over the issue, it offered the courts a rare opportunity to point toward a historically valid compromise position. In 2008, after five years of dramatic litigation, the Supreme Court struck down D.C.'s handgun ban and recognized the plaintiffs' individual rights theory while still noting that many forms of gun control are constitutional. In the tradition of 1976's Simple Justice and 1964's Gideon's Trumpet, Winkler skillfully weaves together history and contemporary jurisprudence to explore a contentious issue of constitutional interpretation."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World

By Daniel Yergin
"Possibly nobody in the world knows more about the staggering geopolitical complexities of global energy than Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates and CNBC's global energy expert. His celebrated prior work on the subject, "The Prize", won a Pulitzer and was adapted into a PBS/BBC documentary series. The world today is vastly different, though, and there is currently a need for just such a book as his new one, which has equal sweep, depth, and narrative power as its predecessor. In five parts, he examines the rise and fall of "petro states," the future of electrical power, global climate change, renewable and sustainable energy sources, and alternative fuels. The exhaustive primary sources include original research and technical reports, government reports and hearings, and numerous personal interviews."  (Library Journal)  Check Our Catalog

The Unraveling: Pakistan in the Age of Jihad

By John Schmidt
"Schmidt, a career foreign officer and political analyst, ominously chronicles how a country conceived with great hopes as a homeland for South Asian Muslims has become "the most dangerous place on Earth." In a clear and systematic analysis of Pakistan's history, he examines the country's beginnings in the partition of India in 1947, exploring the rise of the feudal civilian politicians and the Pakistani army that now dominate Pakistan's politics, and who, united in their enmity toward India, nurtured jihadist groups as "low-cost weapons of war" to defend their contested territory in Kashmirand fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. Indeed, as Schmidt explains, the ruling classes' slavishness to the patronage system leaves them unable to address Pakistan's systemic problems, which include rampant illiteracy and the mushrooming of madrassas that serve as feeder institutions for many of Pakistan's radical Islamic groups. As radical Islamists continue to attack civilian targets, Pakistan's leaders waver between pursuing them and seeing if they can still be used to advance Pakistani interests; Pakistan still fears India more than the Taliban. Covering Pakistan's hostile relationship with India and uneasy alliance with the U.S., this thought-provoking, evenhanded, and sobering history is a "cautionary tale" about the choices Pakistan s ruling classes have made that threaten to bring it to the brink of destruction." (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Where China Meets India; Burma and the New Crossroads Of Asia

By Thant Myint-U     "An illumining look at a country torn between two emerging superpowers.Former UN diplomat Myint-U (The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma, 2006, etc.) takes readers through his home country in this mixture of travelogue and history. The author begins by discussing the rising powers of China and India, and then turns to the small country caught in the middle, which has served as a buffer between these two countries for centuries. With crisp, clear, authoritative prose, Myint-U chronicles his journeys from Rangoon to Mandalay, explaining the complex culture and history of the Burmese. Aware that most Western readers will not be overly familiar with the history of his country, the author takes great pains to explain the most basic details of Burmese history and geography without being patronizing. From the unfinished Burmese civil war to their wars against the British, Myint-U successfully conveys how Burma's past has affected what it has become. The author then turns to China and India, journeying to the areas closest to Burma. He provides comprehensive insight into Burma's precarious situation, as well as an understanding of its possibilities for the future. He leaves readers pondering the implications of a democratic Burma and how that might affect the Sino-Indian rise to power in the region.

In a whirlwind tour through Burma's history, politics, culture and geography, Myint-U makes a successful case for its importance in South Asia's future."  (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools

By Steven Brill                

"In this politically charged, insightful take on U.S. educational reform, journalist Brill (The Teamsters) weaves stories of successes and failures into his snapshots of the education system. With a focus on disadvantaged New York City schools, portraits of individuals such as Wendy Kopp (founder of Teach for America) and Dave Levin (founder of the Knowledge is Power Program, a network of charter schools), provide context and commentary. Levin seems hopeful about President Obama's reforms, though he concedes: "we finally seem motivated, but it's going to take a long time." Brill suggests policy should be less about resources, and more about "school systems where the adults never sit down." However, investigations into such initiatives reveal pitfalls from burnout to incompetent teachers abusing unions, all of which compromise the future of America's youth. Brill paraphrases in a thrilling fashion, hinting at scandals, examining phenomena such as "Rubber Rooms" and the Widget Effect, and relaying impromptu speeches in Manhattan apartments from Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama. An advocate for "spending smarter, not spending more," his reform ideas may seem vague. However, with each piece of the puzzle, this philosophy gains clarity. Though his fly-on-the-wall approach can feel disjointed, his concluding remarks will spark debate. "  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

The Anatomy of Israel's Survival

By Hirsh Goodman
"Chronicle of the existential insecurity that has tipped Israel's fall from grace, and a strong plea to quit its role as occupying power to the Palestinians.
As a senior associate at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, former journalist Goodman (Let Me Create a Paradise, God Said to Himself: A Journey of Conscience from Johannesburg To Jerusalem, 2005, etc.) is both a devoted citizen of Israel and well-meaning critic deeply concerned about the future of his country. In these pointed essays, he examines the Arab-Israeli cycle of conflict that has plagued Israel from its founding, when a country of largely Holocaust survivors defeated a hostile consortium of Arab states against all odds in 1948 so that the survival motto of "never again" became the national mantra: "paranoia was seen as a national value, great freedoms were afforded the security organizations, generals were Israel's soccer stars, and the secret service, the silent heroes of the day." Hubris dogged the new nation, swollen with the world's Jewish refugees, while the remnants of ragged, resentful Palestinians were used by Arab states as pawns in striking at Israel. "Myopic" leaders like Golda Meir could not envision equal treatment for the Palestinians, and the assassination of Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin helped derail the peace process, soon followed by revenge attacks, suicide bombs and four years of the Second Intifada. Goodman sees Ariel Sharon's decision to shed Gaza and its Palestinians in 2005 as a necessary excision of a "cancer" eating away at Israel's moral center, not to mention the economic drain. The author considers the threat to Israel's north, the toll of bad press on Israel's image, its relationship with the United States (and very powerful AIPAC lobby), the prickly issue of Jerusalem and, finally, the essential democratic structure of the young, vital country. In short, Israel cannot sanction another collapse of peace.
Tapping into his access to the defense structure, Goodman does a solid job depicting Israel's "ball of thorns.""  (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

The Digital Divide: Arguments for and Against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking

By Mark Bauerlein
"This definitive work on the perils and promise of the social- media revolution collects writings by today's best thinkers and cultural commentators, with an all-new introduction by Bauerlein.
Twitter, Facebook, e-publishing, blogs, distance-learning and other social media raise some of the most divisive cultural questions of our time. Some see the technological breakthroughs we live with as hopeful and democratic new steps in education, information gathering, and human progress. But others are deeply concerned by the eroding of civility online, declining reading habits, withering attention spans, and the treacherous effects of 24/7 peer pressure on our young.
With "The Dumbest Generation," Mark Bauerlein emerged as the foremost voice against the development of an overwhelming digital social culture. But The Digital Divide doesn't take sides. Framing the discussion so that leading voices from across the spectrum, supporters and detractors alike, have the opportunity to weigh in on the profound issues raised by the new media-from questions of reading skills and attention span, to cyber-bullying and the digital playground- Bauerlein's new book takes the debate to a higher ground."  (Publisher Marketing)  Check Our Catalog

A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism

By Daniel Byman
"In the sixty-plus years of the Jewish state's existence, Israeli governments have exhausted almost every option in defending their country against terror attacks. Israel has survived and even thrived--but both its citizens and its Arab neighbors have paid dearly.
In A High Price, Daniel Byman breaks down the dual myths of Israeli omnipotence and--conversely--ineptitude in fighting terror, offering instead a nuanced, definitive historical account of the state's bold but often failed efforts to fight terrorist groups. The product of painstaking research and countless interviews, the book chronicles different periods of Israeli counterterrorism. Beginning with the violent border disputes that emerged after Israel's founding in 1948, Byman charts the rise of Yasir Arafat's Fatah and leftist groups such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine--organizations that ushered in the era of international terrorism epitomized by the 1972 hostage-taking at the Munich Olympics. Byman follows how Israel fought these groups and new ones, such as Hamas, in the decades that follow, with particular attention to the grinding and painful struggle during the second intifada. Israel's debacles in Lebanon against groups like the Lebanese Hizballah are also examined in-depth, as is the country's problematic response to Jewish terrorist groups that have struck at Arabs and Israelis seeking peace.
In surveying Israel's response to terror, the author points to the coups of shadowy Israeli intelligence services, the much-emulated use of defensive measures such as sky marshals on airplanes, and the role of controversial techniques such as targeted killings and the security barrier that separates Israel from Palestinian areas. Equally instructive are the shortcomings that have undermined Israel's counterterrorism goals, including a disregard for long-term planning and a failure to recognize the long-term political repercussions of counterterrorism tactics.
Israel is often a laboratory: new terrorist techniques are often used against it first, and Israel in turn develops innovative countermeasures that other states copy. A High Price expertly explains how Israel's successes and failures can serve to inform all countries fighting terrorism today."  (Publisher Marketing)  Check Our Catalog

Is Marriage for White People?: How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone

By Ralph Richard Banks
"Banks, a Stanford law professor, examines why black Americans maintain the lowest marriage and highest divorce rates in the nation, focusing most sharply on the high likelihood a black woman will remain single, a product of the scarcity of black men in the marriage market, their number depleted by high incarceration rates. This "man shortage" leaves those who are available in high demand and with less impetus to commit to one woman. In the U.S., wives earn a larger percentage of the household income than ever and are more likely to have completed college than their husbands. This trend is most acute among African-Americans, which coupled with how African-American women outperform their male counterparts contributes to the high African-American divorce rate. Banks suggests that black women should stop being so willing to "marry down" and consider "marrying out"marrying nonblack men. Such a choice restores equality to black male and female relationships by depriving black men of the power they enjoy as the result of being scarce commodities. Furthermore, Banks argues provocatively, "for black women, interracial marriage doesn't abandon the race, it serves the race." Peppered with interviews and candid opinions about marriage and relationships, this is a surprisingly intimate scholarly work; the sobering topic is tempered by the author's easy-to-read, captivating style."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog