Latino Americans: The 500-Year Legacy That Shaped a Nation

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"An earnest, informative companion to the PBS series on the largest and fastest-growing minority in the United States: Latinos, now numbering more than 50 million. Journalist and PBS commentator Suarez (The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America, 2006) notes that, among nations, only Mexico contains more Hispanics than the U.S. "At some point in the 2040s," writes the author, "a slim majority of Americans will trace their ancestry to people who arrived in this country from someplace other than Europe." Beginning in the 17th century, Suarez reminds readers that when Englishmen arrived at Massachusetts and Virginia to settle or look for riches while despoiling and killing Indians, Spaniards and colonists from Mexico had been doing the same for 50 years in Florida and the Southwest. After a review of Spanish New World exploration and capsule histories of Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico that emphasize their usually painful relations to the U.S., Suarez concentrates on America's Latino legacy from the 19th century to the present. Two themes predominate: racism and immigration. Although not as murderous as that against blacks, discrimination against Latinos has an equally long and troubled history that turns out to be no less true for white America's fear of being overwhelmed with Hispanics pouring across our border. True to TV documentary format, Suarez includes the story of an individual with every section. Few will be familiar, yet many should be--e.g., Jose Marti, the hero of Cuban independence, or Juan de Onate, founder of the first white settlement in the Southwest. Matters improve greatly as the author approaches the present day and points with pride to famous Latinos from Desi Arnez to Albert Pujols. More journalistic guide than history, the book provides a satisfying antidote to average readers' disturbing ignorance of America's Hispanic heritage."  (Kirkus Reviews)

Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel

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"A rich, roiling examination of "the State of Israel during a period of deepening political and societal crisis." From the gory details of Operation Cast Lead, when Israel pummeled the Gaza Strip with laser-guided missiles in late 2008, through the right-wing election sweep soon afterward of Bibi Netanyahu and the unleashing of racist, nationalist elements and rushes for new settlements, Blumenthal (Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party, 2009) tracks the escalating rhetoric and violence in episodic fashion. Having established himself in various parts of Israel over the ensuing years to observe and flush out the action--he recognized he could sail through airport security since, as an Ashkenazi Jew, he "would be automatically afforded special rights according to the designs of Zionism"--Blumenthal is an enterprising reporter, finding lessons in vanished Palestinian neighborhoods, such as once-thriving Jaffa, before the Israelis drove out the residents, razing homes and appropriating land; and hanging out at the Knesset, which he sarcastically calls the "Fortress of Democracy," where he chased down various cronies of right-wing Avigdor Lieberman's party to explain a series of alarming proposals enacted to suppress Palestinian expression. With acquiescent support of the left as well as the general Israeli public, the legitimization of (to Western readers) frightening cultural concepts like homogeneity and Judaization has instigated what Blumenthal and some of his left-leaning interviewees call fascist measures in a once-lively democracy, where a dissenting version of the official narrative is not permitted. Government officials, young educated Arabs, border police, journalists, Army refuseniks and rabid nationalists: Blumenthal taps them all in this vivid and relentlessly negative portrait of Israel. Dense, in-the-trenches reportage revealing details that go from grim to grimmer"  (Kirkus Reviews)

The XX Factor: How the Rise of Working Women Has Created a Far Less Equal World

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"In this provocative and vital new book, British economist Wolf (Does Education Matter?) addresses the "widening gap" between highly educated professional women and less-educated working women. The consequences of this gap run deep. Education affects whether women have children, how many they have, and at what age they have them; how early they have sex; how likely they are to divorce; and, critically, how much money they earn. The book's first section addresses women in the workforce and covers higher education and money (including the return of the servant classes, without which "elite women's employment would splutter and stall"); the second addresses the domestic sphere, including sexual behavior ("With the Pill everything changed"). While the book focuses on British and American women's lives, Wolf's cross-cultural view traverses the globe (she discusses China, India, France, Sweden, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, to name a few, but not sub-Saharan Africa); nor are men absent from her analyses. Accessibly written and enlivened with anecdotes and interviews, Wolf's research is thoroughly documented and features uncommonly informative footnotes and helpful graphs. Her assessment of how things have changed since the time when "marriage was women's main objective and main career" and the ways in which "the modern workplace detaches our female elites from both history and the rest of female-kind" will yield productive controversy. "  (Publishers Weekly)

Exodus: How Migration Is Changing Our World

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"An economist and expert on the world's poorest populations analyzes who migrates, why and the effects on host societies. Collier (Economics/Univ. of Oxford; The Plundered Planet: Why We Must--and How We Can--Manage Nature for Global Prosperity, 2010, etc.) considers migration from poor to rich nations and what immigration policies are most appropriate. Eschewing the emotional responses often associated with his topic, he insists that "Is migration good or bad?" is the wrong question. Rather, he focuses on how much is best, hoping that his evidence-based study will help governments manage the flow. "[H]igh emotion and little knowledge" have created huge differences in migration policies (Japan is closed to immigrants), with most officials making value- rather than evidence-based judgments. Collier writes at length about the critical roles of diasporas, which make the cost of migration fall and provide much-needed help to the newly arrived. As diasporas grow (chiefly in big cities, in the United States and elsewhere), more migrants are likely to come, and fewer are absorbed into mainstream society. He notes that migrants are winners in the process. Mostly young, able to afford the high costs of migration and willing to take the risks, they tend to succeed. They do not compete closely with indigenous workers, writes Collier, but their earnings are driven down by the arrival of additional immigrants. The biggest losers are the people left behind in poor, mainly African nations, which lose their brightest and most talented, gaining somewhat from remittances. In all, migration does not have significantly adverse effects on host societies, writes the author, but nations must set ceilings on the sizes of diasporas. That way, migration will achieve a sustainable rate and not accelerate to a point where it becomes damaging. Valuable reading for policymakers. (Kirkus Reviews)

'White Girl Bleed a Lot': The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore It

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"'White Girl Bleed a Lot' was written for the deniers - reporters and public officials who, despite overwhelming evidence, deny that black mob violence has reached epidemic levels in America.
But massive video proof means denial is no longer an option as many of these cases are now on YouTube. And for the first time, readers will be able to scan QR codes to actually witness the racial violence on video as they read about it in the book.
Thus, readers will finally be able to experience the huge difference between what big city newspapers say is happening and what the videos prove is really happening.
To be released by WND Books October 15, the new edition of 'White Girl Bleed a Lot': The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore It documents over 500 cases of black mob violence in more than 100 cities around the country.
Writing in National Review, Thomas Sowell said: "Reading Colin Flaherty's book made painfully clear to me that the magnitude of this problem is greater than I had discovered from my own research. He documents both the race riots and the media and political evasions in dozens of cities."
The new edition of 'White Girl Bleed a Lot' documents - with 500 footnotes - black mob violence in the bigger cities, where some might expect it: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, St. Louis. But also in other cities where many are surprised at the intense and frequent racial violence - places like Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Charlotte, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Las Vegas, Kansas City.
And even smaller cities like Peoria, Springfield, Greensboro, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Champaign, Utica, Rochester, Syracuse, Long Island, Wilmington, Dover, New Haven, Meriden, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Virginia Beach, Columbia, Birmingham, Knoxville, Memphis, Miami Beach, Norfolk, Columbus, Madison and many more.
Readers will learn about "Beat Whitey Night" at a Midwest state fair. And how a Chicago police chief blamed the violence on Sarah Palin and the Pilgrims. And how Oprah Winfrey gave $1 million to a Philadelphia charter school, only to see its students on video assaulting a white person shortly thereafter.
And how gays and Asians and women are particular targets. And how, despite the growing violence, one congressman and former mayor said his city should not crack down on it because it would "just make a lot of black kids angry."
Readers will also learn how some people are fighting back. Unlike most books about race, 'White Girl Bleed a Lot' is not about causes. Or solutions. Or apologies. Or guilt. Or political correctness.
There are no stereotypes or generalizations. No racism or rancor. Just facts.
It has been featured in major national news sites including CNN, Salon, WND, Orange County Register, and more than 100 talk radio stations around the country. Anthony Cumia, of the popular "Opie and Anthony Show," calls 'White Girl Bleed a Lot' a "great book,"...(Publisher Description)

The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives

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"Destitution, squalor, loneliness, and despair are the distinctive features of lower-class America in this searing expose. Recalling Michael Harrington's The Other America, journalist Abramsky (Inside Obama's Brain) meets and profiles an extraordinary range of people and predicaments: indigent retirees at food pantries; Mexican migrant laborers in desert shantytowns; a middle-class professional woman reduced to prostitution after a spell of unemployment; low-wage workers unable to make ends meet and forced into a daily "eat or heat'" dilemma. He shows us the persistence of brute hunger, homelessness, and deprivation, but also sensitively probes the psychic wounds of being too poor to sustain friendships and social life, of feeling like a worthless cast-off in a society that worships wealth. The author sharply critiques the skimpy benefits and humiliating regulations of current welfare programs and lambastes conservatives who want to further shred the safety net. His prescription for a "Robin Hood" program a laundry list of new entitlements, minimum-wage hikes, public works, and the like lacks focus, but has the inestimable virtue of throwing money at people who sorely need it. Abramsky's is a challenging indictment of an economy in which poverty and inequality at the bottom seem like the foundation for prosperity at the top"  (Publishers Weekly)

In the Balance: Law and Politics on the Roberts Court

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"A distinguished constitutional law scholar examines the complex, occasionally surprising interplay of law and politics that explains decisions from our closely divided, highest court. Constitutional jurisprudence involves reasoning from rules and precedent, the sort of legal analysis any lawyer or judge well understands, but it's also shaded by a uniquely political dimension. By "politics," Harvard Law School professor Tushnet (Why the Constitution Matters, 2011, etc.) means nothing so bald as the latest partisan dispatch from Democratic or Republican headquarters, but rather the "political structures and political visions" that produce nominees for the court, account for the principles and philosophies of the justices, shape arguments brought to the Supreme Court for adjudication, and frequently tip the balance in decisions. If the intellectual leadership of the Roberts Court passes from the chief justice to, say, Justice Elena Kagan--as it may if Obama is afforded future nominations--the shift will be attributable to this operation of politics on the court's judgments. Tushnet teases out his argument with chapters devoted to the Roberts Court's decisions on Obamacare, especially, and on other major cases dealing with affirmative action, gun rights, business interests, campaign finance and the First Amendment. The author is particularly good on the vetting process for justices, explaining how each party and president (with fingers crossed) approachs the selection of nominees. But the court, as Tushnet points out, plays a long game, and the mere passage of time can upset today's careful political calculation. Things change, including the composition of political parties, the makeup of the court and the relations among the justices. Moreover, when politics and law mingle, as a number of the First Amendment decisions demonstrate, the "conservative versus liberal" narrative is not always so straightforward. Tushnet is an informed, experienced observer--he clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall and owes his Harvard appointment to then-dean Kagan--and he proves a sure-footed guide in difficult terrain. A treat for obsessive court watchers that's accessible to general readers."  (Kirkus Reviews)