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Book Synopsis‘I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest . . . But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.’ Long Walk to FreedomIn 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first president of democratic South Africa. Five years later, he stood down. In that time, he and his government wrought the most extraordinary transformation, turning a nation riven by centuries of colonialism and apartheid into a fully functioning democracy in which all South Africa’s citizens, black and white, were equal before the law. Dare Not Linger is the story of Mandela’s presidential years, drawing heavily on the memoir he began to write as he prepared to finish his term of office, but was unable to finish. Now, the acclaimed South African writer, Mandla Langa, has completed the task using Mandela’s unfinished draft and a wealth of previously unseen archival material. With a prologue by Mandela's widow, Graça Machel, the result is a vivid and inspirational account that tells the extraordinary story of the transition from decades of apartheid rule and the challenges Mandela overcame to make a reality of his cherished vision for a liberated South Africa.

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Book SynopsisA riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times • NPR • The Guardian • Marie Claire In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective—the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,” and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.

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Book Synopsis'The Capitol riot was our Chernobyl.'(Guardian interview, Jan 19th 2021)'An absolutely fascinating read.'Emily MaitlisJames Comey, former FBI Director and Sunday Times number one bestselling author of A Higher Loyalty, uses his long career in federal law enforcement to explore issues of justice and fairness in the US justice system.James Comey might best be known as the FBI director that Donald Trump fired in 2017, but he’s had a long, varied career in the law and justice system. He knows better than most just what a force for good the US justice system can be, and how far afield it has strayed during the Trump Presidency.In his much-anticipated follow-up to A Higher Loyalty, Comey uses anecdotes and lessons from his career to show how the federal justice system works. From prosecuting mobsters as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York in the 1980s to grappling with the legalities of anti-terrorism work as the Deputy Attorney General in the early 2000s to, of course, his tumultuous stint as FBI director beginning in 2013, Comey shows just how essential it is to pursue the primacy of truth for federal law enforcement.Saving Justice is gracefully written and honestly told, a clarion call for a return to fairness and equity in the law.Trade ReviewAn absolutely fascinating read for anyone who wants to understand the workings of the US Justice System and American Politics more broadly. -- Emily Maitlis'The Capitol riot was our Chernobyl...I was sickened to watch an attack on the literal and symbolic heart of our democracy, and, as a law enforcement person, I was angered. I am mystified and angry that Capitol Hill wasn’t defended. It’s a hill! If you wanted to defend it, you could defend it, and for some reason it was not defended. I think that’s a 9/11-size failure and we’re going to need a 9/11-type commission to understand it so that we don’t repeat it.' (Guardian interview, 19th Jan 2021)'The Republican party needs to be burned down or changed. Something is shifting and I’m hoping it’s the fault breaking apart, a break between the Trumpists and those people who want to try and build a responsible conservative party, because everybody should know that we need one. Who would want to be part of an organisation that at its core is built on lies and racism and know-nothingism? It’s just not a healthy political organisation.' (Guardian interview, 19th Jan 2021) 'I just think, on balance, the country is better served by impeaching him [Trump], convicting him in the Senate and letting local prosecutors in New York pursue him for the fraudster he was before he took office.' (Guardian interview, 19th Jan 2021) * The Guardian interview Jan 19th, 2021 *

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Book Synopsis'The best American political biography since Obama's Dreams from My Father' GuardianNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA mayor's inspirational story of a Midwest city that has become nothing less than a blueprint for the future of American renewal.Once described by the Washington Post as "the most interesting mayor you've never heard of," Pete Buttigieg, the thirty-seven-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has now emerged as one of America's most visionary politicians. With soaring prose that celebrates a resurgent American Midwest, Shortest Way Home narrates the heroic transformation of a "dying city" (Newsweek) into nothing less than a shining model of urban reinvention.Elected at twenty-nine as the nation's youngest mayor, Pete Buttigieg immediately recognized that "great cities, and even great nations, are built through attention to the everyday." As Shortest Way Home recalls, the challenges were daunting?whether confronting gun violence, renaming a street in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., or attracting tech companies to a city that had appealed more to junk bond scavengers than serious investors. None of this is underscored more than Buttigieg's audacious campaign to reclaim 1,000 houses, many of them abandoned, in 1,000 days and then, even as a sitting mayor, deploying to serve in Afghanistan as a Navy officer. Yet the most personal challenge still awaited Buttigieg, who came out in a South Bend Tribune editorial, just before being reelected with 78 percent of the vote, and then finding Chasten Glezman, a middle-school teacher, who would become his partner for life.While Washington reels with scandal, Shortest Way Home, with its graceful, often humorous, language, challenges our perception of the typical American politician. In chronicling two once-unthinkable stories?that of an Afghanistan veteran who came out and found love and acceptance, all while in office, and that of a revitalized Rust Belt city no longer regarded as "flyover country" Buttigieg provides a new vision for America's shortest way home.Trade ReviewThe best American political autobiography since Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father.... Buttigieg writes unusually well for a politician.... Is it too much to imagine that America could elect a gay president? I don't think so.... Especially a man like this. -- Charles Kaiser * The Guardian *Personal, beguiling and quite moving as he talks about coming out and getting married... The story is told with brisk engagement ? it is difficult not to like him...When Obama wrote his memoir, the idea that the nation would soon put an African-American in the White House seemed beyond the realm of the possible. After reading this memoir written 25 years later, the notion that Buttigieg might be the nation's first openly gay president doesn't feel quite as far-fetched. -- Adam Nagourney * New York Times *In a sense, Buttigieg's book is a kind of antidote to J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, a story of broken people in a broken place.... This is a comeback story of a place that got hit hard, survived and then began thriving again.... It's entirely true that a leap from mayor to president has been impossible in the past. But these pages make a pretty good case that city halls just might be better training schools for the presidency than attendance at any five years of congressional hearings combined. -- E. J. Dionne Jr. * Washington Post *If you were an early Barack Obama supporter a dozen or more years ago, you recall inching forward in your chair whenever he spoke. The words were so clear, the passion so strong, the message of hope so credible.... I suggest you watch the video of Pete Buttigieg at a CNN town hall. If that piques your interest, as it did mine, read his book, Shortest Way Home. -- Peter Funt * USA Today *Endearing ... might just restore your optimism -- Harriet Alexander * Daily Telegraph *

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Book Synopsis'It's a rollicking tale that brings to life the antic atmosphere of America in the 'Me' Decade' Wall Street Journal'A madcap chase... this is a well-written chronicle of 28 months when the world went slightly mad' Sunday Times'A suitably head-spinning account of LSD High Priest Dr Timothy Leary' Mail on SundayOn the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, an ex-Harvard professor with a genius IQ studies a twelve-foot high fence topped with barbed wire. A few months earlier, Dr. Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, had been running a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan. Now, Leary is six months into a ten-year prison sentence for the crime of possessing two marijuana cigarettes.Aided by the radical Weather Underground, Leary's escape from prison is the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. Inside the Oval Office, President Richard Nixon drinks his way through sleepless nights as he expands the war in Vietnam and plots to unleash the United States government against his ever-expanding list of domestic enemies. Antiwar demonstrators are massing by the tens of thousands; homemade bombs are exploding everywhere; Black Panther leaders are threatening to burn down the White House; and all the while Nixon obsesses over tracking down Timothy Leary, whom he has branded "the most dangerous man in America."Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is an American thriller that takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.Trade ReviewFascinating...rigorously researched...[The Most Dangerous Man in America] offers the pleasures of the tick-tock genre. Much like Leary himself, the book is plenty of zany fun * The New York Times *One of the decade's most audacious and exciting stories, told with page-turning panache * The Boston Globe *...[A] rip-roaring tale of hallucinogenic drugs, revolutionary politics and an intercontinental standoff...Minutaglio and Davis have taken a largely forgotten chapter from the recent past and turned it into a vigorous page-turner * San Francisco Chronicle *It's a rollicking tale that brings to life the antic atmosphere of America in the 'Me' decade * Wall Street Journal *The Most Dangerous Man in America is a wild ride across time, space, and multiple cosmic planes during an era when America came close to losing -- or finding? -- its mind. Leary and Nixon: surely no other country on earth could have produced such a perfectly, surreally antithetical pair. Crack open this book and prepare to have your mind blown by the reality of this very strange tale -- Ben Fountain * PEN/Hemingway and O. Henry Prize-winning author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and Brief Encounters with Che Guevara: Stories *A pitch-perfect, exhilarating work about one of the strangest chapters in the American experience, one so exciting that even the postscript rivets...A stroke of narrative genius * Booklist (Starred Review) *A riveting international chase between a tenacious but paranoid cat and a wily but delusional mouse... Minutaglio and Davis are superb storytellers, and throughout the narrative, they nimbly move between their two converging subjects. Their account is expertly detailed and blessedly fat-free * Kirkus (Starred Review) *The glory of [The Most Dangerous Man in America] is its fast-paced, rollicking narrative that brings the freakishness of the revolutionary 1970s to life. Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis have pulled off a meticulous observation of their subjects with turns of phrases that pop with pleasure. I galloped through the book; could not put it down -- Jan Jarboe Russell * New York Times bestselling author of The Train to Crystal City *Our intrepid authors, pounding the present tense like the brake pedal on a runaway 18-wheeler, narrate a story more wild, inventive, and sex-drenched than a Dennis Hopper movie -- Glenn Frankel * Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic *A vivid, eye-opening alternate view of an especially bizarre period of American history...Far too strange to be fiction, the book brilliantly details an American tragedy of two men, each of whom considered the other to be the most dangerous man in America -- James Fadiman, PhD * Microdose researcher and author of The Psychedelic Explorers' Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys *

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Book SynopsisMartin Luther King Jr. is known for famous speeches such as I Have a Dream, and his ability to inspire the people of the United States to demand equality, regardless of the color of their skin. His ability to lead has cemented himself as one of America's greatest civil rights advocates.And in today's world, his wisdom and teachings are needed more than ever. Martin Luther King Jr., On Leadership chronicles the actions of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and identifies the key leadership skills he displayed such as:* Practice what you preach* Take direct action without waiting for other agencies to act* Give credit where credit is due* Laws only declare rights, they do not deliver them* And much more...This book is part history and part guide to becoming a great leader, inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., an advocate to peaceful change while never wavering in making the opposition listen and give in.

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Book SynopsisIn EVERY DAY IS A GIFT, Tammy Duckworth takes readers through the amazing-and amazingly true-stories from her incomparable life. In November of 2004, an Iraqi RPG blew through the cockpit of Tammy Duckworth's U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. The explosion, which destroyed her legs and mangled her right arm, was a turning point in her life. But as Duckworth shows in EVERY DAY IS A GIFT, that moment was just one in a lifetime of extraordinary turns.The biracial daughter of an American father and a Thai-Chinese mother, Duckworth faced discrimination, poverty, and the horrors of war -- all before the age of 16. As a child, she dodged bullets as her family fled war-torn Phnom Penh. As a teenager, she sold roses by the side of the road to save her family from hunger and homelessness in Hawaii. Through these experiences, she developed a fierce resilience that would prove invaluable in the years to come.Duckworth joined the Army, becoming one of a handful of female helicopter pilots at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She served eight months in Iraq before the attack that took her legs and nearly her life. She then spent thirteen months recovering at Walter Reed, learning to walk again on prosthetic legs and planning her return to the cockpit. But Duckworth found a new mission after meeting her state's senators, Barack Obama and Dick Durbin. After winning two terms as a U.S. Representative, she won election to the U.S. Senate in 2016. And she and her husband Bryan fulfilled another dream when she gave birth to two daughters, becoming the first sitting senator to give birth.From childhood to motherhood and beyond, EVERY DAY IS A GIFT is the remarkable story of one of America's most dedicated public servants.

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Book SynopsisAs chief of staff, Jean Becker had a ringside seat to the never-boring story of George Herbert Walker Bush's life post-presidency. Full of heart and wisdom, THE MAN I KNEW is a vibrant behind-the-scenes look into the ups and downs of heading up the office of a former president by one of the people who knew him best

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Book SynopsisIt doesn't require a strong imagination to get a sense of the mayhem Trump will unleash if he loses a closely contested election. It is no less disturbing to imagine Trump still insisting that he is the rightful leader of the nation. With millions of diehard supporters firmly believing that their revered president has been toppled by malignant forces of the Deep State, Trump could remain a force of constitutional chaos for years to come. WILL TRUMP GO? addresses such questions as:How might Trump engineer his refusal to acknowledge electoral defeat? What legal and extra-legal paths could he pursue in mobilizing a challenge to the electoral outcome?What legal, political, institutional and popular mechanisms can be used to stop him?What would be the fallout of a failure to remove him from office? What would be the fallout of a successful effort to unseat him?Can our democracy snap back from Trump?Trump himself has essentially told the nation he will never accept electoral defeat. A book that prepares us for Trump's refusal to concede, then, is hardly speculative; it is a necessary precaution against a coming crisis.

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Book SynopsisWith grit and grace, Katie Britt has tackled a lot that life's thrown at her. From working long days in her parent's hardware store, to finding her path at the University of Alabama and marrying the captain of the football team, to an extremely close call with a tornado that destroyed her house while she held her baby in her arms, to her upstart campaign for Senate, Britt has overcome setbacks, defied expectations and shocked the political establishment.So how did Britt become the youngest woman in the U.S. Senate? GOD CALLS US TO DO HARD THINGS offers the hard-earned lessons and common-sense advice that Britt gained from her experience - and it's the kind of stuff many young folks need to hear. Topics and themes include: * Focusing us on what you can control* Being unafraid to fail - while also taking criticism and tough love* Breaking past the limits we place on ourselves* Being a change agent - and not a title holder* Sweating the small stuff of details and processWarm, humble and often lighthearted, GOD CALLS US TO DO HARD THINGS is about how a determined young woman decided to enter the arena and make her mark. At a moment when politics feel so toxic and broken, Katie Britt proves that there's still a way to listen to your heart, serve and inspire.

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Book SynopsisWhen President Biden announced Janet Yellen as his choice for secretary of the treasury, it was the peak moment of a remarkable life. Not only the first woman in the more than two-century history of the office, Yellen is the first person to hold all three top economic policy jobs in the United States: chair of both the Federal Reserve and the President's Council of Economic Advisors as well as treasury secretary.Through Owen Ullmann's intimate portrait, we glean two remarkable aspects of Yellen's approach to economics: first, her commitment to putting those on the bottom half of the economic ladder at the center of economic policy, and employing forward-looking ideas to use the power of government to create a more prosperous, productive life for everyone. And second, her ability to maintain humanity in a Washington policy world where fierce political combat casts others as either friend or enemy, never more so than in our current age of polarization.As Ullmann takes us through Yellen's life and work, we clearly see her brilliance and meticulous preparation. What stands out, though, is Yellen as an icon of progress-the "Ruth Bader Ginsburg of economics"-a superb-yet-different kind of player in a cold, male-dominated profession that all too often devises policies to benefit the already well-to-do. With humility and compassion as her trademarks, we see the influence of Yellen's father, a physician whose pay-what-you-can philosophy meant never turning anyone away. That compassion, rooted in her family life in Brooklyn, now extends across our entire country.

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Book SynopsisThe inside story of how one president forever altered the most powerful legal institution in the country-with consequences that endure today By the summer of 1941, in the ninth year of his presidency, Franklin Roosevelt had moulded his Court. He had appointed seven of the nine justices-the most by any president except George Washington-and handpicked the chief justice.But the wartime Roosevelt Court had two faces. One was bold and progressive, the other supine and abject, cowed by the charisma of the revered president.The Court at War explores this pivotal period. It provides a cast of unforgettable characters in the justices-from the mercurial, Vienna-born intellectual Felix Frankfurter to the Alabama populist Hugo Black; from the western prodigy William O. Douglas, FDR's initial pick to be his running mate in 1944, to Roosevelt's former attorney general and Nuremberg prosecutor Robert Jackson.The justices' shameless capitulation and unwillingness to cross their beloved president highlight the dangers of an unseemly closeness between Supreme Court justices and their political patrons. But the FDR Court's finest moments also provided a robust defence of individual rights, rights the current Court has put in jeopardy. Sloan's intimate portrait is a vivid, instructive tale for modern times.

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Book SynopsisFrom Abraham Lincoln's political savvy and rhetorical gifts to James Buchanan's indecisiveness, this book teaches much about what makes a great leader--and what does not.Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America's presidents across a variety of categories -- their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, their moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in our national history, along with much in between.Based on interviews conducted over the years with a variety of presidential biographers, this book provides not just a complete ranking of our presidents, but stories and analyses that capture the character of the men who held the office. As America looks ahead to our next election, this book offers perspective and criteria that may help us choose our next leader wisely.

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Book SynopsisThis is the untold, intimate, and eye-witness account of the character, integrity, service, faith, and dignity of former President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush by their priest, pastor, and friend.George and Barbara Bush belonged to and were active members of a Houston church for more than 50 years. The rector of that church, Reverend Russell Jones Levenson, Jr., believes he was invited into private moments with these public individuals so he could serve as a witness: a witness to observe, and a witness to tell.With never-before shared correspondence, experiences, and personal stories, Levenson offers new insight into the Bushes' wit and wisdom; their commitment to family and friends; their tireless desire to bless the lives of others; and their steadfast loyalty to their church, their faith, and their God. Before embarking on writing this book on faith, Levenson sought and received the blessing of all the Bush children, including the 43rd president.Readers will laugh, cry, and be inspired as Levenson ponders how and why he was put in this unique pastoral position, asking questions like, "What on earth was I doing reading the sports section of the paper with the forty-first president, his cabinet member Brent Scowcroft, and a Chinese official on a breezy morning at Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine?"Levenson writes with emotion about being with President Bush and Barbara Bush as they each took their last breaths on this earth. He then describes in full detail the surreal experience of planning a state funeral and giving a eulogy with other presidents in the front row.This is book is for readers who yearn for our public officials to serve with faith and integrity like the Bushes. But above all else, this book shows how powerful it is when world leaders are humbled before the power that rests above all powers.

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Book SynopsisIn the follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestseller Trump's War, Michael Savage makes the case for President Trump in 2020. America rolled into 2020 like a juggernaut, with the strongest economy in its history and a renewed leadership role on the world stage. President Trump was cruising to reelection on the strength of record low unemployment, phase one of a historic trade deal, and a more stable Middle East after the defeat of ISIS.Then, catastrophe struck. A novel coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China, swept the world, taking hundreds of thousands of lives and wreaking economic and social destruction. As America battled to its feet and prepared to reopen its economy, the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer lit a powder keg of political tension waiting to explode after months of lockdown. As the November elections approach, America is at war with itself to decide if it will remain a land of freedom and opportunity, or whether a radical new vision will emerge.Americans are searching for answers. Was the American lockdown necessary to defeat Covid-19 or was it a politically motivated strategy to harm President Trump's reelection chances? Does the death of George Floyd represent a systemic problem with American police or is the Left exploiting the tragedy for political purposes? Where does legitimate protest end and insurrection begin?A trained scientist who studied epidemiology for his PhD and one of America's most popular conservative radio hosts for the past twenty-six years, Dr. Michael Savage is uniquely positioned to answer these burning questions. In OUR FIGHT FOR AMERICA: THE WAR CONTINUES, Savage cuts through the propaganda and noise to present a clear analysis of the crises and the political and scientific motivations behind them. Michael Savage tells the truth even when nobody wants to hear it and presents a clear vision of what Americans must do to survive our most turbulent period in decades.

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Book SynopsisStar Parker was among the many reeling and confused as Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States. But, she argues, a silver lining to this outcome is the debate that rules our media and private conversations.The noise of debate can seem overwhelming, but our country needs the authentic and candid dialogue of its people. And this controversial presidency provides us with an opportunity like never before to engage in such a way. Necessary Noise honestly examines the crossroads where we find ourselves and suggests ways of moving toward healing and resolution. Tackling a wide range of topics on which citizens should get noisy--from white privilege, to male privilege, to criminal justice, to abortion, to welfare--Necessary Noise provides the framework for how to take part in this important time in history using our voices.

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Book Synopsis“This book will inspire people to work with and for their neighbors in all kinds of ways!” —Bill McKibben, author of Falter Heather Lende was one of the thousands of women inspired to take an active role in politics during the past few years. Though her entire campaign for assembly member in Haines, Alaska, cost less than $1,000, she won! And tiny, breathtakingly beautiful Haines isn’t the sleepy town it appears to be. Yes, the assembly must stop bears from rifling through garbage on Main Street, but there is also a bitter debate about the fishing boat harbor and a vicious recall campaign that targets three assembly members, including Lende. In Of Bears and Ballots we witness the nitty-gritty of passing legislation, the lofty ideals of our republic, and the way our national politics play out in one small town. With her entertaining cast of offbeat but relatable characters, the writer whom the Los Angeles Times calls “part Annie Dillard, part Anne Lamott” brings us an inspirational tale about what living in a community really means, and what we owe one another.Trade Review"Written in her usual sprightly, witty, humble, effervescent style, this one will please [Lende's] fans." —Kirkus Reviews "Lende’s vivid descriptions, good-natured humor, and adoration for her quirky neighbors further energize this engaging tale." —Library Journal “A detailed and amiable chronicle of [Lende's] three-year term as assemblywoman in Haines Borough, Alaska . . . Lende successfully balances the dry facts of assembly reports with humorous character sketches and lyrical odes to the natural beauty of Alaska. The result is an honest and inspirational investigation into why 'it’s easy to say what’s wrong with government; it’s harder to fix it, and progress can be very slow.'” —Publishers Weekly “In this fraught, bewildering American era, Heather Lende’s latest memoir is a blessed balm…What a blessing Lende’s view of democracy, which she calls ‘glorious chaos,’ is in this dark era.. She reminds us about the dreams we share, especially now, as we cry for, and struggle to save, our beloved country.” – The Minneapolis Star Tribune “[Lende’s] hard-won experience serves as both a Trump-era warning and a clarion call for citizens everywhere to honor public service and the representative democracy that depends on it.” – Anchorage Daily News ““As the reader follows [Lende’s] soul-searching perseverance, a heartwarming realization of our common humanity and of our struggles to understand and live with each other shines through. This is, above all, an uplifting story of democracy at work in a far-flung, beautiful part of the U.S.” – Booklist “Heather Lende's fourth book about her hometown delightfully and insightfully explores small-town life and politics, Alaskan style.” – Shelf Awareness “Citizenship—real, active citizenship of the kind we badly need—is hard work, as this book makes clear. But it’s also rewarding in a profound way; hopefully this will inspire people to work with and for their neighbors in all kinds of ways!” —Bill McKibben, author of Falter “All politics is local, so it’s said. If you haven’t served on a local board or commission you haven’t lived. If you have served and lived through it, Heather Lende feels your pain, and will have you laughing at hers. Sometimes a first rate writer also happens to be a first rate human being. I love when that happens.” —Tom Bodett, humorist (and former chair of the Selectboard of Dummerston, Vermont) “Heather Lende has the voice of that friend down the street you love to chat with over coffee—the one who knows everything going on in town, but also knows the difference between gossip and storytelling.” —Tom Kizza, New York Times-bestselling author of Pilgrim’s Wilderness and The Wake of the Unseen Object “Heather Lende’s brave, big-hearted book about her run for local office fairly bursts with affection for her place and its people. By the end you’ll be torn between wanting to move to Haines, Alaska, and wanting Heather to take the helm of your hometown.” —Melody Warnick, author of This Is Where You Belong “An uplifting reminder that democracy works in America. While its setting is an extraordinary landscape of mountains, glaciers and the waters of Lynn Canal, the political scene and the cast of characters Lende captures will find resonance in every corner of America.” —Bruce Botelho, former Mayor of Juneau, Alaska “This book is a fine story—many beautifully-woven stories, in fact, told with compassion, wisdom and wit—about democracy, community and decency in small-town America, and how to save the best of who we are. It’s medicine for the soul. I vote for Heather Lende.” —Kim Heacox, author of John Muir and the Ice that Started a Fire “Heather Lende has captured the essence of small-town governing in a community as politically divided as our nation is today. She reminds us that public service is hard, but also meaningful.” —Fran Ulmer, former Lieutenant Governor of Alaska

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Book SynopsisThe ultimate, comprehensive investigation into the life and career of Vice President Kamala Harris from former Washington Examiner and Breitbart News political reporter Charlie Spiering.Who is the real Kamala Harris? And how did she ascend to the second highest office in the country? Despite her limited experience in national politics and confusing professional history, there hasn’t been a comprehensive examination of Vice President Kamala Harris’s journey to the White House...until now. Find out how the San Francisco socialite turned politico fast-tracked her way onto the national stage, only to lose the faith of her base and her president. With exclusive reporting and a detective’s eye, Charlie Spiering delivers the first-ever deep dive into Kamala Harris’s hilarious, incompetent, radical path to the vice presidency. From her tumultuous tenure as California prosecutor to the fiery interrogator in the United States Senate, then to her disastrous presidential campaign and finally, her calamitous first years in executive office, this is an unfettered look at the woman who is only one heartbeat away from leading the free world.Trade Review"A deeply reported account." -- Peter Schweizer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Clinton Cash and Profiles in Corruption “In a functioning meritocracy, Kamala Harris would be a C-list massage therapist working out of a strip mall. Yet somehow she became our vice president. How’d that happen? Charlie Spiering has the answer.” -- Tucker Carlson, Host of Tucker on X"The ascendency of Kamala Harris to the vice presidency is a tragic tale of power, scandal, and incompetence. Charlie Spiering fearlessly reveals the real Kamala Harris in a carefully researched book that is both shocking and hilarious.” -- Mollie Hemingway, editor in chief of The Federalist “With skillful storytelling, Charlie Spiering shows us how a San Francisco gadfly cackled all the to the White House." -- Charles Hurt, opinion editor, The Washington Times

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Book Synopsis‘We can’t do a zigzag,’ Golda Meir insisted as she drove Israel’s 1948 Declaration of Independence through, gaining a bare majority of 6 to 4 in the provisional government. Two decades later, in 1969, she would interrupt her retirement to become the first female leader in the West and earn her nickname, ‘The Iron Lady,’ as Prime Minister of Israel. Who was this remarkable woman and leader? This gripping biography traces Golda Meir’s life from her escape from a Russian pogrom in 1906 to her decisive influence on Israel — often at a hidden cost to her personal life. Full of behind-the-scenes insights — including the 1972 Olympics attacks — and choice quotes, Golda Meir is a spell-binding portrait of the woman and the early State of Israel.Trade Review'A good read' BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week; SUNDAY TIMES ‘Breaks significant new ground.’ ;MAIL ON SUNDAY ‘Excellent.’ ;GUARDIAN ‘Fair-minded.’ ; HISTORY TODAY ‘Riveting.’ ; JEWISH NEWS ‘Riveting.’ ; THE JEWISH CHRONICLE ‘Sensitive... beautifully written.’ ; JEWISH TELEGRAPH ‘Deeply-researched.’ ; TRIBUNE ‘The most stimulating biography.’ ;JEWISH BOOKS ‘Masterful.’

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Book SynopsisOn 2nd May 1997, Tony Blair swept into Downing Street, ending almost twenty years of Conservative government and beginning a decade as Prime Minister. Bernard Donoughue, a Labour peer in the House of Lords, chronicled the path to this momentous election victory in his diaries and this volume sheds new light on the process of forming government and on life working as a minister in the House of Lords. Infused with Donoughue's trademark wit and insight, the diaries covers daily life for a working peer - from the committees, bill discussion and public appearances to political spats - both policy-related and personal. Donoughue also casts a wry glance at a peer's extra-curricular events - from dinners and other high-profile social events to his own favourite hobby, horse-racing. Featuring a cast of high-profile political characters, this book is a must-read for fans of political diaries and anyone with an interest in the inside workings of Westminster.Trade Review'A Labour veteran's distinctive take on the Blair years, this is an indispensable volume of diaries. Bernard Donoughue is the insider's insider, a wizard amidst floundering elves. Not to be missed.' - Matthew d'Ancona, Guardian and Evening Standard columnist

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Book SynopsisWe are plagued by leaders who mislead and repress – it is more important than ever to stand up to them. The Covid-19 catastrophe has exposed the fabulists who rule throughout the world, in dictatorships, democracies and hybrids of the two. The misinformation they spread and the fake policy solutions they tout have become their own pandemic. Here, Michael Peel vividly recounts ferocious international battles over truth and the right to tell it. From Britain’s struggle with itself over Brexit to Syria’s civil war, he reveals the trademark deceptions and the powerful interests that profit from them in the defining fight of an era.Trade Review‘Excellent investigative journalism exposing global corruption…devastating.’ * Irish Times *'Quite astonishingly on point... A riveting book' -- James O'Brien, author of How to Be Right‘There are few more important topics than the rise of global authoritarianism, and no better guide than Michael Peel’s The Fabulists – a book that is not just grippingly written but also authoritative and wryly perceptive on the many foibles of the world’s most fascinating fantasist autocrats.’ -- James Crabtree, author of The Billionaire Raj

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Book SynopsisMandela: His Essential Life chronicles the life and legacy of one of the twentieth century's most influential and admired statesmen. Charting his development from remote rural roots to city lawyer, freedom fighter, and then political leader, Peter Hain takes an in-depth look at Mandela's rise through the ranks of the African National Congress (ANC) and subsequent 27 years imprisonment on Robben Island, as increasingly vocal protests against the injustices of Apartheid brought his struggle against overwhelming prejudice and oppression to the eyes of the world. This book encompasses Mandela’s inauguration as South Africa's first democratically elected president, his "retirement" campaigns for human rights, a solution to AIDS and poverty. It goes on to chronicle his later years and death. Throughout, the humanity and compassion of this extraordinary world leader shine through. The author concludes with a critical analysis of his and the ANC’s achievements, its leadership’s subsequent slide into corruption, and whether under new direction South Africa can reclaim the values and legacy of Mandela, and the ‘rainbow nation’ he created and led to such global acclaim.Trade ReviewPassionate and engaging. From a man whose tireless anti-apartheid activism supported the long struggle to free his friend and leader, Nelson Mandela. -- Jon Snow, BroadcasterHighly readable and inspirational. -- Desmond TutuHis life and times told succinctly and compellingly. -- Sello Hatang, CEO, Nelson Mandela FoundationPeter Hain’s excellent Mandela: His Essential Life, does not pretend to be anything more than, as he writes, a “short, popular and accessible book that tells Mandela's entire and remarkable story in a nutshell”. Actually, he does himself a disservice: it is much more than that, and is a serious analysis of Mandela’s place in history, his failings as well as his virtues. It also contains a powerful final chapter on the betrayal of the Mandela legacy. In recent years, Hain, a second-generation anti-apartheid activist, has exposed the corruption of the Zuma presidency, and played no small part in bringing down the PR firm Bell Pottinger. It is a sad sequel to Mandel's life but a story of modern-day South Africa that needs to be told. * The Sunday Times, 15 July 2018 *Borrowing extensively from works such as Anthony Sampson’s Mandela (1999) and Nelson Mandela’s own autobiography Long Walk to Freedom (CH, Apr'95, 32-4642), Hain, a former anti-apartheid activist, offers a more condensed biography of the freedom fighter turned statesman, and combines it with personal observations of his encounters with the legendary South African. Hain tracks Mandela’s rural roots, political awakening, trial and imprisonment, progressive estrangement from his wife, Winnie, and triumph in South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994. Despite several chronological issues (i.e., the Congress of the People took place in June 1955), Hain’s narrative of Mandela’s long struggle for justice and reconciliation falls in line with other scholarly biographies, even if it does not break new ground. The most original material in Hain’s book comes in the later chapters, where he relates several encounters with the man known as Madiba. “It was not just his towering moral stature, his courage and his capacity to inspire that endeared Nelson Mandela to so many,” Hain observes. “Despite being one of the world’s most prominent statesmen—perhaps the most revered—he retained his extraordinary humanity.” Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsMandela Time Line Preface Introduction: International Icon Chapter 1: Roots Chapter 2: Grooming a Chief Chapter 3: Second Class Chapter 4: Freedom Fighter Chapter 5: Prisoner Chapter 6: Resistance Chapter 7: Victory Chapter 8: President Chapter 9: Mandela Magic Chapter 10: Legacy Betrayed? Selected Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisMandela: His Essential Life chronicles the life and legacy of one of the twentieth century's most influential and admired statesmen. Charting his development from remote rural roots to city lawyer, freedom fighter, and then political leader, Peter Hain takes an in-depth look at Mandela's rise through the ranks of the African National Congress (ANC) and subsequent 27 years imprisonment on Robben Island, as increasingly vocal protests against the injustices of Apartheid brought his struggle against overwhelming prejudice and oppression to the eyes of the world. This book encompasses Mandela’s inauguration as South Africa's first democratically elected president, his "retirement" campaigns for human rights, a solution to AIDS and poverty. It goes on to chronicle his later years and death. Throughout, the humanity and compassion of this extraordinary world leader shine through. The author concludes with a critical analysis of his and the ANC’s achievements, its leadership’s subsequent slide into corruption, and whether under new direction South Africa can reclaim the values and legacy of Mandela, and the ‘rainbow nation’ he created and led to such global acclaim.Trade ReviewPassionate and engaging. From a man whose tireless anti-apartheid activism supported the long struggle to free his friend and leader, Nelson Mandela. -- Jon Snow, BroadcasterHighly readable and inspirational. -- Desmond TutuHis life and times told succinctly and compellingly. -- Sello Hatang, CEO, Nelson Mandela FoundationPeter Hain’s excellent Mandela: His Essential Life, does not pretend to be anything more than, as he writes, a “short, popular and accessible book that tells Mandela's entire and remarkable story in a nutshell”. Actually, he does himself a disservice: it is much more than that, and is a serious analysis of Mandela’s place in history, his failings as well as his virtues. It also contains a powerful final chapter on the betrayal of the Mandela legacy. In recent years, Hain, a second-generation anti-apartheid activist, has exposed the corruption of the Zuma presidency, and played no small part in bringing down the PR firm Bell Pottinger. It is a sad sequel to Mandel's life but a story of modern-day South Africa that needs to be told. * The Sunday Times, 15 July 2018 *Borrowing extensively from works such as Anthony Sampson’s Mandela (1999) and Nelson Mandela’s own autobiography Long Walk to Freedom (CH, Apr'95, 32-4642), Hain, a former anti-apartheid activist, offers a more condensed biography of the freedom fighter turned statesman, and combines it with personal observations of his encounters with the legendary South African. Hain tracks Mandela’s rural roots, political awakening, trial and imprisonment, progressive estrangement from his wife, Winnie, and triumph in South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994. Despite several chronological issues (i.e., the Congress of the People took place in June 1955), Hain’s narrative of Mandela’s long struggle for justice and reconciliation falls in line with other scholarly biographies, even if it does not break new ground. The most original material in Hain’s book comes in the later chapters, where he relates several encounters with the man known as Madiba. “It was not just his towering moral stature, his courage and his capacity to inspire that endeared Nelson Mandela to so many,” Hain observes. “Despite being one of the world’s most prominent statesmen—perhaps the most revered—he retained his extraordinary humanity.” Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsMandela Time Line Preface Introduction: International Icon Chapter 1: Roots Chapter 2: Grooming a Chief Chapter 3: Second Class Chapter 4: Freedom Fighter Chapter 5: Prisoner Chapter 6: Resistance Chapter 7: Victory Chapter 8: President Chapter 9: Mandela Magic Chapter 10: Legacy Betrayed? Selected Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisFor a long time, Cyril Ramaphosa was the nearly-man of South African politics. He was Nelson Mandela's preferred successor, but the ANC opted for his rival, Thabo Mbeki, as the second post-apartheid president. Ramaphosa had led South Africa's huge mineworkers' union against the apartheid regime and was the key architect of the much-praised 1996 'rainbow' constitution. He later prospered in business on the back of the first big empowerment deals with white-owned enterprises, before returning to politics and the ANC in 2012. His eyes firmly on the prize, Ramaphosa played a long game as President Zuma became mired in scandal. In early 2018, Deputy President Ramaphosa persuaded the party to throw out Zuma and install him in his place. Announcing a 'new dawn', he has captivated the nation, but now faces his greatest challenge: fixing a broken economy, weeding out Zuma's corrupt minions and the legacy of 'state capture' by the Gupta brothers, and delivering on the promise of a better life for the poor. This captivating biography outlines Ramaphosa's extraordinary political and business career. It tells the story of one of the greatest political comebacks of modern times.Trade Review'A fine biography: Ray Hartley reveals the complexities of an enigmatic President with effortless prose and the sure touch of a veteran journalist.' -- Martin Plaut, former BBC World Service Africa Editor, and author of 'Understanding Eritrea''A good mystery deserves a good detective and Hartley delivers with a crisp and timely exploration of the enigmatic man promising to steer a struggling South Africa away from the cliff’s edge.' -- Andrew Harding, BBC Africa Correspondent and author of 'The Mayor of Mogadishu'

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Book SynopsisCan you name the creator of the Territorial Army and the British Expeditionary Force? The man who laid the foundation stones of MI5, MI6, the RAF, the LSE, Imperial College, the ‘redbrick’ universities and the Medical Research Council? This book reveals that great figure: Richard Burdon Haldane. As a philosopher-statesman, his groundbreaking proposals on defence, education and government structure were astonishingly ahead of his time—the very building blocks of modern Britain. His networks ranged from Wilde to Einstein, Churchill to Carnegie, King to Kaiser; he pioneered cross-party, cross-sector cooperation. Yet in 1915 Haldane was ejected from the Liberal government, unjustly vilified as a German sympathiser. John Campbell charts these ups and downs, reveals Haldane’s intensely personal side through previously unpublished private correspondence, and shows his enormous relevance in our search for just societies today. Amidst political and national instability, it is time to reinstate Haldane as Britain’s outstanding example of true statesmanship. A Sunday Times Politics and Current Affairs Book of the Year, 2020. A Telegraph Best Book of the Year, 2020.Trade Review'An act of homage to a man for whom [Campbell] asserts lifelong admiration … [This is an] intelligent book.’ -- The Sunday Times'[Campbell] makes a persuasive case for his subject’s importance and, along the way, touches on larger questions of culture and governance … [With a] wealth of detail and insightful character sketches … [this is a] splendid portrait.’ -- The Wall Street JournalA work of real scholarship.’ -- The Telegraph‘Richly informed … [an] engaging biography.’ -- Financial Times‘[A] valuable book … the research has been done superlatively. … Anyone interested in political history who is unacquainted with Haldane will find this book illuminating and informative.’ -- The Spectator‘The author must be congratulated on shaking up the creaking cradle-to-grave style of conventional political biography. … Campbell has succeeded in his aim of writing a biography of Haldane which might serve as a handbook of leadership and statesmanship in this post-Brexit age.’ -- The Literary Review‘Well-researched and well-written.’ -- The Critic‘A noble undertaking that does much to revive the lamentably neglected legacy of one of Britain’s finest statesmen.’ -- The Irish Examiner‘[An] engaging biography … Campbell makes a good case that Haldane was a key catalyst in improving the effectiveness of certain aspects of the British state in the years either side of the first world war.’‘Excellent … [Haldane] is timely, well researched and reminds us what we owe to a great statesman.’ -- Reaction'There is something perennially fascinating about the sensitive polymath. John Campbell has written a magisterial biography of such a figure--an immensely readable account of an extraordinary life. This is, quite simply, a triumph of the art of conveying the texture of human affairs and the events of an era. It is a major and lasting achievement.' -- Alexander McCall Smith'A labour of love. Haldane is rescued from "the condescension of posterity", his achievement in war and peace is finally recognised, and his rightful place in history is secured.' -- Gordon Brown‘This is a delightful, rather personal and yet thorough and rigorous story of a man who for once lives up to the title of his biography … it is worth submersing yourself in it over a reasonably lengthy period.’ -- The Round Table'An outstanding biography that will have Haldane recognised, at long last, as one of our very greatest twentieth-century statesmen.' -- Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Secretary of State for Defence and Foreign Secretary'This captivating, ground-breaking book firmly re-establishes Lord Haldane in the national consciousness as a remarkable statesman of the early twentieth century. Many of his innovations are still flourishing today, and his thoughts on statecraft have much to teach our leaders.' -- Sir Anthony Seldon, British political biographer'My Grandfather found Haldane to be unfailingly kind and in particular supported him in 1915 when Haldane lost Office. This book brings Haldane marvellously to life, centre stage on the then political map of Britain. It not only remarkably tells Haldane's extraordinary and neglected story, but the exceptional images so cleverly illustrate his life and the turbulent times in which he lived. A must read.' -- The Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames'Impressively well-researched, wonderfully written and so obviously relevant to the present day.' -- Brendan Simms, Professor in the History of International Relations, University of Cambridge, and author of 'Britain's Europe: A Thousand Years of Conflict and Cooperation''We should thank John Campbell and we should thank Haldane. Haldane saw what our country needed and he quietly and brilliantly introduced those changes and creations, many of which are still with us. We in intelligence, and many others, are much indebted to Haldane. Mr Campbell tells us why.' -- Sir Colin McColl, former chief of MI6'Most politicians would view themselves as an outstanding success if only one of Haldane's reforms were credited to them. He transformed the British Army, brought into existence many of the great civic universities, and even proposed a Supreme Court 100 ahead of his time. John Campbell brings Haldane to the front of the political stage, where he belongs, and details well his supreme intellect and political method, which has so much to teach for today's politics.' -- The Rt Hon Frank Field DL, former MP'A welcome and enjoyable biography of a towering yet overlooked figure - Haldane was a transforming war minister, a visionary Lord Chancellor, a passionate supporter of education, and much more. Like the best biographies, this book casts revealing light on the times in which he lived.' -- The Rt Hon. The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, former President of the UK Supreme Court'A refreshing and compelling new biography of the leading philosopher-statesman of modern Britain. Haldane has had enormous influence, not least in re-organising the British Army to prevent a quick German victory in 1914, as well as in developing British education, the security services and the machinery of modern government.' -- Martin Pugh, former Professor of History, Newcastle University, and author of 'The Making of Modern British Politics''I wish I could have read this as my guidebook before taking on my Prime Ministerial duties, back in 2009. Now I can only hope that current and future leaders will use their chance to do so.' -- Gordon Bajnai, former Prime Minister of Hungary'An immensely readable, painstakingly researched biography of a little-known polymath statesman to whom Britain is more indebted than it knows. In this Who's Who of early-twentieth-century politics, Campbell delves deep into Haldane's complex and fascinating personality, in so many ways ahead of his time. He makes his hero our hero.' -- Sir Peter Westmacott GCMG LVO, former British Ambassador to Turkey, France and the United States'A meticulously researched life of Haldane which rightly defines him as the ultimate polymath. Haldane's multiple achievements are a lesson to today's politicians: that so much more can be achieved by reaching across party lines when searching for benign change. We have all forgotten how much our military, intelligence services, universities and research communities continue to benefit from Haldane’s impact, a century later. This work sets the record straight.' -- Sir David Cooksey GBE, Chair of the Francis Crick Institute'The debt the United Kingdom owes to Haldane is as great as to any other statesman of the first half of the twentieth century. John Campbell's immensely readable study reminds us of the achievements of this extraordinary public servant. Haldane's instinct to work constructively across the Party divide shows the importance of broad consensus in delivering lasting institutional reform. His search for long-term solutions to our country's needs has never seemed more apposite.' -- Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, former Leader of the House of Lords'A remarkably intimate story of an exceptional man who created the British Army of 1914. These carefully considered reforms, resolutely fought for by Haldane in 1907, saved the nation from defeat.' -- Major-General Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter'A truly superb book. Not only is it a remarkable biography of an extraordinary life, it also provides important insights into Haldane's role in laying the foundations of the British university system. It traces how his education in Scotland and Germany moulded his beliefs about the purpose of life and the capacity of universities to inspire minds that contribute to the intellectual advancement and well-being of society. A profoundly humane account of one of Britain’s most enlightened and influential, yet insufficiently recognised, reformers of the twentieth century.' -- Colin Mayer CBE FBA, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies, Said Business School, University of Oxford'The great sadness is that Richard Haldane was Chancellor of St Andrews, Scotland's first university, for only two months before he died in August 1928. In inviting him to fill this key governing role, St Andrews knew it was appointing one of the most powerful, subtle and encyclopaedic intellects ever devoted to the public service of his country. This great and long overdue book explains why St Andrews was so keen to make him one of its own.' -- Sir Ewan Brown CBE FRSE, former senior governor of the University of St Andrews‘Makes the case splendidly for Haldane’s achievements and his importance to this country … Anyone interested in British political history who is unacquainted with Haldane will find this book both illuminating and informative, a genuine revelation … Truly a lifetime’s dedicated work.’

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Book SynopsisJoseph Chamberlain was a dynamic orator, notable reformer and superb parliamentary tactician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In his early political career Chamberlain was a radically minded Liberal Party member and a supporter of political reform, yet after the Liberal Split, his allegiance changed dramatically when his Liberal Unionist Party entered into alliance with the Conservatives. As Colonial Secretary in Salisbury's government, he was a prime instigator of the Boer War and an important negotiator in the attempts to build an Anglo-German alliance. Ultimately disenchanted with the Conservative leadership of Salisbury and Balfour, he played an integral role in the Unionist Split over the issue of Tariff Reform which ultimately led to Balfour's downfall. Travis Crosby here sheds light on an often-overlooked, but exceptionally influential politician. He argues that Chamberlain was driven primarily by a personal need for power and control - characteristics that went beyond political loyalties. Nevertheless, his accomplishments as chief spokesman for electoral and social reform, and his achievements as Colonial Secretary, were genuine and lasting. This book sheds new light on an influential character who played an important role in the development of British politics.Table of ContentsChapter 1 - The Pursuit of Power Chapter 2 - An Entrepreneurial Heritage Chapter 3 - The Radical Politician Chapter 4 - Minister of the Crown Chapter 5 - The Making of an Imperialist Chapter 6 - Fluctuating Schemes Chapter 7 - In the Wilderness Chapter 8 - The Puritan Maid Chapter 9 - Power Deferred: the Liberal Interlude Chapter 10 - Power Gained: the Colonial Office Chapter 11 - Joe’s War? Chapter 12 - Tariff Reform: the Final Struggle for Power Chapter 13 - Power Lost

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Book SynopsisMary Lou McDonald is the bookies' favourite to be Ireland's next Taoiseach. She would be the first woman to reach the office, and the first Sinn Féin leader ever to enter government in the Republic of Ireland. But how did a quintessentially bourgeois woman become the leader of a political party with such recent links to terrorism?This exhaustively researched biography unearths new details of her family background and her privileged education, as well as her initial foray into politics through the more traditional Fianna Fáil party. It explores her unusually late commitment to political life and traces her mysterious but meteoric rise through the ranks of Sinn Féin and her relentless drive to reach the top of the party.Scrupulously fair and balanced, Mary Lou McDonald illuminates its subject's political awakening and her interactions with the hard men of the IRA, while posing important questions about the evolution and future of Sinn Féin.Trade Review[A] lively, punchy biography...Ross tells it crisply, bringing it all together and lacing the plot line of her career with interesting anecdotes and occasionally his own acerbic analysis. * Irish Times *Ross has penned an engaging narrative of this chameleon's career so far. A fine achievement considering the party slammed every door it could in his face. * Irish Independent *Extremely well-written...an ideal Christmas present for those interested in current affairs * Sunday Times (Ireland) *Ross has done a thorough job... in which he articulates so well the doubts that will play in the mind of potential voters * Literary Review *Table of Contents1: The Skeleton in the Cupboard 2: From the Cradle to the Altar: A Politics-Free Zone 3: Into the Arms of Gerry Adams 4: The Anointing of Mary Lou: The Fast Track to Europe 5: Desperately Seeking a Dáil Seat 6: The Mansion in Cabra 7: A Star Takes the Dáil by Storm 8: Adams Calls the Shots 9: Playing the Cemetery Game 10: To Hell and Back 11: A United Ireland or Bust

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Book SynopsisYesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden exposes the forgotten history of Joe Biden, one of the United States' longest-serving politicians, and one of its least scrutinized.Over nearly fifty years in politics, the man called "Middle-Class Joe" served as a key architect of the Democratic Party's rightward turn, ushering in the end of the liberal New Deal order and enabling the political takeover of the radical right.Far from being a liberal stalwart, Biden often outdid even Reagan, Gingrich, and Bush, assisting the right-wing war against the working class, and ultimately paving the way for Trump.The most comprehensive political biography of someone who has tried for decades to be president, Yesterday's Man is an essential read for anyone interested in knowing the real Joe Biden and what he might do in office.Trade ReviewMeticulous * The National *

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Book SynopsisThe working hypothesis of this book is that the issue of leadership is neglected by mainstream democratic and liberal theories. This deficiency has especially become evident in the last three or four decades, which have witnessed a revival of deontological liberalism and radical theories of participatory and ''deliberative'' democracy. The contributors examine, discuss and evaluate descriptive, analytical and normative arguments regarding the role of leadership in liberal and democratic theory. The volume seeks to provoke debate and to foster new research on the significance and function of leaders in liberal democracies. The book (as a whole and in its constitutive chapters) works on two levels. First, it aims to expose the lack of systematic treatment of leadership in mainstream liberal and democratic theory. Second, it explores the reasons for this neglect. Overall, the book tries to convince the reader that liberal and democratic theories should revive the issue of leadership.

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Book SynopsisWhat drives Marine Le Pen and France's Front National? Has her party really changed its ways, or is she merely rebranding its old ideas and policies for a new era? In the age of Brexit and Trump, France too has seen a growing audience for identity-based politics. Under 'Marine', the FN is enjoying unprecedented success. But what's her secret? This is a probing investigation into the philosophy of Marine Le Pen's FN. It seeks answers in her speeches, in the history of French nationalism and in revealing interviews with those on the far right--including Jean-Marie Le Pen himself. Michel Eltchaninoff exposes a vision of France tyrannised by liberalism and seduced by the offer of an uncompromising alternative: a Republic 'beyond Left and Right', defined by its enemies and aligned with Putin's Russia. Whatever Marine Le Pen is thinking, she has not forgotten the FN's roots. The French far right is now stronger than ever.Trade Review'Michel Eltchaninoff's task is . . . an important and urgent one: to subject Le Pen's words to rigorous analysis, exposing their true meaning. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that the leopard has not changed its spots.''Drawing on interviews with many of the politicians and thinkers . . . close to . . . Le Pen [Eltchaninoff] . . . . persuasively show[s] how ideas that have shaped the culture [of Le Pen] have in turn shaped [her].''As President Macron tries to save the Eurozone and stabilise the continent, he faces no greater challenge than Marine Le Pen's Front National. This brilliant and carefully argued book shows how despite her efforts to project a more "acceptable" face the party remains the bastion of an anti-globalist, anti-capitalist, xenophobic, anti-European right which continues to borrow from classic anti-semitic tropes.' -- Brendan Simms, Professor of the History of International Relations, University of Cambridge, and author of 'Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, 1453 to the Present''This book will be of great interest to English readers. It says much about an important, and oddly neglected, political figure but Eltchaninoff also ranges more widely — introducing a range of figures who are influential in the Front National and the intellectual traditions to which they refer.' -- Richard Vinen, Professor of History, King’s College London, and author of 'The Unfree French: Life Under Occupation''In painting a vivid portrayal of the ideas that have shaped Marine Le Pen, Michel Eltchaninoff makes a big contribution to one of the most urgent undertakings of this political moment: to understand the authoritarian populists who are gaining more and more power across North America and Western Europe. An important book that is as engrossing as it is erudite.' -- Yascha Mounk, author of 'The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom is in Danger and How to Save It''There is no point in demonising Marine Le Pen. Instead we must understand the path she has beaten between the liberal right, which has abandoned traditional Gaullism, and the left, which has forgotten about those left behind. Eltchaninoff picks apart her writings, interviews and TV appearances to do just that.' -- Liberation'Marine Le Pen has changed the face of the FN. But Michel Eltchaninoff demonstrates with a sharp pen and a clear-eyed gaze that she hasn’t broken with any of the four pillars of the far right: the land, the people, life and myth. She has dusted them off.' * Marianne *'Marine Le Pen is reinvigorating [the FN] by reforming its ideology. The power of Michel Eltchaninoff’s book is to rip off the mask.' * Stéphane Rio, L’Université Syndicaliste *

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Book SynopsisXi Jinping wants to become the world's most powerful leader. To succeed, he must balance Mao's Little Red Book with the Analects of Confucius, and more. For Xi, the task ahead of China is to preserve the guiding ideology of Marxism, while challenging mistaken credos like neoliberalism, constitutional democracy, and 'universal values'. China must have total faith in its own brand of socialism, blended meaningfully with Chinese tradition. And this system must revolve around one man--around Xi and 'Xi-ism'. François Bougon's compelling biography exposes the historical, philosophical, political and personal narratives that Xi has skilfully woven together to create a superpower in his own image. Is Xi's China a land of 'new market totalitarianism'? Will this be the price of the Chinese dream?Trade Review'Bougon . . . peers into the black box of Xi’s ambitions and strategy.’'Compact and accessible.''One of the best features of 'Inside the Mind of Xi Jinping', an information-packed, briskly written and engaging work by François Bougon, is the way it makes sense of contradictions like these.' * Times Literary Supplement *‘[A] livel[y] and … accessible biograph[y] of the Chinese leader.’ -- New Statesman, 'Books of the Year 2022'‘Bougon . . . peers into the black box of Xi’s ambitions and strategy.’' An engaging analysis of Xi’s thinking based on the Chinese leader’s own words . . . it has much to offer as a guide to contemporary Chinese political thought.''A riveting biography, "Inside the Mind of Xi Jinping" delves deep into the mindset of the Chinese President.''An engrossing and vitally significant book.''A rare journalistic attempt . . . refreshing.''French journalist Bougon's compelling account delves deep into the mentality of the Chinese president . . . offer[ing] important insights for anyone interested in understanding the mindset of the current Chinese leader and the implications for China’s prospects. Timely, accessible, and concise.'A succinct account of the Xi Jinping phenomenon by an eyewitness to the key moments of his rise--but with a healthy dose of scepticism. Bougon sheds highly readable, and often humorous, light on China's seemingly omnipotent leader, and on how he is shaping our world. -- Kerry Brown, author of 'The World According to Xi'An excellent account of Xi Jinping's life and career, what drives him, and why he is different from his predecessors. Its range and depth are impressive. -- Jonathan Fenby, author of 'The Penguin History of Modern China'Timely and compact, 'Inside the Mind of Xi Jinping' probes China's current posture through the thinking of its most assured leader since Mao. Unlike his counterparts in the West, Xi emerges as cultured, capable, politically adept and unashamedly authoritarian. The world, no less than China, should take note. -- John Keay, author of 'China: A History'

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Book SynopsisThe British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour led an eventual premiership, but will always be remembered for the 'Balfour Declaration', in which he told Lord Rothschild that Britain 'favoured the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish People'.

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Book SynopsisAsquith's administration laid the foundation of Britain's welfare state, but he was plunged into a major power struggle with the House of Lords. The budget of 1909 was vetoed by the hereditary upper chamber, and in 1910 Asquith called and won two elections on this constitutional issue. The Lords eventually passed the 1911 Parliament Act, ending their veto of financial legislation. Asquith was Prime Minister on the outbreak of World War I, but his government fell in 1916 as a result of the 'Shells Scandal'.

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Book SynopsisThis is a biography of the Liberal British Prime Minister, 'Who Won the War'.

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Book SynopsisBonar Law was a prominent opponent of Home Rule for Ireland; he also served the shortest term of any of Britain's 20th century Prime Ministers. In 1922 he was responsible for ending the coalition.

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