Book picks similar to
To Build A Nation: Collected Writings 1975 1999 by Bruce Jesson
politics
18
journalism
letters-memoirs-essays
Bayou of Pigs: The True Story of an Audacious Plot to Turn a Tropical Island Into a Criminal Paradise
Stewart Bell - 2008
For two years, the gangleaders recruited manpower, wooed investors, forged links with the mob, stockpiled weapons, and planned their assault. They called it Operation Red Dog. They were going to make millions. All that stood in their way were two federal agents from Louisiana on the biggest case of their lives. Bayou of Pigs tells a remarkable story of foreign military intervention, revolutionary politics, greed, treachery, stupidity, deceit, and one of the most outlandish crimes ever attempted: the theft of a nation. Stewart Bell (Toronto, ON) is the author of Cold Terror (978-0-470-84056-6).
The Rise of the Outsiders: How the Anti-Establishment is on the March
Steve Richards - 2017
All over the world, people are angry and rejecting the establishment like never before. Britain votes Brexit. Trump promises walls in America. Corbyn promises a new socialism in the UK. Tsipras in Greece. Podemos in Spain. Marine Le Pen in France. Norbert Hofer in Austria. The list goes on. Why has the mainstream lost support? Why are the outsiders flourishing on far left and far right? Do they have the answers to our problems? In this landmark book, political journalist Steve Richards provides a captivating account of the defining political phenomenon of this decade. Telling the riveting story of how eccentrics, ideologues, and strong men are breaking the political rules, he asks why they're gaining support and examines the frightening implications of this new global rise in anti-establishment sentiment. Are we approaching a new age of populism, where democracy is eroded? The Rise of the Outsiders tackles all of these questions and more. Exploring how and if the mainstream can regain voters' trust, this is a book that no politically engaged reader can afford to miss.
Tescopoly
Andrew Simms - 2007
In his analysis, Andrew Simms, director of the acclaimed think-and-do-tank the New Economics Foundation, and in association with tescopoly.org, tackles a subject that none of us can afford to ignore - what supermarkets in general, and Tesco in particular, are doing to the way we think we live our lives.
In Our Time
Tom Wolfe - 1961
The drawings provide a retrospective of Wolfe's twenty-three years as a graphic artist.
Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders
Eric Cantor - 2010
But they believe the party had lost sight of the ideals it believes in, like economic freedom, limited government, the sanctity of life, and putting families first. This isn’t your grandfather’s Republican party. These Young Guns of the House GOP—Cantor (the leader), Ryan (the thinker), and McCarthy (the strategist)—are ready to take their belief in the principles that have made America great and translate it into solutions that will make the future even better, solutions that will create private sector jobs, maximize individual freedom, and establish a better world for our children. This groundbreaking book is a call to action that sets forth a plan for growth, opportunity, and commitment that will propel this country to prosperity once again. Together, the Young Guns are changing the face of the Republican party and giving us a new road map back to the American dream.
The New Thought Police: Inside the Left's Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds
Tammy Bruce - 2001
Like the Thought Police of George Orwell's 1984, powerful special interest groups on the Left are mounting a withering assault on our rights in the name of "social equality." Liberty has been turned on its ear as the rights of the few restrict the freedom of everyone. In The New Thought Police, author Tammy Bruce, a self-described lesbian feminist activist, cuts through the deluge of politically correct speech and thought codes to expose the dangerous rise of Left-wing McCarthyism. Provocative and persuasive, this book is a clarion call to anyone interested in preserving liberty.
Who Runs This Place?: The Anatomy of Britain in the 21st Century
Anthony Sampson - 2005
Now in this intensely topical book, he surveys a much more troubled scene with more anger and impatience. He looks at the whole panoply of power, from an embattled Number Ten to the murky intelligence spooks, from corporate boardrooms to banks and pension funds. Who Runs This Place? is written not just for those inside the Westminster Bubble. It is addressed in fresh and vivid terms to those who need to understand the institutions and careers they are choosing, and the bosses who will influence their whole future. And it comes at a time when the British people are clamoring to comprehend the secretive groups that pull the levers, behind the facades.
The Writing on the Wall: Why We Must Embrace China as a Partner or Face It as an Enemy
Will Hutton - 2006
In this provocative and stimulating book critically acclaimed author Will Hutton warns instead that China is running up against a set of daunting challenges from within its own political and economic system that could well derail its rise, leading to a massive shock to the global economy. The United States, he argues, must recognize that it has a vital stake in working to assure this doesn't happen, for if China's political liberalization and economic growth collapse, the United States will suffer crippling consequences.In today's highly globalized world economy, so much of the economic health of the United States -- our low inflation, high profits, and cheap credit -- rests upon China's economic growth and its massive investment in the United States. A great deal has been said about the economic and military threat China poses. But rather than provoking China with the military hawkishness of recent years and resisting Chinese economic supremacy with the saber rattling of protectionist antitrade policies -- twenty such bills have been introduced in Congress in just the last year -- the United States must build a strong relationship that will foster China's transition from an antiquated Communist state beset with profound problems to a fully modern, enlightened, and open society. Doing so will require understanding and engagement, not enmity and suspicion.China's current economic model, Hutton explains, is unsustainable, premised as it is on the myriad contradictions and dysfunctions of an authoritarian state attempting to control an economy in its transition to capitalism. If the twenty-first century is to be the China century, the Chinese will have to embrace the features of modern Western nations that have spurred the political stability and economic power of the United States and Europe: the rule of law, an independent judiciary, freedom of the press, and authentic representative government that is accountable to the people. Whether or not China does so rests in large part on how well the United States manages the relationship and persuades the Chinese of the virtues of an open, enlightened democratic system. The danger is that fearmongering will intensify animosities, leading both countries down a path of peril.Turning conventional wisdom on its head, this brilliantly argued book is vital reading at a crucial juncture in world affairs.
WTF: What have we done? Why did it happen? How do we take back control?
Robert Peston - 2017
Brexit, Trump, the recent British and French elections saw millions of people shouting that they were sick to death of things never getting better. In WTF Robert Peston gives us his highly personal account of what those who have ruled us for years got so badly wrong, and what we need to do to mend the terrible fractures in our society.Peston wrote WTF because the elections of Trump, the Corbyn surge, the vote for Brexit all challenged how he thought the world could and should be run. With characteristic passion and clarity he looks at how and whether it is possible to make a success of leaving the EU, what the lessons should be of the appalling Grenfell Tower tragedy, whether robots can be stopped from taking our work, what can be done to staunch the widening gap between rich and poor, how to raise living standards for all, and what must happen to prevent democracy being subverted by technocratic geniuses with the ability to manipulate social media. These are the challenges of our age, because the combination of economic stagnation and a technological revolution is killing jobs, enriching the few and undermining the institutions we used to trust as the foundations of the state. What and who can we believe when it is almost impossible to know whether posts on Facebook and Twitter are hard news or the fabrication of a Russian agent?As in his bestsellers, WHO RUNS BRITAIN? and HOW DO WE FIX THIS MESS?, Robert Peston draws on his years of experience as a political, economics and business journalist, to show us what has gone bad, and gives us a manifesto to put at least some of it right. WTF is a trenchant, often entertaining account of the recent past. It is also a call to action, giving hope to all of us who believe that taking back control is not only vital, but possible.
The QI Annual: E
John Lloyd - 2007
This work is packed with original contributions from Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Jo Brand, Bill Bailey and other regular guests on the show, with games to play at home, puzzles, cartoon strips, mini-encyclopaedias, how-to diagrams and masses of QI facts. If you want to read Julian Clary's poetry about the Queen, Roger Law's musings on flatulent kangaroos, or have often wondered how you might make a waterproof apron out of a whale's foreskin, your Christmas gift dilemma has just been solved. Warning: very silly indeed. Will offend dullards, whales and parents in no particular order.
An Almost Perfect Murder
Gary C. King - 2008
In politics, she rose to the top by playing hardball - and pushing her way through the old boy's network of the Nevada legislature, rising to the rank of State Controller. When she died, only a few people shed tears - including the man who killed her.Chaz Higgs was a former body-builder turned intensive care nurse who saw wealthy, sexy Kathy Augustine as his meal-ticker - until he couldn't stomach her domineering personality any longer. When Chaz decided he'd had enough, he chose a poison that would leave no evidence behind.The death of a nationally-known politician made headlines, but one slip of the tongue came to the attention of a determined Nevada detective. Now, true-crime master Gary C. King takes us into the extraordinary life and death of a famously ambitious woman politician, behind the scenes of the investigation that unearthed stocking secrets, and into the heart and mind of a man who nearly got away with the perfect crime.
Remembering Pinochet's Chile: On the Eve of London 1998
Steve J. Stern - 2004
Stern had been in Chile collecting oral histories of life under Pinochet as part of an investigation into the form and meaning of memories of state-sponsored atrocities. In this compelling work, Stern shares the recollections of individual Chileans and draws on their stories to provide a framework for understanding memory struggles in history.“A thoughtful, nuanced study of how Chileans remember the traumatic 1973 coup by Augusto Pinochet against Salvador Allende and the nearly two decades of military government that followed. . . . In light of the recent revelations of American human rights abuses of Iraqi prisoners, [Stern’s] insights into the legacies of torture and abuse in the Chilean prisons of the 1970s certainly have contemporary significance for any society that undergoes a national trauma.”—Publishers Weekly“This outstanding work of scholarship sets a benchmark in the history of state terror, trauma, and memory in Latin America.”—Thomas Miller Klubock, American Historical Review“This is a book of uncommon depth and introspection. . . . Steve J. Stern has not only advanced the memory of the horrors of the military dictatorship; he has assured the place of Pinochet’s legacy of atrocity in our collective conscience.”—Peter Kornbluh, author of The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability“Steve J. Stern’s book elegantly recounts the conflicted recent history of Chile. He has found a deft solution to the knotty problem of evenhandedness in representing points of view so divergent they defy even the most careful attempts to portray the facts of the Pinochet period. He weaves a tapestry of memory in which narratives of horror and rupture commingle with the sincere perceptions of Chileans who remember Pinochet’s rule as salvation. The facts are there, but more important is the understanding we gain by knowing how ordinary Chileans—Pinochet’s supporters and his victims—work through their unresolved past.”—John Dinges, author of The Condor Years: How Pinochet and His Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Continents
Shooting Straight: Guns, Gays, God, and George Clooney
Piers Morgan - 2013
Love him or hate him, it’s undeniable that Morgan is one of the most talked-about, controversial figures in the media today. From gun control and gay marriage to religion and pop icons, he tackles the hot-button topics head on. In Shooting Straight, he discusses candidly his refusal to bend to public pressure or political correctness, from his childhood in England to his career as a tabloid editor to his meteoric rise to fame in the United States. Offering an inside view of the real-time drama behind covering huge breaking news stories such as the killing of Osama bin Laden, Hurricane Sandy, and the massacre at Newtown, Morgan’s account is a riveting, no-holds-barred depiction of an adrenaline-fueled life anchoring a nightly news show in the world’s most ruthless, competitive, and pressurized media marketplace.Written in a compelling diary format, Shooting Straight provides a heartfelt account of Morgan’s extraordinary new life and his continuing love affair with America. Shocking, funny, and incisive, it proves once again why Piers Morgan has taken the world by storm.
The Establishment: And How They Get Away with It
Owen Jones - 2014
In exposing this shadowy and complex system that dominates our lives, Owen Jones sets out on a journey into the heart of our Establishment, from the lobbies of Westminster to the newsrooms, boardrooms and trading rooms of Fleet Street and the City. Exposing the revolving doors that link these worlds, and the vested interests that bind them together, Jones shows how, in claiming to work on our behalf, the people at the top are doing precisely the opposite. In fact, they represent the biggest threat to our democracy today - and it is time they were challenged.Owen Jones may have the face of a baby and the voice of George Formby but he is our generation's Orwell and we must cherish him (Russell Brand)This is the most important book on the real politics of the UK in my lifetime, and the only one you will ever need to read. You will be enlightened and angry (Irvine Welsh)Owen Jones displays a powerful combination of cool analysis and fiery anger in this dissection of the profoundly and sickeningly corrupt state that is present-day Britain. He is a fine writer, and this is a truly necessary book (Philip Pullman)