47 Percent: Uncovering the Romney Video That Rocked the 2012 Election


David Corn - 2012
    In 47 Percent, Corn recounts how the 47 percent video fit into the ongoing narrative of the 2012 election and greatly changed the course of the campaign. This instant, on-the-news book also features an astute review of the first debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate as they head into the final stretch of this historical election.

Revolutionary Rehearsals


Colin Barker - 2008
    They demonstrate that workers can and will fight back on a mass scale.Each episode offers an inspiring glimpse of the way in which workers rise to the challenge of fighting for a better world—and pose their own alternative to the system.Although none of these struggles ultimately achieved their goals, they were "revolutionary rehearsals" that hold important lessons about the struggle for socialism under modern conditions.

How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future


Steven Levitsky - 2018
    Democracy no longer ends with a bang--in a revolution or military coup--but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one.Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die--and how ours can be saved.

Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation


David A. French - 2020
    Two decades into the 21st Century, the U.S. is less united than at any time in our history since the Civil War. We are more diverse in our beliefs and culture than ever before. But red and blue states, secular and religious groups, liberal and conservative idealists, and Republican and Democratic representatives all have one thing in common: each believes their distinct cultures and liberties are being threatened by an escalating violent opposition. This polarized tribalism, espoused by the loudest, angriest fringe extremists on both the left and the right, dismisses dialogue as appeasement; if left unchecked, it could very well lead to secession.An engaging mix of cutting edge research and fair-minded analysis, Divided We Fall is an unblinking look at the true dimensions and dangers of this widening ideological gap, and what could happen if we don't take steps toward bridging it. French reveals chilling, plausible scenarios of how the United States could fracture into regions that will not only weaken the country but destabilize the world.But our future is not written in stone. By implementing James Madison’s vision of pluralism—that all people have the right to form communities representing their personal values—we can prevent oppressive factions from seizing absolute power and instead maintain everyone’s beliefs and identities across all fifty states.Reestablishing national unity will require the bravery to commit ourselves to embracing qualities of kindness, decency, and grace towards those we disagree with ideologically. French calls on all of us to demonstrate true tolerance so we can heal the American divide. If we want to remain united, we must learn to stand together again.

Post-Apocalyptic Box Set: Ava's Crucible: A Saga of America's Coming Civil War


Mark Goodwin - 2019
    An Unlikely Heroine. The Second American Civil War. The deck is stacked against twenty-nine-year-old Ava. She’s a fighter, but she’s got trust issues and doesn’t always make the best decisions. Her personal complications aren’t without merit, but America is on the verge of a second civil war, and Ava must pull it together if she wants to survive.Trouble seems to follow Ava where ever she goes. The onset of the Second American Civil War should be no different. Caught in a vicious protest, she’ll have to do the unthinkable to stay alive.Life only gets more difficult for Ava when she spots a sinister figure watching her every move. Who is the strange man with the scar on his face and what does he want with Ava? Political discord between right and left has reached the flashpoint. Hostile rhetoric has given way to bloodshed and brutality. The tentacles of the deep state have infiltrated every facet of American culture. The public education system, entertainment industry, and mainstream media have all been hijacked by a shadow government intent on fomenting a communist revolution in the United States. The antagonistic message of this agenda has poisoned the minds of America’s youth who are convinced that capitalism and conservatism are responsible for all the ills of the world. Violent protest and widespread destruction will bring America to her knees. Don’t miss this chilling tale of America’s Civil War 2.0! Start reading today and get a glimpse of the dark future in store for our country. This is the complete three-book box set including:Book One: Divided We FallBook Two: Embers of EmpireBook Three: United We StandAs with all books by Mark Goodwin, this book contains no profanity and no embarrassing sex scenes. However, if you're offended by conservative principles and references to Scripture, this book might not be for you.

The Gatekeeper


Kate Fall - 2020
    During some of the most significant political events of our times – the Arab Spring, the financial crash and a European referendum that has changed the face of British politics forever – she sat right outside the door of the Prime Minister’s office, earning herself the title of ‘gatekeeper’.Fall takes us through the Cameron project, from its inception to coalition, reshuffles, political scandals, two general elections and three referendums. She speaks frankly and honestly about the Conservatives’ key players, their project to modernise the party, how the coalition worked (and how it didn’t). Shedding light on the world behind the public façade of politics, she reveals what it is like to be a woman at the heart of power: the blood, sweat and toil, the victories and regrets, the friendships and fall outs, the chaos and camaraderie.Politics tests any relationship with its conflicting priorities of loyalty, belief, and personal ambition. The Gatekeeper is a very personal portrait of life behind the scenes at the centre of power.

Them: Why We Hate Each Other - and How to Heal


Ben Sasse - 2018
    We all know it.American life expectancy is declining for a third straight year. Birth rates are dropping. Nearly half of us think the other political party isn’t just wrong; they’re evil. We’re the richest country in history, but we’ve never been more pessimistic. What’s causing the despair?In Them, bestselling author and U.S. Senator Ben Sasse argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, our crisis isn’t really about politics. It’s that we’re so lonely we can’t see straight—and it bubbles out as anger. Local communities are collapsing. Across the nation, little leagues are disappearing, Rotary clubs are dwindling, and in all likelihood, we don’t know the neighbor two doors down. Work isn’t what we’d hoped: less certainty, few lifelong coworkers, shallow purpose. Stable families and enduring friendships—life’s fundamental pillars—are in statistical freefall. As traditional tribes of place evaporate, we rally against common enemies so we can feel part of on a team. No institutions command widespread public trust, enabling foreign intelligence agencies to use technology to pick the scabs on our toxic divisions. We’re in danger of half of us believing different facts than the other half, and the digital revolution throws gas on the fire. There’s a path forward—but reversing our decline requires something radical: a rediscovery of real places and real human-to-human relationships. Even as technology nudges us to become rootless, Sasse shows how only a recovery of rootedness can heal our lonely souls.America wants you to be happy, but more urgently, America needs you to love your neighbor. Fixing what’s wrong with the country depends on you rebuilding right where you’re planted.

Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity


Lilliana Mason - 2018
    For the first time in more than twenty years, research has shown that members of both parties hold strongly unfavorable views of their opponents. This is polarization rooted in social identity, and it is growing. The campaign and election of Donald Trump laid bare this fact of the American electorate, its successful rhetoric of “us versus them” tapping into a powerful current of anger and resentment.             With Uncivil Agreement, Lilliana Mason looks at the growing social gulf across racial, religious, and cultural lines, which have recently come to divide neatly between the two major political parties. She argues that group identifications have changed the way we think and feel about ourselves and our opponents. Even when Democrats and Republicans can agree on policy outcomes, they tend to view one other with distrust and to work for party victory over all else. Although the polarizing effects of social divisions have simplified our electoral choices and increased political engagement, they have not been a force that is, on balance, helpful for American democracy. Bringing together theory from political science and social psychology, Uncivil Agreement clearly describes this increasingly “social” type of polarization in American politics and will add much to our understanding of contemporary politics.

Socialism: Past and Future


Michael Harrington - 1989
    The author of The Other America--which remains a classic nearly 30 years after its original publication--expounds upon the evolving nature of socialism, where it has been and where it is going, in this magnificent work destined to become the definitive treatise on American socialist theory.

I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom up


Jesse Ventura - 1999
    In his own words, the feisty governor of Minnesota takes on bloated government, career politicians, and apathetic voters, and tells the wildly colorful story of his days as a navy SEAL, his nights in the pro-wrestling ring, and his experiences in films.

Marxism and Terrorism


Leon Trotsky - 1995
    But it has been the terror of the capitalist rulers against which an outraged majority eventually rises. Trotsky explains why the working class is the only social force capable of leading the toiling majority in overthrowing the capitalist exploiters and beginning the construction of a new society and why individual terrorism -- whatever its intention -- relegates the workers to the role of spectators and opens the workers movement to provocation and victimization.

The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics


David Goodhart - 2017
    In fact, they were merely experiencing the same feeling that many British people have felt every day for years.Fifty years ago, people in leafy North London and people in working-class Northern towns could vote for a Labour party that broadly encompassed all of their interests. Today their priorities are poles apart.In this groundbreaking and timely book, Goodhart shows us how people have come to be divided into two camps: the 'Anywheres', who have 'achieved' identities, derived from their careers and education, and 'Somewheres', who get their identity from a sense of place and from the people around them, and who feel a sense of loss due to mass immigration and rapid social change.In a world increasingly divided by Brexit and Trump, Goodhart shows how Anywheres must come to understand and respect Somewhere values to stand a fighting chance against the rise of populism.

A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism


Adam Gopnik - 2019
    The crisis of democracy in our era has produced a crisis of faith in liberal institutions and, even worse, in liberal thought. A Thousand Small Sanities is a manifesto rooted in the lives of people who invented and extended the liberal tradition. Taking us from Montaigne to Mill, and from Middlemarch to the civil rights movement, Adam Gopnik argues that liberalism is not a form of centrism, nor simply another word for free markets, nor merely a term denoting a set of rights. It is something far more ambitious: the search for radical change by humane measures. Gopnik shows us why liberalism is one of the great moral adventures in human history -- and why, in an age of autocracy, our lives may depend on its continuation.

No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need


Naomi Klein - 2017
    It is also an attempt to predict how, under cover of shocks and crises, it could get a lot worse. And it’s a plan for how, if we keep our heads, we might just be able to flip the script and arrive at a radically better future.”–From the Introduction Donald Trump’s takeover of the White House is a dangerous escalation in a world of cascading crises. His reckless agenda—including a corporate coup in government, aggressive scapegoating and warmongering, and sweeping aside climate science to set off a fossil fuel frenzy—will generate waves of disasters and shocks to the economy, national security, and the environment. Acclaimed journalist, activist, and bestselling author Naomi Klein has spent two decades studying political shocks, climate change, and “brand bullies.” From this unique perspective, she argues that Trump is not an aberration but a logical extension of the worst, most dangerous trends of the past half-century—the very conditions that have unleashed a rising tide of white nationalism the world over. It is not enough, she tells us, to merely resist, to say “no.” Our historical moment demands more: a credible and inspiring “yes,” a roadmap to reclaiming the populist ground from those who would divide us—one that sets a bold course for winning the fair and caring world we want and need. This timely, urgent book from one of our most influential thinkers offers a bracing positive shock of its own, helping us understand just how we got here, and how we can, collectively, come together and heal.

Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think


George Lakoff - 1996
    For this new edition, Lakoff adds a preface and an afterword extending his observations to major ideological conflicts since the book's original publication, from the impeachment of Bill Clinton to the 2000 presidential election and its aftermath.