21st century

"When Phil Klay left the Marines a decade ago, after serving as an officer in Iraq, he found himself part of the community of veterans who have no choice but to grapple with the meaning of their wartime experiences-for themselves and for the country. American identity has always been bound up in war-from the revolutionary war of our founding, to the civil war that ended slavery, to the two world wars that launched America as a superpower. What did the current wars say about who we are as a country, and how should we respond as citizens? Unlike previous eras of war, few other Americans have had to do any real grappling with the endless, invisible wars of the post-9/11 world at all; in fact, increasingly, few people are even aware they are still going on. It's as if there's a dark star with a strong gravitational force that draws a relatively small number of soldiers and their families into its orbit, while remaining inconspicuous to most other Americans. In the meantime, the consequences of American military action abroad may be out of sight and out of mind, but they are very real indeed. This chasm between military and civilian in American life, and the moral blind spot it has created, is one of the great themes of Uncertain Ground, Phil Klay's powerful series of reckonings in essay form over the past ten years with some of our country's thorniest concerns. In the name of what do we ask young Americans to kill, and to die? In the name of what does this country hang together? As we see at every turn in these pages, those two questions have a great deal to do with one another, and how we answer them will go a long way toward deciding where our troubled country goes from here"--.

"Anthology of curated essays addressing QAnon and conspiracy theories--why they begin, how they catch fire, and how they affect politics and society"--Provided by publisher.

"In the year before Donald Trump was elected president, Jordan Blashek, a Republican Marine, and Chris Haugh, a Democrat and son of a single mother from Berkeley, California, formed an unlikely friendship. Jordan was fresh off his service in the Marines and feeling a bit out of place at Yale Law School. Chris was yearning for a sense of mission after leaving Washington D.C. Over the months, Jordan and Chris's friendship blossomed not in spite of, but because of, their political differences. So they decided to hit the road in search of reasons to strengthen their bond in an eraof strife and partisanship. What follows is a three-year adventure story, across forty-four states and along 20,000 miles of road to find out exactly where the American experiment stands at the close of the second decade of the twenty-first century"--Amazon.

The congressman who led the first impeachment of Donald Trump, and who became the president's chief antagonist, presents an inside account of American democracy . . . and how its future is more uncertain than ever.

"According to commentator and lawyer Elie Mystal, Republicans are wrong when they tell you the First Amendment allows religious fundamentalists to discriminate against gay people who like cake. They're wrong when they tell you the Second Amendment protects the right to own a private arsenal. They're wrong when they say the death penalty isn't cruel or unusual punishment, and they're wrong when they tell you we have no legal remedies for the scourge of police violence against people of color. In fact, Mystal argues, Republicans are wrong about the law almost all of the time, and now, instead of talking about this on cable news, Mystal explains why in his first book"--Provided by publisher.

Tells the story of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from her life growing up in East Germany to her political rise and success as the Chancellor.

"For Americans, 2020 was a year in which hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in a deadly pandemic. Meanwhile, protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against racial injustice, terrible storms and wildfires swepts across the country, and a divisive . . . campaign for the presidency dominated life. [This book] examines these issues and their impacts on life in America"--Provided by publisher.

Frustration and anger spilled into the streets in 2020 after yet another Black man was killed by police. George Floyd's death in Minneapolis sparked a huge outpouring of outrage and grief as protests spread to cities all across the nation and the world. Protesters from all walks of life have demanded change because Black Americans should not be afraid to walk or jog or drive on city streets-and they should not have to fear encounters with police.

Text and photographs look at the friendship of Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen, featuring conversations, about life, music, and their enduring love of America.