politics and government

"Acclaimed journalist Simon Shuster gives us the first inside account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team, who granted him unprecedented access"--.

"Walking the halls of democracy as a Capitol Police officer, Harry Dunn was a man slowly experiencing an awakening. It sparked after the election of our first Black president. It grew as his belief in the bravery and honor of law enforcement was shaken by Ferguson and countless other cases of police brutality towards Black people. It continued to burn brighter as he watched members of Congress, many of whom he had befriended, lose their way to partisanship, as political extremism intensified. And it exploded into a blaze when he fought side by side with his fellow officers on January 6th, when democracy and their lives were threatened. "Standing My Ground" provides a crucial, definitive, and first-hand account of what happened that day our world was shocked to its core. But it also shares the story of a man who refused to stay quiet when he learned that some of the men and women he had risked his life protecting, who knew him by name, would deny the horrors they faced. That's when he chose to speak up and to seek out what his hero John Lewis once termed "good trouble." Dunn's ongoing story as a witness willing to meaningfully engage with the media, lawmakers, and the public provides a backdrop for examining the political and racial divide in this country-one that we must overcome in order to demand accountability and preserve our precious democracy"--.

"The first woman ever to issue the threat of a nuclear-weapons strike is not even officially a head of state. Kim Yo Jong is the sister of North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, and as their murderous regime's chief propagandist, internal administrator, and foreign policymaker, the most powerful woman in North Korean history. Cruel but charming, she threatens and insults foreign leaders with sardonic wit, issuing proclamations and denunciations in her own name, a first for any woman in the Korean royal family. She was brought up to believe it is her mission to reunite North Korea with the South or die trying. She is ruthless and incredibly dangerous. 'The Sister' is [an] account of the mysterious world of North Korea and its ruling dynasty--a family whose lust for power entails the brutal repression of civilians, a missile program that can reach the continental United States, and the constant threat of global havoc"--Provided by publisher.

"From a smattering of ominous right-wing compounds in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, to the shocking January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, America has seen the culmination of a long-building war on democracy being waged by a fundamentally violent and antidemocratic far-right movement that unironically calls itself the "Patriot" movement. So how did we get here? Award-winning journalist David Neiwert--who has been following the rise of these extremist groups since the late 1970s, when he was a young reporter in Idaho--explores how the movement was built over decades, how it was set aflame by Donald Trump and his cohorts, and how it will continue to attack American democracy for the foreseeable future. Neiwert especially studies how the Pacific Northwest has long been a breeding ground of extremist violence, from the time when neo-nazis migrated to the area from southern California in the 1970s, through the great battles in Portland and Seattle and neighboring towns over the last decade. Laying out how these groups organize their terroristic violence and attacks on democratic institutions at every level--including local, state, and federal targets--Neiwert details what their strategies and plans look like for the foreseeable future"--.

"[This book] reveals how FDR confronted an American public disinterested in going to war in Europe, skillfully won their support, and pushed government and American industry to build the greatest war machine in history"--Provided by publisher.

Cassidy Hutchinson's desk was a mere steps from the most controversial president in recent American history. Now she provides an account of her experiences as an idealistic young woman thrust into the middle of a national crisis, where she risked everything to tell the truth about some of the most powerful people in Washington.

"From journalist and historian Steve Inskeep, a compelling and nuanced exploration of the political acumen of Abraham Lincoln via sixteen encounters before and during his presidency, bringing to light not only the strategy of a great politician who inherited a country divided, but lessons for our own disorderly present. In 1855, as the United States found itself at odds over the issue of slavery, then lawyer Abraham Lincoln composed a note on the matter to his close friend, the heir to a slaveholding family in the South. Lincoln--who was morally against the institution of slavery--rebuked his friend for his opposing views, he lectured him, he challenged him. But in the end, he wrote: "If for this you and I must differ, differ we must." Throughout his life and political career, Lincoln often agreed to disagree. Democracy demanded it--even an adversary had a vote"--Provided by publisher.

"Two disparate Americas have always coexisted. In this thoroughly researched, engaging and ultimately hopeful story of our nation's divergent roots, Seth David Radwell clearly links the fascinating history of the two American Enlightenments to our raging political division. He also demonstrates that reasoned analysis and historical perspective are the only antidote to irrational political discourse."Did my vision of America ever exist at all, or was it but a myth?" Searching for a fresh and distinctive perspective on the recent corrosion of our civic life, Radwell's very personal and yet broadly shared question propelled his search back to our nation's founding for a fresh and distinctive perspective on the recent corrosion of our civic life - and led to a surprising discovery. Today's battles reflect the fundamentally divergent visions of our country that emerged at our nation's founding and have been vying for prominence ever since. The founding principles that shaped the United States may be rooted in the Enlightenment era. But the origin of our dual Americas is a product of two distinct Enlightenments - Radical and Moderate."--.

The march to the Trump presidency began in 1988, when Rush Limbaugh went national. Brian Rosenwald charts the transformation of AM radio entertainers into political kingmakers. By giving voice to the conservative base, they reshaped the Republican Party and fostered demand for a president who sounded as combative and hyperbolic as a talk show host.--.

""It is impossible to understand China today without understanding the Cultural Revolution," Tania Branigan writes. During this decade of Maoist fanaticism between 1966 and 1976, children turned on parents, students condemned teachers, and as many as two million people died for their supposed political sins, while tens of millions were hounded, ostracized, and imprisoned. Yet in China this brutal and turbulent period exists, for the most part, as an absence; official suppression and personal trauma have conspired in national amnesia. Red Memory uncovers forty years of silence through the stories of individuals who lived through the madness"--Provided by publisher.