Politics & Current Events
Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill (1912-1994) is most closely associated with the truism “all politics is local.” One meaning of the observation is that politics must have a base of pragmatic neighborhood reality. It is not all theory; it is not all anticipation of demographics; it is not an imposition from above but an attention to grassroots. For years I resisted breaking out my political books to a page of their own because the topic seemed so ephemeral, so transitory. Well, what is the web but superb access to the ephemeral? I will try NOT to include too much history here or to stack the deck, so to speak, with partisan books. On the other hand, what is available is what is available — the only criteria is good writing, good sourcing, and some accordance with what my customers may be interested in. In that way, I am keeping it local, as per Speaker O’Neill. It will grow with time and a broadening definition of what is politics and what is a current event.
Robert Kennedy and His Times [40th Anniversary Edition]
Robert Kennedy and His Times [40th Anniversary Edition]
“An absorbing and vividly written study of a gallant and tragic man.”—Boston Globe
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., chronicles the short life of the Kennedy family’s second presidential hopeful in “a story that leaves the reader aching for what cannot be recaptured” (Miami Herald). Schlesinger’s account vividly recalls the forces that shaped Robert Kennedy, from his position as the third son of a powerful Irish Catholic political clan to his concern for issues of social justice in the turbulent 1960s. Robert Kennedy and His Times is “a picture of a deeply compassionate man hiding his vulnerability, drawn to the underdogs and the unfortunates in society by his life experiences and sufferings” (Los Angeles Times).
This Fortieth Anniversary Edition contains not only Schlesinger’s illuminating and inspiring portrait of Robert Kennedy, but a new introduction by Michael Beschloss, in which the acclaimed best-selling author and historian discusses the book’s initial reception, Schlesinger’s thoughts on it, and expounds on why Robert Kennedy is still such an important figure today.
“An inspiring account of what it was like to be at Robert Kennedy’s side and why he and many like him felt that vision and virtue walked with them.”—Business Week