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.
War
War
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward tells the revelatory, behind-the-scenes story of three wars—Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American Presidency.
War is an intimate and sweeping account of one of the most tumultuous periods in presidential politics and American history.
We see President Joe Biden and his top advisers in tense conversations with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. We also see Donald Trump, conducting a shadow presidency and seeking to regain political power.
With unrivaled, inside-the-room reporting, Woodward shows President Biden’s approach to managing the war in Ukraine, the most significant land war in Europe since World War II, and his tortured path to contain the bloody Middle East conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
Woodward reveals the extraordinary complexity and consequence of wartime back-channel diplomacy and decision-making to deter the use of nuclear weapons and a rapid slide into World War III.
The raw cage-fight of politics accelerates as Americans prepare to vote in 2024, starting between President Biden and Trump, and ending with the unexpected elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president.
War provides an unvarnished examination of the vice president as she tries to embrace the Biden legacy and policies while beginning to chart a path of her own as a presidential candidate.
Woodward’s reporting once again sets the standard for journalism at its most authoritative and illuminating.