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17644-1
Robert Shogan
The Riddle of Power
Los Angeles Times reporter, Robert Shogan discussed his book, The Riddle of Power: Presidential Leadership from Truman to Bush. Based on his thirty years in journalism, Mr. Shogan decided to assess the last seven presidents of the United States to try and solve the riddle of how presidents translate their constitutiona...
1991-04-21T00:00:00
0452267714
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/17644-1
162328-1
William Cooper
Jefferson Davis, American
A comprehensive examination of the public and private life of the West Point graduate who fought in the Mexican War and became Secretary of War in the Pierce administration, an influential U.S. Senator from Mississippi, and eventually the first and only President of the Confederate States.
2001-04-08T00:00:00
0394569164
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/162328-1
94696-1
Paul Nagel
John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life
Two decades ago, Paul Nagel experienced a change of heart as a person and as a writer. For thirty years, he had participated in university life as an historian and administrator. During that time, he continued the scholarly interests he had developed in graduate school. This meant he wrote sometimes impenetrable books ...
1998-01-04T00:00:00
0679404449
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/94696-1
75609-1
Andrew Ferguson
Fools' Names, Fools' Faces
Mr. Ferguson talked about his recent book, Fools' Names, Fools' Faces, published by Atlantic Monthly Press. It is a collection of essays from 1986 to the present. He talked about his years of covering Washington politics and some of the scathing remarks he made about both Republicans and Democrats in the book. He also ...
1996-11-03T00:00:00
0871136511
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/75609-1
71073-1
David Reynolds
Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography
Professor Reynolds talked about his recent book, Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography, published by Alfred A. Knopf. He analyzed Whitman's contradictory stances on race, class and gender which came from his close relationship with the social and cultural milieu of contemporaty Jacksonian culture through not onl...
1996-04-28T00:00:00
0679767096
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/71073-1
160073-1
Martin Goldsmith
The Inextinguishable Symphony
Set amid the growing tyranny of Germany's Third Reich, here is the riveting and emotional tale of Gunther Goldschmidt and Rosemarie Gumpert, two courageous Jewish musicians who struggled to perform under unimaginable circumstances—and found themselves falling in love in a country bent on destroying them. In the spring ...
2001-01-07T00:00:00
0471350974
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/160073-1
164961-1
Walter Berns
Making Patriots
Samuel Johnson once remarked that "patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels," but is he right? Recent events such as the bombing of federal buildings and the formation of threatening militias in the name of patriotism suggest that he may have been on to something. But the United States has also seen its share of her...
2001-08-19T00:00:00
0226044378
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/164961-1
59514-1
Merrill Peterson
Lincoln in American Memory
Professor Peterson discussed his new book Lincoln in American Memory. The book focuses on the effect the administration of Abraham Lincoln has had on governing in the U.S. He also spoke about the reasons he decided to write the book.
1994-08-14T00:00:00
0195096452
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/59514-1
184075-1
Peter Wallner
Franklin Pierce: New Hampshire's Favorite Son
—from the publisher's website The most recent biography of Franklin Pierce was published nearly seventy-five years ago. Yet the nation’s least known president is also one of the most charming, charismatic, and interesting men to ever hold the nation’s highest office. Described by his best friend Nathaniel Hawthrone as ...
2004-11-28T00:00:00
0975521616
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/184075-1
11988-1
Michael Barone
Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan
Mr. Barone discussed his recent book Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan, published by The Free Press. He talked about America's leadership from the Roosevelt administration through President Reagan with emphasis on the country's political and economic development.
1990-04-22T00:00:00
0029018625
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/11988-1
7773-1
Stanley Karnow
In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines
Stanley Karnow, author of "In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines," traces America's colonial experience in the Philippines. Beginning with the U.S. victory over the Spanish at Manila in 1898, Karnow discusses the process of "Americanization" and the impact of U.S. policies on the Philippines. Significant ev...
1989-05-28T00:00:00
0345328167
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/7773-1
109118-1
Barbara Crossette
The Great Hill Stations of Asia
For Europeans and later Americans, the civil administrator and his clerk, the merchant and the missionary, daily life was less a matter of advancing the glory of God or empire than a daily battle for physical survival. Throughout Asia, colonialists established "hill stations" as cool retreats from unfamiliar and often ...
1998-08-23T00:00:00
0813333261
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/109118-1
65858-1
DeWayne Wickham
Woodholme: A Black Man's Story of Growing Up Alone
DeWayne Wickham discussed his book, "Woodholme: A Black Man's Story of Growing Up Alone," published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It focuses on how he dealt with growing up in a Baltimore project after his father murdered his mother and then committed suicide when he was eight years old. He also talked about his long i...
1995-07-09T00:00:00
0374292833
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/65858-1
168015-1
Randall Kennedy
Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
Nigger : it is arguably the most consequential social insult in American history, though, at the same time, a word that reminds us of the ironies and dilemmas, tragedies and glories of the American experience. In this tour de force, distinguished Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy author of the highly acclaim...
2002-03-03T00:00:00
0375421726
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/168015-1
66914-1
Emory Thomas
Robert E. Lee: A Biography
Professor Emory Thomas discussed his book, "Robert E. Lee: A Biography," published by W.W. Norton. The book covers Lee's family background and Civil War career. General Lee lived only five years after the end of the war, during which time he was president of a small college. Professor Thomas discussed the image of Gene...
1995-09-10T00:00:00
0393316319
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/66914-1
10631-1
John Barry
The Ambition & the Power
John Barry describes his book The Ambition and the Power as "a case study of how Washington really works." Barry looks at the consolidation of power by House speaker Jim Wright and follows Wright through his resignation after charges were made against him by the House ethics committee. In this interview, Barry discusse...
1990-01-14T00:00:00
0831783028
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/10631-1
8879-1
Jack Germond
Whose Broad Stripes & Bright Stars
In their book, Whose Broad Stripes and Bright Stars: The Trivial Pursuit of the Presidency 1988, Germond and Witcover give a retrospective analysis of the 1988 presidential election. Calling the campaign a "tug-of-war over the flag," they discuss the patriotic issues that arose and are critical of the manner in which t...
1989-08-27T00:00:00
0517074532
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/8879-1
172182-1
Charles Slack
Noble Obsession
—from the publisher's website A gripping odyssey of intense rivalry -- and the race to create the miracle substance of the industrial age: rubber. Rubber was to the 1830s what the Internet boom was to the 1990s: a flawed but potentially world-altering discovery that made and destroyed fortunes. It took the vision, cour...
2002-10-27T00:00:00
0786867892
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/172182-1
65870-1
Armstrong Williams
Beyond Blame: How We Can Succeed by Breaking the Dependency Barrier
Armstrong Williams discussed his book, "Beyond Blame: How We Can Succeed by Breaking the Dependency Barrier," published by the Free Press. It focuses on two aspects of blame in U.S. society. He argues that people must stop blaming others for their asocial behaviors, but the second meaning is that there are some young p...
1995-07-16T00:00:00
0029353653
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/65870-1
163492-1
Susan Dunn
The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America
The leadership of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt dramatically reshaped the political landscape of our nation, from TR's Square Deal to FDR's New Deal and wartime leadership to Eleanor Roosevelt's pivotal role in the early days of the United Nations. The Three Roosevelts is the first biography to combine the ...
2001-05-06T00:00:00
0871137801
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/163492-1
154186-1
Isaac Stern
My First 79 Years
Isaac Stern, who for more than 60 years has been a great and greatly loved performing artist, shares not only the story of his rise to eminence but also his rich personal life, as well as his feelings about music in general and his love of the violin, in particular. —from the publisher's website
2000-01-23T00:00:00
0679451307
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/154186-1
182096-1
George McGovern
The Essential America: Our Founders and the Liberal Tradition
—from the publisher's website Liberalism is the oldest and most enduring American tradition, a philosophy and way of life we inherited from the Founding Fathers. This is the central idea of The Essential America by George McGovern, America's best-known (and most consistent) liberal. Referring us to our moral and spirit...
2004-09-12T00:00:00
0743269276
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/182096-1
42686-1
J. Bowyer Bell
The Irish Troubles: A Generation of Violence 1967-1992
Mr. Bell, author of The Irish Troubles: A Generation of Violence, 1967-1992, published by St. Martin's Press, described his research for the book. He said he conducted over 10,000 hours of interviews for the nearly 1,000 pages of text in the book, which focuses on the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Irela...
1993-06-06T00:00:00
0312088272
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/42686-1
9892-1
Felix Rodriguez
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior: The CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles tells the story of Felix Rodriguez. Born in Cuba in 1941, he came to the U.S. to attend high school in Pennsylvania to fulfill dreams of becoming an engineer. However, after witnessing the rise of Fidel Castro in his native land he dedicated his life to opposing...
1989-11-12T00:00:00
0671667211
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/9892-1
70352-1
Clarence Page
Showing My Color: Impolite Essays on Race & Identity
Clarence Page discussed his book, "Showing My Color: Impolite Essays on Race and Identity," published by Harper Collins. It is a collection of essays which focuses on the continuing importance of color in U.S. society. He also spoke about the past and present status of African-American journalists.
1996-03-17T00:00:00
0060928018
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/70352-1
18041-1
Lou Cannon
President Reagan: A Role of a Lifetime, Part 2
Lou Cannon, author of Ronald Reagan: Role of a Lifetime, continued his discussion of the Reagan presidency from the previous week. Mr. Cannon, now a reporter for the Washington Post, has followed President Reagan's political career since Reagan's governorship of California in the 1960's, and has written three books on ...
1991-05-19T00:00:00
067154294X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/18041-1
165656-1
Fran Grace
Carry A. Nation: Retelling the Life
This landmark biography of a much maligned and misunderstood figure will be welcomed by those interested in the history of women, reform and religion in 19th- and 20th-century America. Early biographers dismissed the axe-wielding temperance reformer as crazy, fanatical, undersexed, oversexed or menopausal; University o...
2001-10-14T00:00:00
0253338468
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/165656-1
24896-1
Robert Massie
Dreadnought
Mr. Massie talked about his recently published book, Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War, published by Random House. The book focuses on the naval race and diplomatic discourse between Great Britain and Germany, and how they helped to cause World War One. "Dreadnoughts" were early twentieth ce...
1992-03-08T00:00:00
0345375564
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/24896-1
10035-1
Peter Hennessy
Whitehall
Author and journalist Peter Hennessy described the British civil service in his book Whitehall. Whitehall, the name the British call their civil service, derives from Whitehall Palace where many government offices were housed. The civil service is traditionally a very behind-the-scenes organization. Hennessy broke trad...
1989-11-26T00:00:00
0029144418
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/10035-1
50825-1
Malcolm Browne
Muddy Boots and Red Socks
Mr. Browne discussed his memoirs and experiences as a war reporter. He spent many years in South Vietnam and won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. He discussed the photo of a young monk's self-immolation in a Saigon street and how, as a wire service reporter, he was the single reporter and photographer to cover the e...
1993-09-26T00:00:00
0812963520
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/50825-1
101900-1
Randall Robinson
Defending the Spirit: A Black Life in America
A moving and provocative memoir by a distinguished statesman offers a revealing and devastating portrait of racism. TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson chronicles a controversial, behind-the-scenes look at American foreign policymaking with African and Caribbean nations. Randall Robinson is one of America's most promi...
1998-03-15T00:00:00
0525944028
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/101900-1
102268-1
John S.D. Eisenhower
Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott
From renowned Historian and son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower comes a biography of Winfield Scott, the towering commander who was instrumental in shaping America’s borders and who created the modern U. S. military. Here is the powerful story of General Winfield Scott and his amazing march through American history—a...
1998-04-19T00:00:00
0684844516
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/102268-1
77381-1
Alfred Zacher
Trial & Triumph
Alfred Zacher talked about his book, "Trial and Triumph: Presidential Power in the Second Term," published by Presidential Press. It focuses on how some presidents have succeeded in their second terms and why others have failed, primarily because of congressional opposition. He also talked about his ten criteria for a ...
1997-01-19T00:00:00
0965108708
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/77381-1
4280-1
Neil Sheehan
A Bright Shining Lie (Part 1)
Neil Sheehan gave five 30-minute interviews about his book, “A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam.” The first interview was titled "The Funeral of John Paul Vann."
1988-10-17T00:00:00
0394484479
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/4280-1
46467-1
David Remnick
Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
David Remnick discussed the research behind his book, "Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire," published by Random House. In the book, Mr. Remnick explores the mood and political events in Russia surrounding the end of the Soviet Union in the late 1980's and the early 1990's. Mr. Remnick was a Moscow corresp...
1993-07-25T00:00:00
0679751254
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/46467-1
174049-1
Diana Walker
Public & Private: Twenty Years of Photographing the Presidency
—from the publisher's website From Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush, Time magazine White House photographer Diana Walker has had unique access to the Presidency for more than 20 years. Public & Private demonstrates, in intriguing detail, that she has used her access brilliantly. The 130 photographs in Public & Private co...
2002-12-22T00:00:00
0792269071
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/174049-1
123223-1
Jon Margolis
The Last Innocent Year: America in 1964
The year 1964 marked a watershed in American history: John Kennedy was dead, and in the aftermath of his assassination, the country was trying to figure out what to do with itself. The Warren Commission was busily sifting evidence, Jackie Kennedy was fast on her way to becoming an icon of dignified widowhood, and Lyndo...
1999-06-27T00:00:00
0688153232
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/123223-1
169257-1
Sarah Brady
A Good Fight
On March 30, 1981, Sarah Brady's husband James was critically injured during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Some years later, she presided over passage of a handgun control law known as the Brady Bill. Now, in A Good Fight , Brady tells the compelling human story behind these news events in a voic...
2002-05-05T00:00:00
1586481053
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/169257-1
15114-1
Martin Mayer
The Greatest Ever Bank Robbery
Mr. Mayer discussed his best-selling book The Greatest-Ever Bank Robbery: The Collapse of the Savings and Loan Industry. He explained that the cause of the "scandal" was hard for any observers, much less the general public, to grasp because it was inherently technical. He believes that most news reports also missed the...
1990-11-25T00:00:00
0020126204
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/15114-1
23633-1
Charles Hamilton
Adam Clayton Powell Jr: A Political Dilemma
Political Scientist Charles Hamilton discussed the subject of his biography, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: The Political Biography of an American Dilemma. Mr. Hamilton described Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the son of a family of affluence in Harlem, as a congressman, preacher, civil rights leader, and playboy. Mr. Hamilton d...
1992-01-05T00:00:00
0689120621
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/23633-1
24737-1
Richard Nixon
Seize the Moment, Part 2
Former President Richard Nixon discussed his book Seize the Moment: America's Challenge in a One-Superpower World, published by Simon and Schuster. In his book, he assesses the challenges and opportunities facing the United States since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Mr. Nixon also shared ...
1992-03-01T00:00:00
0671743430
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/24737-1
12829-1
Kevin Phillips
The Politics of Rich and Poor
Mr. Phillips, a political analyst, discusses his predictions for the coming decades in his recent book, The Politics of the Rich and Poor. Mr. Phillips foresees another New Deal or progressive era following the Reagan era. The author compares the years President Reagan held office to two previous Republican heydays, th...
1990-06-24T00:00:00
1559944277
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/12829-1
157236-1
Francis Wheen
Karl Marx: A Life
Paradox and passion were the animating spirits of Karl Marx's life, which often reads like a novel by Laurence Sterne or George Eliot. "Imagine Rousseau, Voltaire, and Hegel fused into one person," said a contemporary, "and you have Dr. Marx." In this stunning book, the first major biography of Marx since the end of th...
2000-06-25T00:00:00
039304923X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/157236-1
180820-1
Richard Perle
An End to Evil
—from the publisher's website An End to Evil charts the agenda for what’s next in the war on terrorism, as articulated by David Frum, former presidential speechwriter and bestselling author of The Right Man , and Richard Perle, former assistant secretary of defense and one of the most influential foreign-policy leaders...
2004-03-07T00:00:00
1400061946
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/180820-1
180744-1
George Soros
The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power
—from the publisher's website Long known as "the world's only private citizen with a foreign policy," George Soros combines his razor-sharp sense of economic trends with his passionate advocacy for open societies and decency in world politics to come up with a workable, and severely critical, analysis of the Bush admin...
2004-02-29T00:00:00
1586482173
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/180744-1
11021-1
Jim Mann
Beijing Jeep: American Business in China
Jim Mann examined an American-Chinese joint business venture in "Beijing Jeep: The Short, Unhappy Romance of American Business in China." Mann chronicled the relationship between the American Motors Corporation and the Chinese government in their production of Jeep motor vehicles. In his book he described the economic ...
1990-02-04T00:00:00
081333327X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/11021-1
181826-1
John Lewis Gaddis
Surprise, Security, and the American Experience
—from the publisher's website September 11, 2001, distinguished Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis argues, was not the first time a surprise attack shattered American assumptions about national security and reshaped American grand strategy. We've been there before, and have responded each time by dramatically expandi...
2004-05-16T00:00:00
0674011740
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/181826-1
10416-1
Richard Rhodes
Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer
Author Richard Rhodes shares his thoughts on the current state of American agriculture in Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer, published by Simon and Schuster. His experience is based mainly on a nine-month period he spent with a Missouri farm family, alias Tom and Sally Bauer and their children. During that...
1989-12-24T00:00:00
0803289650
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/10416-1
7378-1
Col. David Hackworth
About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior
David Hackworth, author of About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, discusses his experience, success, and eventual disillusionment in the U.S. Army. After rising to the rank of colonel, Mr. Hackworth retired after serving four years in Vietnam, citing his displeasure with the U.S. war effort and denouncing it o...
1989-05-07T00:00:00
671526928
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/7378-1
49145-1
Harold Holzer
The Lincoln Douglas Debates
The seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held during the Illinois senatorial race of 1858 are among the most important statements in American political history, dramatic struggles over the issues that would tear apart the nation in the Civil War: the virtues of a republic and the evils of slavery. ...
1993-08-22T00:00:00
0060168102
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/49145-1
122026-1
Randall Kenan
Walking on Water
"Walking on Water" is a profoundly moving and provocative account—both timely and enduring—of the thoughts, the feelings, the lives, of African Americans in the post-Civil Rights era of the nineties, by the highly praised author of "Let the Dead Bury Their Dead" and "A Visitation of Spirits." Traversing the country ove...
1999-04-25T00:00:00
0679408274
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/122026-1
19811-1
Clark Clifford
Counsel to the President: A Memoir
Former Secretary of Defense Clifford described in his book his rise from an attorney to a close adviser to Presidents Truman, Johnson, and Kennedy. He shared his insights into many of the domestic and foreign policy decisions since World War II and the people who made these decisions. Mr. Clifford discussed his close t...
1991-07-28T00:00:00
0394569954
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/19811-1
122730-1
Betty Boyd Caroli
The Roosevelt Women
First Ladies Eleanor (Franklin's wife) and Edith (Theodore's) are both subjects of full-scale biographies, and Theodore's daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth remains legendary for her caustic wit. In this book, historian Betty Boyd Caroli looks at seven additional powerful Roosevelt women (the family didn't seem to prod...
1999-05-09T00:00:00
0465071341
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/122730-1
47330-1
Alexander Brook
The Hard Way: The Odyssey of a Weekly Newspaper Editor
Mr. Brook, former publisher of a weekly newspaper, and Mr. Phillips, former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, discussed Mr. Brook's new book, The Hard Way: The Odyssey of a Weekly Newspaper Editor, published by Bridge Works Publishing Co. The book recounts anecdotes from the career of Mr. Brook, whose newspaper cir...
1993-08-01T00:00:00
1882593375
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/47330-1
112316-1
George H. W. Bush
A World Transformed
It was one of the pivotal times of the twentieth century—during George Bush's presidency, an extraordinary series of international events took place that materially changed the face of the world. Now, former President Bush and his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, tell the story of those tumultous years. Here...
1998-10-04T00:00:00
0679432485
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/112316-1
180836-1
Alyn Brodsky
Benjamin Rush: Patriot and Physician
—from the publisher's website The only full biography of Benjamin Rush, an extraordinary Founding Father and America's leading physician of the Colonial era While Benjamin Rush appears often and meaningfully in biographies about John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, this legendary man is presented as lit...
2004-07-04T00:00:00
0312309112
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/180836-1
160022-1
Maya Lin
Boundaries
Walking through this park-like area, the memorial appears as a rift in the earth—a long, polished black stone wall, emerging from and receding into the earth. Approaching the memorial, the ground slopes gently downward, and the low walls emerging on either side, growing out of the earth, extend and converge at a point ...
2000-11-19T00:00:00
0684834170
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/160022-1
4284-1
Neil Sheehan
A Bright Shining Lie (Part 5)
Neil Sheehan gave five 30-minute interviews about his book, “A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam.” The last interview was titled "Profile of the Author."
1988-10-22T00:00:00
0394484479
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/4284-1
180056-1
Robert Kurson
Shadow Divers
—from the publisher's website In the tradition of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm comes a true tale of riveting adventure in which two weekend scuba divers risk everything to solve a great historical mystery–and make history themselves. For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep w...
2004-07-11T00:00:00
375508589
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/180056-1
17936-1
Lou Cannon
President Reagan: A Role of a Lifetime, Part 1
Washington Post reporter Lou Cannon discussed his book, Ronald Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime, in which Mr. Cannon examined Reagan's presidential roles from various perspectives: as that of communicator, leader, and so on. Mr. Cannon, who has reported on Ronald Reagan's political career for over twenty years since Reag...
1991-05-12T00:00:00
067154294X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/17936-1
9545-1
Harrison Salisbury
Tiananmen Diary: Thirteen Days in June
Eighty year-old former New York Times editor Harrison Salisbury discussed the writing of his most recent book, Tiananmen Diary: Thirteen Days in June, published by Little, Brown and Company. While working on a documentary of China with a Japanese film crew, Salisbury witnessed the events of June leading up to and inclu...
1989-10-15T00:00:00
0044406193
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/9545-1
33591-1
Susan Faludi
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
Ms. Faludi, author of Backlash: The Undeclared War on American Women published by Anchor Books, discussed her research on women's issues that documents a movement against women's civil and political equality in America. She said the movement against American women is based on the false belief that feminism and social e...
1992-10-25T00:00:00
0307345424
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/33591-1
62205-1
Anthony Cave Brown
Treason in the Blood
Mr. Brown talked about his book, Treason in the Blood, published by Houghton Mifflin, which focuses on the espionage efforts of St. John Philby to injure British interests in the Middle East and his son Kim's efforts to penetrate the British intelligence network while working for Soviet intelligence.
1995-01-15T00:00:00
039563119X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/62205-1
55212-1
Norman Ornstein
Debt and Taxes
Professor Ornstein discussed the book he co-wrote with John H. Makin, "Debt and Taxes: How America Got into Its Budget Mess and What to Do About It," published by Times Books Random House. The book details the history, economics and political science of taxes and the national debt. He pointed out that there is much les...
1994-03-13T00:00:00
081292312X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/55212-1
37770-1
Jack Nelson
Terror in the Night
Jack Nelson discussed his book "Terror in the Night: The Klan's Campaign Against the Jews," published by Simon and Schuster, which details the Ku Klux Klan's campaign of intimidation against the American Jewish community in the late 1960's. He said the Klan believed the Jewish community was behind the civil rights move...
1993-02-07T00:00:00
0878059075
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/37770-1
103669-1
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society
In 1991, when the end of the Cold War released long repressed ethnic, racial, and religious antagonisms, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. wrote a penetrating book that raised the discussion of multiculturalism in American society to a new level. This challenging work soon became a popular bestseller and an integral part of c...
1998-05-10T00:00:00
0393045803
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/103669-1
36343-1
Eric Alterman
Sound & Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the Collapse of American Politics
Alterman's shrewd and entertaining book proposes that our national political dialogue has become nonsensical, and that our politics are now enslaved by the sitcom-dominated values of the Washington pundits--the George Wills, the John McLaughlins, the Robert Novaks, and all the opinion makers who are regarded as authori...
1992-12-20T00:00:00
0060168749
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/36343-1
36768-1
Michael Davis
Thurgood Marshall
Mr. Clark and Mr. Davis discussed their book Thurgood Marshall: Warrior at the Bar, Rebel on the Bench, published by Carol Publishing Group, a biography of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. They were not able to talk to Marshall personally but use interviews from people closely associated with him to describe hi...
1993-01-03T00:00:00
0735100977
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/36768-1
67512-1
David Fromkin
In The Time of Americans
Professor Fromkin discussed his book, In the Time of the Americans: The Generation That Changed America's Role in the World, published by Alfred A. Knopf. The book studies the careers of Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, General MacArthur and many others of their generation who profoundly influenced changes in ...
1995-10-22T00:00:00
0679767282
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/67512-1
182749-1
Mark Perry
Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship That Changed America
—from the publisher's website In the spring of 1884 Ulysses S. Grant heeded the advice of Mark Twain and finally agreed to write his memoirs. Little did Grant or Twain realize that this seemingly straightforward decision would profoundly alter not only both their lives but the course of American literature. Over the ne...
2004-07-18T00:00:00
0679642730
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/182749-1
26100-1
Robert Bartley
The Seven Fat Years and How to do it Again
Wall Street Journal editor and vice president Robert Bartley discussed his book, The Seven Fat Years and How to Do It Again, published by Free Press. The book deals with the seven years of economic prosperity in the 1980s when the U.S. economy grew by almost 33% and nearly twenty million new jobs were created. The auth...
1992-05-17T00:00:00
002874022X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/26100-1
26997-1
Jeffrey Bell
Populism and Elitism
Mr. Bell talked about his book Populism & Elitism. He discussed the end of communism and the spread of democracy and said that 'populist vs. elitist' has replaced 'liberal vs. conservative.' Bell was a campaign strategist for Ronald Reagan.
1992-07-12T00:00:00
0895265176
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/26997-1
150982-1
Elizabeth Norman
We Band of Angels
We Band of Angels is the story of women searching for adventure, caught up in the drama and danger of war. On the same day the Japanese Imperial Navy launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, it also struck American bases in the Far East, chief among them the Philippines. That raid led to the first major ...
1999-08-15T00:00:00
0375502459
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/150982-1
154712-1
Robert Novak
Completing the Revolution: A Vision for Victory in 2000
As the presidential primary season nears, one of America's foremost conservative columnists maps out a plan for winning back the White House in 2000—and restoring the office of the presidency to its previous high station. —from the publisher's website
2000-01-30T00:00:00
0684827468
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/154712-1
26572-1
William Lee Miller
The Business of May Next
The author, a professor of ethics and institutions at the University of Virginia, discussed his book "The Business of May Next: James Madison and the Founding," published by the University Press of Virginia.
1992-06-14T00:00:00
0813914906
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/26572-1
24125-1
Robert Cwiklik
House Rules
Mr. Cwiklik talked about his book House Rules: A Freshman Congressman's Initiation to the Backslapping, Backpedaling and Backstabbing Ways of Washington, published by Villard. He is a freelance writer and former editor for the Ottaway News Service who followed Nebraska Democrat Peter Hoagland through his campaign, elec...
1992-02-02T00:00:00
0394582314
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/24125-1
118998-1
Harold Evans
The American Century
Although most of this sprawling book is set in the 20th century, it begins on April 29, 1889, when Benjamin Harrison commemorated the first centennial of American government. This 11-year jump-start allows Harold Evans to write about the last major push to settle the Western territories, the gradual dwindling of Native...
1999-02-07T00:00:00
0679410708
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/118998-1
168072-1
Ralph Nader
Crashing the Party: How to Tell the Truth and Still Run for President
Ralph Nader is one of America's most passionate and effective social critics. He has been called a muckraker, a consumer crusader, and America's public defender. The cars we drive, the food we eat, the water we drink-their safety has been enhanced largely due to Ralph Nader. Time magazine called him "the U. S.'s toughe...
2002-02-03T00:00:00
0312284330
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/168072-1
114828-1
John Morris
Get the Picture: A Personal History of Photojournalism
In his long and distinguished career as a journalist and picture editor, John G. Morris had one simple—and stunningly complex—assignment: Get the picture . "Picture editors," Morris writes, "are the unwitting (or witting, as the case may be) tastemakers, the unappointed guardians of morality, the talent brokers, the ac...
1999-01-10T00:00:00
0679452583
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/114828-1
173423-1
Bruce Feiler
Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths
—from the publisher's website In this timely, provocative, and uplifting journey, the bestselling author of Walking the Bible searches for the man at the heart of the world's three monotheistic religions -- and today's deadliest conflicts. At a moment when the world is asking, Can the religions get along? one figure st...
2002-12-01T00:00:00
0380977761
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/173423-1
16545-1
Ronald Brownstein
The Power and the Glitter
Mr. Brownstein discussed his book, The Power and the Glitter: The Hollywood-Washington Connection. The close relationship between the entertainment industry and decision makers in the nation's capitol is described. He was prompted to write the book, as a journalist covering politics, because he was "struck by the incre...
1991-02-17T00:00:00
0679738304
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/16545-1
21997-1
Tina Rosenberg
Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America
Tina Rosenberg, a MacArthur Fellow, lived in Latin America for five years. "Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America" is an accumulation of her experiences and research, profiling people in six Latin American countries, and exploring the circumstances that lead people to perform violent acts. Ms. Ros...
1991-11-10T00:00:00
0140172548
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/21997-1
182057-1
Dorie McCullough Lawson
Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children
—from the publisher's website An elegantly designed, beautifully composed volume of personal letters from famous American men and women that celebrates the American Experience and illuminates the rich history of some of America’s most storied families. Posterity is at once an epistolary chronicle of America and a fasci...
2004-08-22T00:00:00
038550330X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/182057-1
51082-1
Peter Skerry
Mexican-Americans: The Ambivalent Minority
Mr. Skerry discussed his book and said that the significance of his subtitle, "the ambivalent majority," is that no one is quite sure of the political direction of this newly emerging group in the next decade. He stated that the ambivalence is political and not psychological, and believes that Mexican-Americans will be...
1993-10-03T00:00:00
0674572629
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/51082-1
173558-1
Michelle Malkin
Invasion
—from the publisher's website Invasion exposes how America continues to welcome terrorists, criminal aliens, foreign murderers, torturers, and the rest of the world's "undesirables." It reveals how our immigration authorities have granted citizenship or legal permanent residence to America-haters and brutal thugs. And ...
2002-12-08T00:00:00
0895261464
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/173558-1
13246-1
Teresa Odendahl
Charity Begins at Home
Author Teresa Odendahl makes a controversial premise in her book. She says that philanthropy better serves the rich than the poor. In her book, entitled "Charity begins at Home: Generosity and Self-Interest Among the Philanthropic Elite," argues that most rich people assume their charitable contributions benefit the ne...
1990-07-22T00:00:00
0465009611
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/13246-1
121914-1
Richard Shenkman
Presidential Ambition
Combining a potent narrative with persuasive and compelling insights, Shenkman reveals that it is not just recent presidents who have been ambitious and at times frighteningly overambitious, willing to sacrifice their health, family, loyalty, and values as they sought to overcome the obstacles to power—but they all hav...
1999-03-21T00:00:00
006018373X
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/121914-1
16187-1
Carl Rowan
Breaking Barriers: A Memoi
Carl Rowan's book, "Breaking Barriers," relates his personal experiences with the changing face of race relations during the past 50 years. He describes barriers in the press, military, and government. He gives his opinion on political leaders and what they have done to help or hinder race relations. Mr. Rowan was one ...
1991-02-03T00:00:00
0316759775
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/16187-1
25534-1
Orlando Patterson
Freedom in the Making of Western Culture
Professor Orlando Patterson discussed his book, "Freedom in the Making of Western Culture," published by Basic Books. A sociologist, he explained how the value of freedom became important only in Western culture. He explored the origins and development of freedom from ancient times through the present.
1992-04-12T00:00:00
0465025323
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/25534-1
12342-1
Allister Sparks
The Mind of South Africa
Allister Sparks discussed his book, "The Mind of South Africa," on the history of the divided nation's politics and people. Sparks, a fifth-generation South African,chronicled Africaaner nationalism and apartheid and discussed the social and political forces in the country.
1990-05-20T00:00:00
0394581083
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/12342-1
61222-1
David Frum
Dead Right
Mr. Frum talked about his recently published book, Dead Right, which deals with the problems of the Republican conservatism stemming from the intellectual and political malaise of the late 1980s and its chances for revival against the current power of the Democratic party.
1994-10-30T00:00:00
0465098207
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/61222-1
162772-1
Reese Schonfeld
Me and Ted Against the World
They were the odd couple of broadcast news, destined to alter global communications forever—to free-for-all of a saga that's larger than life and more engaging than a major business book has any right to be. 1979. Down in Atlanta, Ted Turner was fighting his battles with the networks. Up in New York, Reese Schonfeld wa...
2001-03-25T00:00:00
0060197463
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/162772-1
172600-1
Arnold Ludwig
King of the Mountain: The Nature of Political Leadership
—from the publisher's website King of the Mountain presents the startling findings of Arnold M. Ludwig’s eighteen-year investigation into why people want to rule. The answer may seem obvious power, privilege, and perks but any adequate answer also needs to explain why so many rulers cling to power even when they are mi...
2002-09-15T00:00:00
0813122333
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/172600-1
179671-1
Carl Cannon
The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War
—from the publisher's website The Founders wrote in 1776 that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are unalienable American rights. In The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War , Carl M. Cannon shows how this single phrase is one of almost unbelievable historical power. It was this rich rhetorical vein that New...
2003-12-28T00:00:00
0742525910
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/179671-1
38911-1
Deborah Shapley
Promise and Power
Ms. Shapley discussed her research for her book, Promise and Power: The Life and Times of Robert McNamara, published by Little, Brown and Company on the life of the former secretary of defense under the Kennedy administration. Mr. McNamara, who Ms. Shapley said helped create the Vietnam tragedy, was also president of t...
1993-03-21T00:00:00
0788151819
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/38911-1
52571-1
Betty Friedan
The Fountain of Age
Ms. Friedan explained that her new book, The Fountain of Age, published by Simon and Schuster, describes "a period of human life that most people didn't even used to have." Ms. Friedan took an Outward Bound wilderness course for persons over 55 years of age. The course became a metaphor for searching for the "fountain ...
1993-11-28T00:00:00
0671898531
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/52571-1
158987-1
Alan Murray
The Wealth of Choices
It's Not Your Father's Economy . . . If Adam Smith were to visit the United States today, he would be a very happy man. That invisible hand he made famous in The Wealth of Nations two centuries ago is more limber and supple than ever. Indeed, competition in the New Economy is so intense and uncompromising that everyone...
2000-09-17T00:00:00
0812932668
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/158987-1
73853-1
Donald Warren
Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, the Father of Hate Radio
Donald Warren talked about his book, "Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, The Father of Hate Radio," published by The Free Press. It focuses on the rise and fall of Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest from Michigan who provided radio listeners in the 1930s and early 1940s with vicious attacks against both corporatio...
1996-09-08T00:00:00
0684824035
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/73853-1
11740-1
Fred Graham
Happy Talk: Confessions of a TV Newsman
The author was CBS News legal correspondent for almost 15 years. He described changes at the network after Dan Rather replaced Walter Cronkite as anchor in 1981. The ratings went down and non-journalists were brought in to run the news division. Graham recalled his introduction to an "infotainment" approach to news. He...
1990-04-01T00:00:00
0393027767
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/11740-1
181013-1
Constance Hays
The Real Thing: Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company
—from the publisher's website A definitive history of Coca-Cola, the world’s best-known brand, by a New York Times reporter who has followed the company and who brings fresh insights to the world of Coke, telling a larger story about American business and culture. The Real Thing is a portrait of America’s most famous p...
2004-03-21T00:00:00
0375505628
https://booknotes.c-span.org/Watch/181013-1