Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

by Mark Kurlansky

A delightful romp through history with all its economic forces laid bare, Cod is the biography of a single species of fish, but it may as well be a world history with this humble fish as its recurring main character. Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could. What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland and on the five expeditions to America recorded... (more)

Terrorist

by John Updike

The ever-surprising John Updike’s twenty-second novel is a brilliant contemporary fiction that will surely be counted as one of his most powerful. It tells of eighteen-year-old Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy and his devotion to Allah and the words of the Holy Qur’an, as expounded to him by a local mosque’s imam. The son of an Irish-American mother and an Egyptian father who disappeared when he was three, Ahmad turned to... (more)

The Cold War: A New History

by John Lewis Gaddis

The "dean of Cold War historians" ( The New York Times ) now presents the definitive account of the global confrontation that dominated the last half of the twentieth century. Drawing on newly opened archives and the reminiscences of the major players, John Lewis Gaddis explains not just what happened but why —from the months in 1945 when the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. went from alliance to antagonism to the... (more)

The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism

The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism

by Ron Suskind

From Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist and bestselling author Ron Suskind comes a startling look at how America lost its way and at the nation's struggle, day by day, to reclaim the moral authority upon which its survival depends. From the White House to Downing Street, from the fault-line countries of South Asia to the sands of Guantánamo, Suskind offers an astonishing story that connects world leaders to the... (more)

Clear and Present Danger (Jack Ryan Novels)

Clear and Present Danger (Jack Ryan Novels)

by Tom Clancy

The controversial bestseller from Tom Clancy, the all-time master of the techno-thriller. CIA Deputy Director Jack Ryan joins the war on drugs. And when three American officials are assassinated in Colombia, the U.S. response is swift-and shocking.

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression

by Mark Kramer, Stephane Courtois, Jean-Louis Panne, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin

Already famous throughout Europe, this international bestseller plumbs recently opened archives in the former Soviet bloc to reveal the actual, practical accomplishments of Communism around the world: terror, torture, famine, mass deportations, and massacres. Astonishing in the sheer detail it amasses, the book is the first comprehensive attempt to catalogue and analyze the crimes of Communism over seventy years.... (more)

Fascism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Fascism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

by Kevin Passmore

What is fascism? Is it revolutionary? Or is it reactionary? This book argues that it is both: fascism unleashes violence against the left and ethnic minorities, but also condemns the bourgeoisie for its "softness". Kevin Passmore opens his book with a series of "scenes from fascist life"--a secret meeting of the Romanian Iron Guard; Mussolini meeting the king of Italy; a rally of Hungarian doctors calling for... (more)

Marx: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Marx: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

by Peter Singer

Peter Singer identifies the central vision that unifies Marx's thought, enabling us to grasp Marx's views as a whole. He sees him as a philosopher primarily concerned with human freedom, rather than as an economist or a social scientist. In plain English, he explains alienation, historical materialism, the economic theory of Capital, and Marx's ideas of communism, and concludes with an assessment of Marx's... (more)

The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

by Helen Graham

Amid the many catastrophes of the twentieth century, the Spanish Civil War continues to exert a particular fascination among history buffs and the lay-reader alike. This Very Short Intoduction integrates the political, social and cultural history of the Spanish Civil War. It sets out the domestic and international context of the war for a general readership. In addition to tracing the course of war, the book... (more)

Class Warfare: Interviews with David Barsamian

Class Warfare: Interviews with David Barsamian

by Noam Chomsky, David Barsamian

In this third volume of best-selling interviews, Noam Chomsky reveals and explores intriguing contradictions about both himself and the political issues of our time. On Politics: Why is deficit spending a good idea? And how is the debate used to widen the gap between rich and poor? Why has the term "class warfare" become acceptable political discourse? How did Adam Smith and James Madison... (more)

The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back

The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back

by Geoffrey P. Faux

Acclaim for The Global Class War "You will never think about 'free trade' the same way after reading Jeff Faux's superb book. As Faux makes clear, the globalization debate is really about whose interests are served by global elites, and how we need to go about reclaiming a democracy that serves ordinary people. This book should transform public discourse in America." -Robert Kuttner, founding coeditor... (more)

The Bushes : Portrait of a Dynasty

by Peter Schweizer

David Frum’s The Right Man gave readers one person’s view of the first year of the Bush White House. THE BUSHES presents the all-important backstory. In an unprecedented account of the family’s path to enormous wealth and to a level of political prominence and power that surpasses that of the Adamses, Roosevelts, and Kennedys, the Schweizers reveal the culture and values that make the Bushes tick. Drawing on... (more)

1919: America's Loss of InnocenceEliot Asinof

1919: America's Loss of Innocence

by Eliot Asinof

Asinof considers 1919 a year of cowardice, gross political opportunism and the unleashing of furies. His dramatic examination focuses primarily on four occurrences that "wrenched the national psyche": the Senate's rejection of Woodrow Wilson's proposal for a League of Nations; the anti-Bolshevik hysteria that resulted in widespread violence; the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment and the advent of Prohibition;... (more)

Environmental Leadership in Developing Countries: Transnational Relations and Biodiversity Policy in Costa Rica and Bolivia (American and Comparative Environmental Policy)

Environmental Leadership in Developing Countries: Transnational Relations and Biodiversity Policy in Costa Rica and Bolivia (American and Comparative Environmental Policy)

by Paul F. Steinberg

In the absence of world government, effective national policy is essential to the success of international environmental initiatives. Yet research on global environmental cooperation has proceeded without models of policy change in developing countries, where most of the world's people, land, and species are found. In this book Paul Steinberg provides a theoretical framework to explain the domestic responses of... (more)

Reflections on Water: New Approaches to Transboundary Conflicts and Cooperation (American and Comparative Environmental Policy)

Reflections on Water: New Approaches to Transboundary Conflicts and Cooperation (American and Comparative Environmental Policy)

The fluidity of transboundary waters perfectly represents contemporary challenges to modern governance. This book offers conceptual and empirical support for the idea that the human relationship with water must move beyond rationalist definitions of water as product, property, and commodity. Depending on context, water may be a security issue, a gift of nature, a product of imagination, or an integral part of... (more)

The Minimum Means of Reprisal: China's Search for Security in the Nuclear Age (American Academy Studies in Global Security)

The Minimum Means of Reprisal: China's Search for Security in the Nuclear Age (American Academy Studies in Global Security)

by Jeffrey G. Lewis

Among the five nations authorized under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to possess nuclear weapons, China has the smallest nuclear force and maintains the most restrained nuclear posture. In The Minimum Means of Reprisal, Jeffrey Lewis examines patterns in Chinese defense investments, strategic force deployments, and arms control behavior to develop an alternative assessment of China's nuclear forces. ... (more)

Homage to Catalonia

by George Orwell

In 1936 Orwell went to Spain to report on the Civil War and instead joined the fight against the Fascists. This famous account describes the war and Orwell’s experiences. Introduction by Lionel Trilling.

The American Empire Project

Failed States

The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

by Noam Chomsky

“It’s hard to imagine any American reading this book and not seeing his country in a new, and deeply troubling, light.”— The New York Times Book Review The United States has repeatedly asserted its right to intervene militarily against “failed states” around the globe. In this much-anticipated follow-up to his international bestseller Hegemony or Survival , Noam Chomsky turns the tables, showing how the United... (more)

The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century

The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century

by Paul R. Krugman

A galvanizing new work from America's leading economic critic—a book that will set the terms of the political debate for years to come. No one has more authority to call the shots the way they really are than Paul Krugman, whose provocative New York Times columns are keenly followed by millions. One of the world's most respected economists, Krugman has been named America's most important columnist by the ... (more)

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Tags: world politics