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Week of September 9, 2018

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UNHINGED
Omarosa Manigault Newman
Cover of UNHINGED

UNHINGED

by Omarosa Manigault Newman · Gallery

2 wks at #1 · 2 on list

The former Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison in the Trump White House provides a jaw-dropping look into the corruption and controversy of the current administration. Few have been a member of Donald Trump’s inner orbit longer than Omarosa Manigault Newman. Their relationship has spanned fifteen years—through four television shows, a presidential campaign, and a year by his side in the most chaotic, outrageous White House in history. But that relationship has come to a decisive and definitive end, and Omarosa is finally ready to share her side of the story in this explosive, jaw-dropping account. A stunning tell-all and takedown from a strong, intelligent woman who took every name and number, Unhinged is a must-read for any concerned citizen.

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THE RUSSIA HOAX
Gregg Jarrett
Cover of THE RUSSIA HOAX

THE RUSSIA HOAX

by Gregg Jarrett · Broadside

5 wks on list

A Fox News legal analyst reveals how persons within the FBI and Justice Department attempted to help Hillary Clinton win the 2016 presidential election. On July 5, 2016, as James Comey announced that he had cleared Hillary Clinton, his FBI was furtively meeting with the author of the fictitious anti-Trump "dossier" funded by Clinton and the Democrats. The document, together with many other unfounded accusations, would be exploited in a malicious attempt to frame Trump for unidentified crimes he did not commit. This was the beginning of the Russia hoax. As The Russia Hoax details, there was never any plausible evidence that Trump or his campaign collaborated with Russia to win the presidency. The FBI had no legal basis to initiate its investigation. Facts were invented or exaggerated. Laws were perverted or ignored. The law enforcers became lawbreakers. Though a full and true accounting is yet to be divulged, Jarrett presents more than sufficient facts to suggest that the investigation of President Trump is a witch hunt. With insightful analysis and a fact-filled narrative, The Russia Hoax builds a step-by-step case that even the most partisan Democrat will find nearly impossible to dispute.

3
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EDUCATED
Tara Westover
Cover of EDUCATED

EDUCATED

by Tara Westover · Random House

27 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University “Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home. “Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—Vogue ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, Time, NPR, Good Morning America, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, The Economist, Financial Times, Newsday, New York Post, theSkimm, Refinery29, Bloomberg, Self, Real Simple, Town & Country, Bustle, Paste, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, LibraryReads, Book Riot, Pamela Paul, KQED, New York Public Library

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HOUSE OF TRUMP, HOUSE OF PUTIN
Craig Unger
Cover of HOUSE OF TRUMP, HOUSE OF PUTIN

HOUSE OF TRUMP, HOUSE OF PUTIN

by Craig Unger · Dutton

2 wks on list

____________________ THE EXPLOSIVE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A bombshell.' Daily Mail 'Damning, terrifying and enraging.' The Spectator ____________________ House of Trump, House of Putin offers the first comprehensive investigation into the decades-long relationship among Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian Mafia that ultimately helped win Trump the White House. As Unger traces Donald Trump's sordid ascent from foundering real estate tycoon to leader of the free world, House of Trump, House of Putin, reveals the deep-rooted alliance between the highest echelons of American political operatives and the biggest players in the frightening underworld of the Russian Mafia. Examining Russia's phoenixlike rise from the ashes of the post-Cold War Soviet Union, Unger reveals its ceaseless covert efforts to retaliate against the West and reclaim its status as a global superpower, and how such ambitions came to compromise the president. Without Trump, Russia would have lacked a key component in its attempts to return to imperial greatness. Without Russia, Trump would not be in the White House. This essential book is crucial to understanding the real powers at play in the shadows of today's world.

5
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LIARS, LEAKERS AND LIBERALS
Jeanine Pirro
Cover of LIARS, LEAKERS AND LIBERALS

LIARS, LEAKERS AND LIBERALS

by Jeanine Pirro · Center Street

6 wks on list

Get the story the Fake News media doesn't want you to hear in the #1 New York Times bestseller: a withering indictment of the Deep State plot against Trump and a firsthand account of the real presidency, based on interviews with the Trump family and top administration officials. At this point in American history, we are the victims of a liberal sabotage of the presidency unlike anything we've ever witnessed. Nevertheless President Trump continues to fight every day to keep his promise to Make America Great Again. Today that bold idea has already led to a conservative judge on the Supreme Court, tax reform, and deregulation that has unleashed an economy stronger than anyone could have imagined. But there are dark forces that seek to obstruct and undermine the president and reverse the results of the 2016 presidential election. They are part of a wide-ranging conspiracy that would seem incredible if it weren't being perpetrated openly. Driven by ambition, blinded by greed, and bound by a common goal -- to unseat the 45th President of the United States -- this cabal is determined to maintain its wrongful hold on national political power. Fox News host Jeanine Pirro uncovers the elements of this conspiracy, including: "Fake news" propaganda, Law enforcement corruption at the highest levels, National security leaks by the intelligence community, Bureaucratic resistance to lawful and constitutional executive orders issued by the duly elected president, Crooked deals with foreign governments by U.S. officials sworn to defend our Constitution. It's about time the American public knows the truth about the plot to bring down the Trump presidency. By the time you've finished this book, you'll agree with Judge Pirro that the only way to stop these hoodlums is to Take Them Out in Cuffs!

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THE CHAPO GUIDE TO REVOLUTION
Chapo Trap House
Cover of THE CHAPO GUIDE TO REVOLUTION

THE CHAPO GUIDE TO REVOLUTION

by Chapo Trap House · Touchstone

1 wks on list

Instant New York Times bestseller “Howard Zinn on acid or some bullsh*t like that.” —Tim Heidecker The creators of the cult-hit podcast Chapo Trap House deliver a manifesto for everyone who feels orphaned and alienated—politically, culturally, and economically—by the lanyard-wearing Wall Street centrism of the left and the lizard-brained atavism of the right: there is a better way, the Chapo Way. In a guide that reads like “a weirder, smarter, and deliciously meaner version of The Daily Show’s 2004 America (The Book)” (Paste), Chapo Trap House shows you that you don’t have to side with either sinking ships. These self-described “assholes from the internet” offer a fully ironic ideology for all who feel politically hopeless and prefer broadsides and tirades to reasoned debate. Learn the “secret” history of the world, politics, media, and everything in-between that THEY don’t want you to know and chart a course from our wretched present to a utopian future where one can post in the morning, game in the afternoon, and podcast after dinner without ever becoming a poster, gamer, or podcaster. A book that’s “as intellectually serious and analytically original as it is irreverent and funny” (Glenn Greenwald, New York Times bestselling author of No Place to Hide) The Chapo Guide to Revolution features illustrated taxonomies of contemporary liberal and conservative characters, biographies of important thought leaders, “never before seen” drafts of Aaron Sorkin’s Newsroom manga, and the ten new laws that govern Chapo Year Zero (everyone gets a dog, billionaires are turned into Soylent, and logic is outlawed). If you’re a fan of sacred cows, prisoners being taken, and holds being barred, then this book is NOT for you. However, if you feel disenfranchised from the political and cultural nightmare we’re in, then Chapo, let’s go…

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FACTFULNESS
Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund
Cover of FACTFULNESS

FACTFULNESS

by Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund · Flatiron

12 wks on list

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.

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ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Cover of ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY

ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY

by Neil deGrasse Tyson · Norton

68 wks on list

Over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and more than a million copies sold. The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day. While you wait for your morning coffee to brew, for the bus, the train, or a plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.

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DOPESICK
Beth Macy
Cover of DOPESICK

DOPESICK

by Beth Macy · Little, Brown

3 wks on list

Journalist Beth Macy's definitive account of America's opioid epidemic "masterfully interlaces stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference" (New York Times) -- from the boardroom to the courtroom and into the living rooms of Americans. In this extraordinary work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of a national drama that has unfolded over two decades. From the labs and marketing departments of big pharma to local doctor's offices; wealthy suburbs to distressed small communities in Central Appalachia; from distant cities to once-idyllic farm towns; the spread of opioid addiction follows a tortuous trajectory that illustrates how this crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched. Beginning with a single dealer who lands in a small Virginia town and sets about turning high school football stars into heroin overdose statistics, Macy sets out to answer a grieving mother's question-why her only son died-and comes away with a gripping, unputdownable story of greed and need. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy investigates the powerful forces that led America's doctors and patients to embrace a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. In some of the same communities featured in her bestselling book Factory Man, the unemployed use painkillers both to numb the pain of joblessness and pay their bills, while privileged teens trade pills in cul-de-sacs, and even high school standouts fall prey to prostitution, jail, and death. Through unsparing, compelling, and unforgettably humane portraits of families and first responders determined to ameliorate this epidemic, each facet of the crisis comes into focus. In these politically fragmented times, Beth Macy shows that one thing uniting Americans across geographic, partisan, and class lines is opioid drug abuse. But even in the midst of twin crises in drug abuse and healthcare, Macy finds reason to hope and ample signs of the spirit and tenacity that are helping the countless ordinary people ensnared by addiction build a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities. "An impressive feat of journalism, monumental in scope and urgent in its implications." -- Jennifer Latson, The Boston Globe

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THE SOUL OF AMERICA
Jon Meacham
Cover of THE SOUL OF AMERICA

THE SOUL OF AMERICA

by Jon Meacham · Random House

16 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. “Gripping and inspiring, The Soul of America is Jon Meacham’s declaration of his faith in America.”—Newsday ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, Southern Living Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature” have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women’s rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson’s crusade against Jim Crow. Each of these dramatic hours in our national life have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear—a struggle that continues even now. While the American story has not always—or even often—been heroic, we have been sustained by a belief in progress even in the gloomiest of times. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, “The good news is that we have come through such darkness before”—as, time and again, Lincoln’s better angels have found a way to prevail.

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EVERYTHING TRUMP TOUCHES DIES
Rick Wilson
Cover of EVERYTHING TRUMP TOUCHES DIES

EVERYTHING TRUMP TOUCHES DIES

by Rick Wilson · Free Press

3 wks on list

From Rick Wilson—longtime Republican strategist, political commentator, Daily Beast contributor—the #1 New York Times bestseller about the disease that is destroying the conservative movement and burning down the GOP: Trumpism. Includes an all-new chapter analyzing Trump’s impact on the 2018 elections. In the #1 New York Times bestselling Everything Trump Touches Dies, political campaign strategist and commentator Rick Wilson delivers “a searingly honest, bitingly funny, comprehensive answer to the question we find ourselves asking most mornings: ‘What the hell is going on?’ (Chicago Tribune). The Guardian hails Everything Trump Touches Dies, saying it gives, “more unvarnished truths about Donald Trump than anyone else in the American political establishment has offered. Wilson never holds back.” Rick mercilessly exposes the damage Trump has done to the country, to the Republican Party, and to the conservative movement that has abandoned its principles for the worst President in American history. Wilson unblinkingly dismantles Trump’s deceptions and the illusions to which his supporters cling, shedding light on the guilty parties who empower and enable Trump in Washington and in the media. He calls out the race-war dead-enders who hitched a ride with Trump, the alt-right basement dwellers who worship him, and the social conservatives who looked the other way. Publishers Weekly calls it, “a scathing, profane, unflinching, and laugh-out-loud funny rebuke of Donald Trump and his presidency.” No left-winger, Wilson is a lifelong conservative who delivers his withering critique of Trump from the right. A leader of the Never Trump movement, he warned from the start that Trump would destroy the lives and reputations of everyone in his orbit, and Everything Trump Touches Dies is a deft chronicle the tragicomic political story of our time. From the early campaign days through the shock of election night, to the inconceivable train-wreck of Trump’s first year. Rick Wilson provides not only an insightful analysis of the Trump administration, but also an optimistic path forward for the GOP, the conservative movement, and the country. “Hilarious, smartly written, and usually spot-on” (Kirkus Reviews), Everything Trump Touches Dies is perfect for those on either side of the aisle who need a dose of unvarnished reality, a good laugh, a strong cocktail, and a return to sanity in American politics.

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HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND
Michael Pollan
Cover of HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND

by Michael Pollan · Penguin Press

14 wks on list

“Pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured.” —New York Times A #1 New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018, and New York Times Notable Book A brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research. A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.

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BAD BLOOD
John Carreyrou
Cover of BAD BLOOD

BAD BLOOD

by John Carreyrou · Knopf

10 wks on list

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The gripping story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos—one of the biggest corporate frauds in history—a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley, rigorously reported by the prize-winning journalist. With a new Afterword covering her trial and sentencing, bringing the story to a close. “Chilling ... Reads like a thriller ... Carreyrou tells [the Theranos story] virtually to perfection.” —The New York Times Book Review In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.5 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work. Erroneous results put patients in danger, leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. All the while, Holmes and her partner, Sunny Balwani, worked to silence anyone who voiced misgivings—from journalists to their own employees.

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RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!
Ann Coulter
Cover of RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

by Ann Coulter · Sentinel

1 wks on list

Since the day Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign, the left has waged a demented war against him. Liberals used to pride themselves on their ultra-hipness, but Trump has turned them into weeping little girls in pink party dresses. The very people who once mocked right-wingers for (allegedly) overreacting to every little thing are now the ones hyperventilating and hatching insane conspiracy theories. During the campaign, and even more so after his victory, the left went nuts. Everything Trump does sends them into a moral panic. Everything is a constitutional crisis. Members of the self-proclaimed "Resistance" -- journalists, politicians, professors, judges, comedians, movie stars, Twitter pundits, even Oprah and Lindsey Vonn! -- are literally shaking because Trump is literally Hitler! Now Ann Coulter skewers the various elements of "The Resistance" -- the pussy-hat brigade, the Russian-collusion witch hunters, the media alarmists, the campus hysterics, and more. They talk about Russia? They're the ones meddling with our democracy by trying to overturn the results of the election with their relentless attacks. The biggest result of the Trump era may be our cultural institutions' total loss of credibility.

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DEATH OF A NATION
Dinesh D'Souza
Cover of DEATH OF A NATION

DEATH OF A NATION

by Dinesh D'Souza · All Points

4 wks on list

The #1 New York Times–bestselling author tackles the biggest lie of the left—that America is a society based on white supremacy. Now a major motion picture. Who is killing America? Is it really Donald Trump and a GOP filled with white supremacists? In a major new work of historical revisionism, Dinesh D'Souza makes the provocative case that Democrats are the ones killing America by turning it into a massive nanny state modeled on the Southern plantation system. This sweeping alternative history of the Democratic Party goes back to its foundations in the antebellum South. The slaveholding elite devised the plantation as a means of organizing labor and political support. It was a mini welfare state, a cradle to grave system that bred dependency and punished any urge to independence. This model impressed northern Democrats, inspiring the political machines that traded government handouts for votes from ethnic immigrant blocs. Today's Democrats have expanded to a multiracial plantation of ghettos for blacks, barrios for Latinos, and reservations for Native Americans. Whites are the only holdouts resisting full dependency, and so they are blamed for the bigotry and racial exploitation that is actually perpetrated by the left. Death of a Nation's bracing alternative vision of American history explains the Democratic Party's dark past, reinterprets the roles of figures like Van Buren, FDR and LBJ, and exposes the hidden truth that racism comes not from Trump or the conservative right but rather from Democrats and progressives on the left.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.