It is often said that the federal government cannot or should not attempt to address America's problems of poverty and inequality—because its bureaucracy is wasteful or its programs ineffective. But is this true? In this book, Benjamin I. Page and James R. Simmons examine a number of federal and local programs, detailing what government action already does for its citizens and assessing how efficient it is at solving the problems it seeks to address. Their conclusion, surprisingly, is the polar opposite of the prevailing rhetoric— What Government Can Do is an insightful and compelling argument that it both can and should do more.

Introduction -- From currency to capabilities -- From capabilities to statecraft -- A theory of currency statecraft -- Youth -- Maturity -- Decline -- When statecrafts collide -- Conclusion

Examines Reagan's economic policies, details their financial consequences, and presents the necessity of substantial tax increases

Often labeled "neo-Nazis" or "right-wing extremists," radical nationalists in the Nordic countries have always relied on music to voice their opposition to immigration and multiculturalism. These actors shook political establishments throughout Sweden, Denmark, and Norway during the 1980s and 1990s by rallying around white power music and skinhead subculture. But though nationalists once embraced a reputation for crude chauvinism, they are now seeking to reinvent themselves as upstanding and righteous, and they are using music to do it. Lions of the North explores this transformation of anti-immigrant activism in the Nordic countries as it manifests in thought and sound. Offering a rare ethnographic glimpse into controversial and secretive political movements, it investigates changes in the music nationalists make and patronize, reading their puzzling embrace of lite pop, folk music, even rap and reggae as attempts to escape stereotypes and craft a new image for themselves. Lions of the North not only exposes the dynamic relationship between music and politics, but also the ways radical nationalism is adapting to succeed in some of the most liberal societies in the world.

Book by Benjamin Stein

The brilliance of a master historian shines through this “elegant and engaging memoir” of a lifetime’s work (Richard Aldous, Wall Street Journal ). Over a remarkable career Bernard Bailyn has reshaped our understanding of the early American past. Inscribing his superb scholarship with passion and imagination honed by a commitment to rigor, Bailyn captures the particularity of the past and its broad significance in precise, elegant prose. His transformative work has ranged from a new reckoning with the ideology that powered the opposition to British authority in the American Revolution, to a sweeping account of the peopling of America, and the critical nurturing of a new field, the history of the Atlantic world. Illuminating History is the most personal of Bailyn’s works. It is in part an intellectual memoir of the significant turns in an immensely productive and influential scholarly career. It is also alive with people whose actions touched the long arc of history. Among the dramatic human stories that command our attention: a struggling Boston merchant tormented by the tensions between capitalist avarice and a constrictive Puritan piety; an ordinary shopkeeper who in a unique way feverishly condemned British authority as corrupt and unworthy of public confidence; a charismatic German Pietist who founded a cloister in the Pennsylvania wilderness famous for its strange theosophy, its spartan lifestyle, and its rich musical and artistic achievement. And the good townspeople of Petersham, whose response in 1780 to a draft Massachusetts constitution speaks directly to us through a moving insistence on individual freedoms in the face of an imposing central authority. Here is vivid history and an illuminating self-portrait from one of the most eminent historians of our time.

The life of the Massachusetts governor accused of accepting and promoting British for controls provides a loyalist perspective on the events that precipitated the American Revolution.

This monumental work, Drawings of Florentine Painters by Bernard Berenson, was named in 2013 by Thames & Hudson one of the "books that shaped art history". Berenson was an influential American art historian of the late 19th and 20th centuries. He specialized in Renaissance Art and was a major force in building the US market for paintings by the Old Masters. American collectors of the time regarded Berenson as the ultimate Renaissance art authority. If he judged a painting authentic, its value was greatly increased. Originally published in 1938, and significantly revised and enlarged by the author in several subsequent editions, the 1970 publication by University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, consists of three volumes. (Heavy 4tos 11 1/4" x 8 7/8". Dark blue cloth stamped in gilt. In slipcase. No dust jackets issued.) Some of the Florentine artists covered in the three volumes are: da Vinci, Michelangelo, Albertinelli, Angelico, Gozzoli, Uccello, Verrocchio, Filippo, Botticelli, Lippi, Garbo, Carli, di Cosimo, Bartolommeo, Falconi, Cungi, del Sarto, Pontormo, Rosso, Manfredi, Rosselli, and Artetino. The first volume, Text (xiv, 367 pp; 12 chapters, 15 appendices), consists of Berenson's description and analysis -- using his own critical method and assumptions -- of the work of the artists. His unique and controversial method grouped paintings according to how he considered the artist handled critical aspects, such as surface texture (labeled "tactile imagination" by Berenson) or the weight and volume of any painted figures. Volume 2, Catalogue (xii, 388 pp.), is an illustrated presentation of works by the Italian painters. Volume 3, Illustrations (400+pp., 1109 plate figures and index), includes illustrated plates of the artists' work, first published by John Murray, and in a limited edition by E. P. Dutton, in 1903. While Berenson published other works, in his lifetime, Drawings of Florentine Painters is considered his masterpiece.

This book distinguishes itself by the author's ability to dispel clichés and elucidate the factual underpinnings of the ongoing naval warfare. The author possesses a lucid and pragmatic understanding of contemporary sea power, recognizing it as a practical rather than a convoluted concept. Unlike many works, this book does not promise a quick route to victory and avoids the typical broad and disdainful criticisms of the British and American high commands. Instead, the author elucidates the intricate challenges these commands have encountered, articulating the complexities in non-specialized language. The text notably avoids excessive use of tactical jargon.

The essays in Maps to Anywhere plot terrain that is at once familiar yet subtly strange. Writing on subjects ranging from his family to the origin of the barbershop pole, Bernard Cooper digs into the glimmering surface of the southern California landscape, observing the collision of the American Dream with the realities of everyday life. From the fragments, he discovers landmarks by which he attempts to make sense of contemporary America.

Bernard Cooper recalls his 1960s adolescence in Los Angeles and the emotional rollercoaster of puberty in this painfully honest memoir. He recounts the schoolboy crushes, the family strife, and the ebb and flow of youthful desire, all with a "humor that animates just about every sentence" (New York Times Book Review).

In Saigon, during the last days of South Vietnam, demoralized U.S. Ambassador Hadden Walker desperately schemes to salvage a shred of honor for his country

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Presents the life and career of the Middle East specialist, from his professional relationships with world leaders to his accomplishments in world politics, and offers the author's analysis of the political transformation of the region.

Depicts various episodes in the life of artist Arthur Fidelman who left the Bronx to pursue his career in Italy--Novelist.

Offers students a basic introduction to dialectics as well as a challenging exposition of its application to a wide range of social and historical phenomena. In this volume, Bertell also provides six in-depth case studies of dialectical method in action.

Long considered a noteworthy title on the Jewish role in early American history this book focuses on the Jewish community as a whole during the tumultuous years of the war, and on its effort to raise the concept of human rights and equality above restrictions based on race or religion.