The New York Times bestseller, now with a new epilogue "You might love Biden or you might hate Biden, but either way, if you want to understand him, you will want to buy this book." —Politico “A triumph of reporting.” — Geoff Bennett, PBS NewsHour “Deeply reported . . . a terrific read.” —Chuck Todd, Meet the Press “Fantastic . . . The first real insider account of the Biden White House and a fascinating read about Biden himself.” — Jon Favreau, Pod Save America On January 20, 2021, standing where only two weeks earlier police officers had battled with right-wing paramilitaries, Joe Biden took his oath of office. The American people were still sick with COVID-19, his economists were already warning him of an imminent financial crisis, and his party, the Democrats, had the barest of majorities in the Senate. Yet, faced with an unprecedented set of crises, Joe Biden decided he would not play defense. Instead, he set out to transform the nation. With unparalleled access to the tight inner circle of advisers who have surrounded Biden for decades, Franklin Foer dramatizes in forensic detail the first two years of the Biden presidency, concluding with the historic midterm elections. The result is a gripping and high-definition portrait of a major president at a time when democracy itself seems imperiled. Now with a new epilogue by the author, The Last Politician is a landmark work of political reporting—which includes thrilling, blow-by-blow insider reports of the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and the White House’s swift response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine—that is destined to shape history’s view of a president in the eye of the storm.

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post and NPR “We come to see in FDR the magisterial, central figure in the greatest and richest political tapestry of our nation’s entire history” —Nigel Hamilton, Boston Globe “Meticulously researched and authoritative” —Douglas Brinkley, The Washington Post “A workmanlike addition to the literature on Roosevelt.” —David Nasaw, The New York Times “Dallek offers an FDR relevant to our sharply divided nation” —Michael Kazin “Will rank among the standard biographies of its subject” — Publishers Weekly A one-volume biography of Roosevelt by the #1 New York Times bestselling biographer of JFK, focusing on his career as an incomparable politician, uniter, and deal maker In an era of such great national divisiveness, there could be no more timely biography of one of our greatest presidents than one that focuses on his unparalleled political ability as a uniter and consensus maker. Robert Dallek’s Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life takes a fresh look at the many compelling questions that have attracted all his biographers: how did a man who came from so privileged a background become the greatest presidential champion of the country’s needy? How did someone who never won recognition for his intellect foster revolutionary changes in the country’s economic and social institutions? How did Roosevelt work such a profound change in the country’s foreign relations? For FDR, politics was a far more interesting and fulfilling pursuit than the management of family fortunes or the indulgence of personal pleasure, and by the time he became president, he had commanded the love and affection of millions of people. While all Roosevelt’s biographers agree that the onset of polio at the age of thirty-nine endowed him with a much greater sense of humanity, Dallek sees the affliction as an insufficient explanation for his transformation into a masterful politician who would win an unprecedented four presidential terms, initiate landmark reforms that changed the American industrial system, and transform an isolationist country into an international superpower. Dallek attributes FDR’s success to two remarkable political insights. First, unlike any other president, he understood that effectiveness in the American political system depended on building a national consensus and commanding stable long-term popular support. Second, he made the presidency the central, most influential institution in modern America’s political system. In addressing the country’s international and domestic problems, Roosevelt recognized the vital importance of remaining closely attentive to the full range of public sentiment around policy-making decisions—perhaps FDR’s most enduring lesson in effective leadership.

Carl Bernstein' s stunning portrait of Hillary Rodham Clinton shows us, as nothing else has, the true trajectory of her life and career with its zigzag bursts of risks taken and safety sought. Marshaling all the skills and energy that propelled his history-making Pulitzer Prize reporting on Watergate, Bernstein gives us the most detailed, sophisticated, comprehensive, and revealing account we have had of the complex human being and political meteor who has already helped define one presidency and may well become, herself, the woman in charge of another. We see the shaping of Hillary as a self-described mind conservative and heart liberal -- her ostensibly idyllic Midwestern girlhood (her mother a nurturer, but her father a disciplinarian, harsher than she has acknowledged); her early development of deep religious feelings; her curiosity fueled by dedicated teachers, by exposure to Martin Luther King Jr., by the ferment of the sixties, and, above all, by a desire to change the world. At Wellesley, we watch Hillary, a Republican turned Democrat, thriving in the new sky' s-the-limit freedom for women, already perceived as a spokeswoman for her generation, her commencement speech celebrated in Life magazine. And the book takes us to Yale Law School as Hillary meets and falls in love with Bill Clinton and cancels her dream to go her own way, to New York or Washington, tying her fortune, instead, to his in Arkansas. Bernstein clarifies the often amazing dynamic of their marriage, shows us the extent to which Hillary has been instrumental in the triumphs and troubles of Bill Clinton' s governorship and presidency, and sheds light on her ownpolitical brilliance and her blind spots-- especially her suspicion and mishandling of the press and her overt hostility to the opposition that clouded her entry into the capital. He untangles her relationship to Whitewater, Troopergate, and Travelgate. He leads us to understand the failure of her health care initiative. In the emotional and political chaos of the Lewinsky affair we see Hillary, despite her immense hurt and anger, standing by her husband-- evoking a rising wave of sympathy from a public previously cool to her. It helps carry her into the Senate, where she applies the political lessons she has learned. It is now her time. As she decides to run for president, her husband now her valued aide, she has one more chance to fulfill her ambition for herself-- to change the world. In his preparation for A Woman in Charge, Bernstein reexamined everything pertinent written about and by Hillary Clinton. He interviewed some two hundred of her colleagues, friends, and enemies and was allowed unique access to the candid record of the 1992 presidential campaign kept by Hillary' s best friend, Diane Blair. He has given us a book that enables us, at last, to address the questions Americans are insistently-- even obsessively-- asking about Hillary Clinton: What is her character? What is her political philosophy? Who is she? What can we expect of her?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A powerful collection of the influential columnist's most important works--featuring rare speeches and a major new essay about today's populist movements and the future of global democracy "Charles will be remembered as one of the greatest public intellects of his generation."--John McCain In his decades of work as America's preeminent political commentator, whether writing about statecraft and foreign policy or reflecting on more esoteric topics such as baseball, spaceflight and medical ethics, Charles Krauthammer elevated the opinion column to a form of art. This collection features the columns, speeches and unpublished writings that showcase the best of his original thought and his last, enduring words on the state of American politics, the nature of liberal democracy and the course of world history. The book also includes a deeply personal section offering insight into Krauthammer's beliefs about what mattered most to him: friendship, family and the principles he lived by. The Point of It All is a timely demonstration of what made Charles Krauthammer the most celebrated American columnist and political thinker of his generation, a revealing look at the man behind the words and a lasting testament to his belief that anyone with an open and honest mind can grapple deeply with the most urgent questions in politics and in life.

Terrorist attacks. Natural disasters. Domestic crackdowns. Economic collapse. Riots. Wars. Disease. Starvation. What can you do to prepare for when it all hits the fan? You can learn to be self-sufficient and survive outside the system. After the last few years of violence and terror, of ethnic and religious hatred, of tsunamis and hurricanes—and now of world financial meltdown—Strauss, like most of his generation, came to the sobering realisation that, even in America, anything can happen. But rather than watch helplessly, he decided to do something about it. And so he spent three years traveling through a country that's lost its sense of safety, equipping himself with the necessary tools to save himself and his loved ones from an uncertain future. With the same quick wit and eye for cultural trends that marked The Game , The Dirt and How to Make Love Like a Porn Star , Emergency traces Neil's white-knuckled journey through today's heart of darkness, as he sets out to move his life offshore, test his skills in the wild, and remake himself as a gun-toting, plane-flying, government-defying survivor. It's a tale of paranoid fantasies and crippling doubts, of shady lawyers and dangerous cult leaders, of billionaire gun nuts and survivalist superheroes, of weirdos, heroes, and ordinary citizens going off the grid. It's one man's story of a dangerous world—and how to stay alive in it. Before the next disaster strikes, you're going to want to read this book. Because tomorrow doesn't come with a guarantee...

On the heels of his very successful books, How to Ruin Your Life, How to Ruin Your Love Life, and How to Ruin Your Financial Life, Ben Stein, in collaboration with his pal Phil DeMuth, has tongue firmly in cheek once again as he comes up with surefire ways to ruin the greatest nation in the history of the human race. Try a few of these on for size: Trust the United Nations to protect us and our security. Make it unlawful to worship God or even to show images of the Ten Commandments. Convert our universities into fortresses of anti-Americanism, hatred of freedom, and centers of confusion and ignorance. Encourage contempt for the family and for the community. Allow Hollywood to brainwash us into believing that only suckers and criminals fight for their country. Treat the military, the police, firefighters, and teachers as losers and pay them starvation wages. Hey, does any of this sound familiar? Maybe that's because it's already happening! Ben and Phil give you all the information you'll ever need in order to successfully ruin the USA even further! Sardonic, humorous, but also angrily emphatic, this is a book every old-fashioned patriot really needs to read!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE RANDY SHILTS AWARD “I [once] said [to Frank] I was sorry I would never be able to vote for him as the first gay president of the United States. After reading this book, I am sorrier than ever.”—Garry Wills, The New York Review of Books Growing up in Bayonne, New Jersey, Barney Frank made two vital discoveries about himself: he was attracted to government, and to men. He resolved to make a career out of the first and to keep the second a secret. Now, his sexual orientation is widely accepted, while his belief in government is embattled. Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage is his account of America’s transformation—and the tale of a truly momentous career. From the battle over AIDS funding in the 1980s to the 2008 financial crisis, Barney Frank played a key role, and in this feisty and often moving memoir, he candidly discusses the satisfactions, fears, and grudges that come with elected office. He recalls the emotional toll of living in the closet while publicly crusading against homophobia. He discusses painful quarrels with allies; friendships with public figures, from Tip O’Neill to Sonny Bono; and how he found love with his husband, Jim Ready, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to enter a same-sex marriage. The result is the story of an extraordinary political life, an original argument for rebuilding trust in government, and a guide to how change really happens—composed by a master of the art.

From the author of The Architecture of Happiness , a thought-provoking look at the position that news has achieved in our lives. The news is everywhere. We can't stop constantly checking it on our computer screens, but what is this doing to our minds? We are never really taught how to make sense of the torrent of news we face every day, writes Alain de Botton, but this has a huge impact on our sense of what matters and of how we should lead our lives. In his dazzling new book, de Botton takes twenty-five archetypal news stories--including an airplane crash, a murder, a celebrity interview and a political scandal--and submits them to unusually intense analysis with a view to helping us navigate our news-soaked age. He raises such questions as: Why are disaster stories often so uplifting? What makes the love lives of celebrities so interesting? Why do we enjoy watching politicians being brought down? Why are upheavals in far-off lands often so boring? In The News: A User's Manual , de Botton has written the ultimate guide for our frenzied era, certain to bring calm, understanding and a measure of sanity to our daily (perhaps even hourly) interactions with the news machine.

In Fatwa: Hunted in America, Pamela Geller tells her own story of how she became one of the world's foremost activists for the freedom of speech, individual rights, and equality of rights for all. Pamela Geller recounts her unlikely journey from New York City career girl to indomitably fearless human rights activist, reviled by the enemies of freedom the world over. "I assumed my freedom," she writes. "Never for one moment did I think that it could be taken from me. But all that changed on one day." That day was September 11, 2001 -- when on a beautiful, bright blue sunny morning, the global jihad struck in America with terrifying and murderous force. The United States of America and the free world as a whole would never be the same again. Neither would Pamela Geller. In this book, Geller tells the whole extraordinary story of how she began chronicling her take on news events at her groundbreaking website Atlas Shrugs, then moved into activism, at first on behalf of Muslim girls who were being brutalized and victimized at home for not following the misogynistic rules of Islamic law, and then to stand against the advance of jihad and sharia on numerous fronts, above all for the freedom of speech, which is increasingly embattled in this age of jihad. It's all here: Geller recounts the battle to defeat the sinister Ground Zero mosque project; the ISIS attack at Geller's Mohammed Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas; the fatwa issued to her and plot to behead her; and much more, including the relentless vilification from a mainstream media hell-bent on defaming and destroying everyone who stands for freedom against jihad terror and sharia oppression.Pamela Geller writes: "Any lover of freedom would have been tarred the same way I was, and many have been. I am but a proxy in this terrible, long war. What has happened to me is what happens, in small and large ways, to every American who stands for freedom." At last, in Fatwa: Hunted In America, she tells her story.

Genet...Beckett...Burroughs...Miller...Ionesco, Oe, Duras. Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. Hubert Selby Jr. and John Rechy. The legendary film I Am Curious (Yellow) . The books that assaulted the fort of propriety that was the United States in the 1950s and '60s, Lady Chatterley's Lover and The Tropic of Cancer. The Evergreen Review. Victorian "erotica." The Autobiography of Malcolm X . A bombing, a sit-in, and a near-fistfight with Norman Mailer. The common thread between these disparate elements, a number of which reshaped modern culture, was Barney Rosset. Rosset was the antidote to the trope of the "gentleman publisher" personified by other pioneering figures of the industry such as Alfred A. Knopf, Bennett Cerf and James Laughlin. If Barney saw a crowd heading one way--he looked the other. If he knew something was forbidden, he regarded it as a plus. Unsurprisingly, financial ruin, along with the highs and lows of critical reception, marked his career. But his unswerving dedication to publishing what he wanted made him one of the most influential publishers ever. Rosset began work on his autobiography a decade before his death in 2012, and several publishers and a number of editors worked with him on the project. Now, at last, in his own words, we have a portrait of the man who reshaped how we think about language, literature--and sex. Here are the stories behind the filming of Norman Mailer's Maidstone and Samuel Beckett's Film ; the battles with the US government over Tropic of Cancer and much else; the search for Che's diaries; his romance with the expressionist painter Joan Mitchell, and more. At times appalling, more often inspiring, never boring or conventional: this is Barney Rosset, uncensored. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs; includes index

Can a man be content with a piece of bread and some change tossed his way from a passerby? Today's modern welfare state expects he can. Those who control the money in our society think that giving a dollar at the train station and then appropriating a billion dollars for federal housing can cure the ails of the homeless and the poor. But the crisis of the modern welfare state is more than a crisis of government. Private charities that dispense aid indiscriminately while ignoring the moral and spiritual needs of the poor are also to blame. Like animals in the zoo at feeding time, the needy are given a plate of food but rarely receive the love and time that only a person can give. Poverty fighters 100 years ago were more compassionate--in the literal meaning of "suffering with"--than many of us are now. They opened their own homes to deserted women and children. They offered employment to nomadic men who had abandoned hope and human contact. Most significantly, they made moral demands on recipients of aid. They saw family, work, freedom, and faith as central to our being, not as life-style options. No one was allowed to eat and run. Some kind of honest labor was required of those who needed food or a place to sleep in return. Woodyards next to homeless shelters were as common in the 1890s as liquor stores are in the 1990s. When an able bodied woman sought relief, she was given a seat in the "sewing room" and asked to work on garments given to the helpless poor. To begin where poverty fighters a century ago began, Marvin Olasky emphasizes seven ideas that recent welfare practice has put aside: affiliation, bonding, categorization, discernment, employment, freedom, and most importantly, belief in God. In the end, not much will be accomplished without a spiritual revival that transforms the everyday advice we give and receive, and the way we lead our lives. It's time we realized that there is only so much that public policy can do. That only a richness of spirit can battle a poverty of soul. The century-old question--does any given scheme of help... make great demands on men to give themselves to their brethren?--is still the right one to ask. Most of our 20th-century schemes have failed. It's time to learn from the warm hearts and hard heads of the 19th-century.

This book is a counterpart to the classic The Art of Loving. Whereas the main topic there was man's capacity to love, the main topic here is his capacity to destroy, his narcissism, and his incestuous fixations. Whereas the topic of non-love fills most of these pages, the problem of love is taken up in a new and broader sense, namely, the love of life. The love of life, independence, and the overcoming of narcissism form "a syndrome of growth" against "a syndrome of decay" formed by love of death and malignant narcissism.

In a raw and unflinching memoir, Eli Sharabi, a survivor of 491 days in Hamas captivity, recounts the harrowing ordeal of his abduction from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7th, 2023, the loss of his wife and daughters, and his unyielding resolve to survive. "I refuse to let myself drown in pain. I am surviving. I am a hostage. In the heart of Gaza. A stranger in a strange land. In the home of a Hamas-supporting family. And I'm getting out of here. I have to. I'm getting out of here. I'm coming home."--Eli Sharabi On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Be'eri, shattering the peaceful life Eli Sharabi had built with his British wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel. Dragged barefoot out his front door while his family watched in horror, Sharabi was plunged deep into the suffocating darkness of Gaza's tunnels. As war raged above him, he endured a grueling 491 days in captivity, all the while holding onto the hope that he would one day be reunited with his loved ones. Eli Sharabi's story is one of hunger and heartache, of physical pain, longing, loneliness and a helplessness that threatens to destroy the soul. But it is also a story of strength, of resilience, and of the human spirit's refusal to surrender. It is about the camaraderie forged in captivity, the quiet power of faith, and one man's unrelenting decision to choose life, time and time again. In the first memoir by a released Israeli hostage, and the fastest-selling book in Israel's history, Sharabi offers a searing firsthand account of survival under unimaginable conditions--starvation, isolation, physical beatings, and psychological abuse at the hands of his captors. Compared to Elie Wiesel's Night and Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, Hostage is a profound witness to history, so it shall be neither forgotten nor erased.

Twenty sensational erotic stories that are sinfully good from Xcite Books, winners of the ETO Best Erotic Book Brand 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Featuring stories by some of the best writers in the erotic field including Kay Jaybee, Angela Meadows, Elizabeth Cage and Penelope Friday. Indulge yourself in this sensational collection and discover the pleasure of Ultimate Sins. French Connection by Cathy King Escaping to France in the wake of a failed marriage, Mandy attempts to put the past behind her and indulge in a change of scenery. Bad memories fade as the delights of her holiday destination reveal themselves. With British men off of the menu, she is determined to sample the local fare. A chance encounter following an early evening trip to the beach allows Mandy to experience some of the local delicacies. But, with her appetite whetted all she can crave for is more. Eat Me by Elizabeth Cage Tired after a hard day at work all Joanne wants is to go home, relax and indulge her sweet tooth. A chance encounter at the bus station results in a journey home by quite a different route. Her unforeseen diversion is not without its delights. As the evening unfolds she discovers an appetite that needs to be satiated, and is soon treated to a gourmet feast from a menu of the very risqué kind. Vichysoisse by Astrid L. Gathering ingredients to make a soup at the local supermarket, Sophia encounters the highly charged and seductive Samantha, and is immediately enchanted. Intoxicated by her presence she invites Samantha for a culinary lesson in the preparation of Vichysoisse. As the cooking begins, intimacy, passion and anticipation quickly swirl into a heady infusion that consumes the both of them. Unlike the cold soup that brings them together, their relationship soon progresses from a light simmer to boiling desire. Bamboobzled by Landon Dixon When gorgeous celluloid dame, Brinn Stones saunters'' into his office, hard-nosed PI Jim Brubaker is offered a case he simply cannot refuse. Charged with the task of unearthing a seedy blackmailing scam, Brubaker is forced to trawl the seedy underbelly of the City of Angels. As the case reveals itself, he soon discovers that Tinsel Town is not quite as it seems. It''s a dog-eat-dog world, where just about anything goes. Pretty Young Things by Cathryn Cooper It''s the Roaring Twenties, a decade of decadence, prosperity and wild-abandon. In need of fresh excitement, Carew accepts the challenge of a car race to the nearby abbey ruins. With the brazen Suzanne at his side, he leads the rowdy crowd out into the dark night. Once at the ruins, Suzanne embarks upon a ribald display that soon drives those in attendance into a wanton frenzy. Unmoved, Carew leaves the gathering to wander the ruins, chancing upon a mysterious woman and an erotic encounter of his own. Purposeful Liaison by Shermaine Williams When work calls her husband back from their romantic island holiday, Charlotte is left to enjoy what''s left on her own, rather that reigniting the lost passion of her marriage. Her sudden abandonment soon registers on the radar of Matthew, a well-toned holiday-maker looking for company during his stay. His persistent attention soon wears down Charlotte''s resolve, and a late-night invitation for a drink releases more passion than she can possibly control. Alice and the Red Queen by Jean Roberta When a young student takes on the job of gardener for an erstwhile tennis star, gardening is not the only activity to leave her hot and breathless. The Red Queen soon sets her sights on the nubile employee and enters into a game where domination is the ultimate prize. As the game begins, the temperature starts to rise as the former tennis queen samples the many new delights that await her in the intimacy of her well-maintained grounds. Serial Satisfaction by Cathryn Cooper Michael can''t wait to indulge in his affair with his best friend''s wife. In the seclusion of a lay-by Crystal waits for her lover, but has demands of her own in mind. As Michael revels in her sensuous affection, Crystal takes him to the brink only to stop. A girl needs commitment and that''s exactly what she wants. Crystal wants Michael for herself, not to be shared with his wife. As Michael ponders his next move, he soon learns an important lesson, that Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. Shared Experience by Lynn Lake The saying goes two''s company and three''s a crowd, but is that always the case? David is desperate for Amy to join him in realising his yearning for a threesome. Reluctant at first, Amy eventually succumbs to his wish and arranges for the arrival of the additional party: the voluptuous Cassandra. With her appetite whetted, Amy soon becomes a willing participant in David''s lustful scenario. However, her involvement is always going to be on her own terms, whatever they may be. Sweet Dreams by Jade Taylor Horny, frustrated and eager to get her toy boy home to the bedroom, Ellie must first lure Greg away from the nightclub. However, the easy distractions of youth interfere with her intentions, despite her most determined and seductive efforts. However, fate works in mysterious ways, and an after hours invitation to Greg''s friend Adam''s home provides her with a golden opportunity. Employing the power of her sensual allure, she teases them both only to enjoy a return that doubles her delight. The Florist by Eva Hore Melissa is determined to have her way with John the hunky Florist. With a plan in mind, she arrives late one evening to pursue her intention. As Melissa embarks on her seductive task, events take a very sudden and unexpected twist. Melissa soon finds herself at the centre of a wanton scenario that takes her on a wild, new experience of pleasure and pain. Behind closed doors at the florists will never be the same again. A Lesson For Victoria by Angela Meadows Dispatched by her Father, Victoria arrives at a school for young ladies nestled high the Tyrol. It soon becomes clear, that she has been sent to be educated as a lady. Under the expert guidance of Madams Thackeray and Hulot Victoria is to be prepared for presentation as a desirable Wife for high society gentleman. As the first evening session in the curriculum unfolds, it''s soon apparent to Victoria that her two-year attendance will be extremely hands on. Story Telling by Jim Baker Reality and imagination become entwined in a series of carnal encounters. A lecturer stumbles upon some raunchy extra-curricular activity in the University lecture hall, whilst a Librarian offers a personal and energetic critique of an author''s work. Yet it''s the mind behind these tales that feeds eagerly from its muse. As the plots are energetically worked out, the Authors fantasies are the only limitation. Beautiful Sin by Penelope Friday Two friends met again after a period of prolonged absence and cordially acknowledge each other. The reality is that both Catherine and Elizabeth share a passion that the world must never know. Against a backdrop of strict moral codes, their true feelings would see them incarcerated and separated forever; their lust for each other deemed a sin. Yet when the lights go out and others settle for the night, both women can meet secretly once more to share in their beautiful sin. The Spying Game by Roz MacLeod It''s the height of the Cold War and the nation is on its guard against the spectre of foreign espionage. When Sandi, a top agent in the Secret Service is called before Control, she is presented with a mission to uncover a possible double agent. Determined to safeguard the Nation''s secrets and using the cover of an erotic dancer, Sandi embarks on her wild and raunchy assignment, using every vice at her disposal to catch her target. The Librarian by Eva Hore A young woman returns early to her shared apartment, to find her scantily clad room mate preparing for a mysterious night-out. Where does a Librarian go after a day in the stacks? Imagination runs riot as an increasingly lecherous scenario unfolds in the young woman''s mind. Her room mate''s daytime mousy demeanour, tight bun and glasses are soon discarded, to reveal a wanton dominatrix hell bent on tasting the delights of her desires. Wreck-Her by Lynn Lake A business woman is unexpectedly delayed as her company car breaks-down, deep in the sun-parched Manitoba prairie. With no cell phone signal and the soaring heat of the surroundings rising, desperation rapidly begins to set in. Help soon arrives in the form of a tow truck that stops to offer assistance. After thoroughly appraising the situation, the truck driver is soon ready to dispense a unique form of roadside assistance that ultimately proves much to the woman''s delight. Mixed Blessings by Phoebe Grafton Two friends are in need of temporary relief from their respective husbands. With one husband too demanding and the other too languid, both wives decide that a weekend exchange is the best tonic. A plan is hatched, and after a night out together is put into effect, as door keys are exchanged for each others home and husband. The weekend that follows indulges each in the marital secrets of the other and in doing so sheds light over the question: is the grass always greener on the other side? Blindspot by Elspeth Potter Becca is both excited and intrigued when Dante brings a new toy to their swingers'' event. But what fascinates her more is how he wants to use it. Very soon, she is joined by Marcus who assists both Dante and herself in experiencing a new, exciting and heightened pleasure. As they plunge into their shared lascivious adventure, all inhibitions fall away leading t

Who were the populists? Jew haters and baiters or humanists? Anti-intellectual Babbitts or rational radicals? Proto-fascists or proto-reformers? Professor Pollack passionately supports the traditional, sympathetic, liberal portrayal of the movement in his fascinating Introduction. Here he breaks lances with the establishement of the revisionist school - Richard Hofstander, Oscar Handlin, and Seymour Martin Lipset, among others. The eighty-nine documents assembled in this anthology - from newspaper articles, editorials, political speeches and tracts, manuscripts, letters, and books - in many cases are reprinted here for the first time. They may or may not convince you that Mr. Pollack is correct in his "counter-revisionist" interpretation of the Populist movement. The documents are specific about the exploitative conditions of the time, their causes and their proposed solutions. But they leave open for the reader the still ambiguous interpretation of what motivated the participants. For example, Ignatius onnelley, western Populist from Minneapolis, wrote in CAESAR'S COLUMN (1890) : The world today clamors for deeds, not creeds; for charity, not ceremony;for love, not intellect. Are these the words of a messianic crackpot or of an effective radical reformer with a realistic program? Was the Young Tom Watson, leader of the People's Party in the South, friend to the Negro, crusading liberal of the period, the true Tom Watson? Or was a Hyde to this Jekyll ever lurking in his program and personality - expressing itself in the virulently anti-Semictic, aniti-Catholic, anti-Negro utterances of the old Thomas E. Watson from the floor of the United States Senate? As Pollack syas at the conclusion of his Introduction : "A great deal of work remains to be done, both in research and interpretation, before the Populist movement as a dynamic social force is fully understood". This superb collection may suggest paths to that end" - Publisher.

Michael Ratner (1943-2016) was one of America's leading human rights lawyers. He worked for more than four decades at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) becoming first the Director of Litigation and then the President of what Alexander Cockburn called "a small band of tigerish people." He was also the President of the National Lawyers Guild. Ratner handled some of the most significant cases In American history. This book tells why and how he did it. His last case, which he worked on until he died, was representing truth-telling whistleblower and now political prisoner Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks. Ratner "moved the bar" by organizing some 600 lawyers to successfully defend habeas corpus, that is, the ancient right of someone accused of a crime to have a lawyer and to be brought before a judge. Michael had a piece of paper taped on the wall next to his desk at the CCR. It read: 4 key principles of being a radical lawyer: 1. Do not refuse to take a case just because it is long odds of winning in court. 2. Use cases to publicize a radical critique of US policy and to promote revolutionary transformation. 3. Combine legal work with political advocacy. 4. Love people. Compelling and instructive, Moving the Bar is an indispensable manual for the next generation of activists and their lawyers.

From the pages of Love & Rockets, an intimate epic from south of the border. For the first time ever, Fantagraphics is proud to present a single-volume collection of Gilbert Hernandez's "Heartbreak Soup" stories from Love & Rockets, which along with RAW magazine defined the modern literary comics movement of the post-underground generation. This massive volume collects every "Heartbreak Soup" story from 1993 to 2002 in one 500-page deluxe hardcover edition, presenting the epic for the first time as the single novel it was always intended to be. Palomar is the mythical Central American town where the "Heartbreak Soup" stories take place. The stories weave in and out of the town's entire population, crafting an intricate tapestry of Latin American experience. Hernandez's densely plotted and deeply imagined tales are often compared with magic realist authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende (House of the Spirits). His depictions of women and Mexican-American experience have been universally lauded as the best examples the artform has to offer. Luba, the guiding spirit of Palomar since the outset, has been hailed by The Nation, Rolling Stone, and Time magazine as one of the great characters of contemporary American fiction. Hernandez's work, in addition to the obvious magic realist comparisons, shares an affinity with other Latin American and Spanish writer/artists, like Frida Kahlo, Federico Garcia Lorca and Pablo Picasso, all of whom applied a surrealist eye to what they saw and experienced. Palomar follows the lives of its residents from Luba's arrival in the town to her exit, twenty years later. Included are such classic tales as "Sopa de Gran Pena," "Ecce Homo," "An American in Palomar," "Human Diastrophism," and "Farewell, Mi Palomar." Palomar presents one of the richest accomplishments in the history of the artform in its ideal format for the first time, making it a must-have for longtime Love & Rockets fans and new readers alike. 500 pages b/w illustrations

A New York Times “Books for Summer Reading” selection Winner of the 2003 National Jewish Book Award for History By the time he died in 1993 at the age of 73, Irving Howe was one of the twentieth century’s most important public thinkers. Deeply passionate, committed to social reform and secular Jewishness, ardently devoted to fiction and poetry, in love with baseball, music, and ballet, Howe wrote with such eloquence and lived with such conviction that his extraordinary work is now part of the canon of American social thought. In the first comprehensive biography of Howe’s life, historian Gerald Sorin brings us close to this man who rose from Jewish immigrant poverty in the 1930s to become one of the most provocative intellectuals of our time. Known most widely for his award-winning book World of Our Fathers, a rich portrayal of the East European Jewish experience in New York, Howe also won acclaim for his prodigious output of illuminating essays on American culture and as an indefatigable promoter of democratic socialism as can be seen in the pages of Dissent, the journal he edited for nearly forty years. Deeply devoted to the ideal of democratic radicalism and true equality, Howe was constantly engaged in a struggle for decency and basic fairness in the face of social injustice. In the century of Auschwitz, the Gulag, and global inter-ethnic mass murder, it was difficult to sustain political certainties and take pride in one's humanity. To have lived a life of conviction and engagement in that era was a notable achievement. Irving Howe lived such a life and Gerald Sorin has done a masterful job of guiding us through it in all its passion and complexity.

More than three decades have passed since Robert Kennedy was assassinated seeking the Democratic nomination for the presidency. During that time, a powerful legend has grown around him, decreeing that he would have quickly ended the Vietnam War, violence in the cities, and racial and social injustice across the land. Millions of Americans continue to believe that legend. Drawing on his striking interpretation of RFK's character, award-winning historian Ronald Steel examines the life against the legend that Kennedy consciously helped create.

This is the story of a nation--the United States--that has conducted more than 160 wars and other military ventures while insisting it loves peace. In the process, the US has forged a world empire while maintaining its innocence of imperialistic designs. From Mexico to Lebanon, from China to the Dominican Republic, from Nicaragua to Vietnam, the US has intervened regularly in the affairs of other nations. Yet the myth that Americans are benevolent, peace-lving people who will fight only to defend the rights of others lingers on. Excesses and cruelties, though sometimes admitted, usually are regarded as momentary aberrations. In this comprehensive history of American imperialism, Sidney Lens punctures the myth once and for all by showing how the US, from the time it gained its own independence, has used every available means--political, economic, and military--to dominate other peoples.