Political Bookworm: February 28, 2010 - March 6, 2010

March 7, 2010

FICTION HARDCOVER 1 FANTASY IN DEATH (Putnam, $26.95) By J.D. Robb. A computer gaming tycoon, found dead in a locked room, is Lt. Eve Dallas’s latest case. (1) 2 THE HELP (Amy Einhorn, $24.95) By Kathryn Stockett. A frank chronicle...

By Christopher Schoppa  |  March 6, 2010; 1:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
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March 7, 2010

1. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (Harper, $27.99). By John Heilemann & Mark Halperin 2. On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System...

By Christopher Schoppa  |  March 6, 2010; 12:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Politics Best Sellers  
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Conservative vs. conservative

Tom Pauken isn't happy with the direction of American conservatism, and he points a finger of blame at the Bush administration for leading the Republican Party astray. The former staffer in the Nixon and Reagan administrations lays out the ills...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 5, 2010; 5:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Categories:  Guest Blogger  | Tags: reagan-goldwater legacy; conservatives battling conservatives; bush vs. reagan; conservatism under bush  
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Palin plans book on American virtues

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will come out with a new book that is a "celebration of American virtues and strengths," publisher HarperCollins announced on Thursday. The as-yet untitled book by Palin, widely considered...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 4, 2010; 2:16 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
 
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Could Chalabi emerge as Iraq's prime minister?

Ahmad Chalabi’s reemergence on the Iraqi political scene ahead of Parliamentary elections is disconcerting to U.S. officials who worry about the ultimate ambitions of their one-time ally. American authorities and some Iraqis are concerned that Chalabi, a Shiite, is maneuvering...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 4, 2010; 1:19 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Guest Blogger  | Tags: chalabi and U.S., iraq elections.  
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Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation Edited by Ellen Fitzpatrick (Ecco, $26.99) March 2 Fitzpatrick, a professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, selected nearly 300 of what we can only guess are the most riveting...

By Christopher Schoppa  |  March 4, 2010; 5:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Tomorrows Titles Today  
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In memoir, Rove admits to error on Iraq

By Beth Fouhy Associated Press Writer Republican strategist Karl Rove says in a new memoir that the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq badly damaged the Bush administration's credibility and led to dwindling public support for the...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 3, 2010; 8:50 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
 
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Does the right wing have a persecution complex?

How contentious will the November elections be? Judging by an early look at one title scheduled for release around election time, you can bet the volume will be turned up full blast. There’s no doubting where Michael Wolraich stands on...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 3, 2010; 5:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (6)
Categories:  Whip It Up  | Tags: republican persecution myths; wolraich on conservatives;  
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Tomorrow's titles today: nuclear proliferation, Baltimore bigotry, and the failure of our schools

The following are among the new releases coming this month: Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America’s Enemies By David Albright (Free Press, $27) March 16 No black market is more shadowy or sinister than the one for...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 3, 2010; 5:15 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Tomorrow's Titles Today  
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Kessler turns his sights on the FBI

Ronald Kessler, whose book on the Secret Service shot onto the best seller list last year in a cloud of controversy, is turning his attention to the FBI for his next project. Kessler has signed a deal with Crown in...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 2, 2010; 2:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Whip It Up  | Tags: ronald kessler on the FBI  
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How snitching erodes criminal justice

Criminal informants are a powerful weapon in law enforcement. Snitches typically provide incriminating information about someone in exchange for lighter treatment for themselves. But there is a dark side to the popular practice. In "Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 2, 2010; 11:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Guest Blogger  | Tags: criminal informants and the justice system; snitching and justice  
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Nixon book coming next year claims to dig up fresh secrets from National Archive documents and tapes

No president has left a legacy of voyeuristic fascination quite like Richard Nixon. There seems no end to the flow of his presidential and personal secrets. Don Fulsom spent a good part of his career following Nixon as a White...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 2, 2010; 6:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Brace Yourself  | Tags: nixon's secrets; nixon tapes; revelations from nixon's secret tapes  
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Tomorrow's titles today: a Hamas offspring turns his back on violence, Ralph Peters on Islam vs. the West, a former Iraqi minister on Islamic culture

The following books are being released this month. Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices By Mosab Hassan Youseff with Ron Brackin (Tyndale House, $26.99) March 2 A memoir by the oldest son...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 2, 2010; 5:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
 
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Publisher drops book on Hiroshima bombing

Henry Holt is dropping publication of “The Last Train From Hiroshima” after the author Charles Pellegrino failed to adequately answer questions about a source in the book and the revocation of his PhD more than 25 years ago. The action...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  March 1, 2010; 2:41 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Tags: hiroshima bombing book; fraudulent souces in hiroshima book  
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About Political Bookworm

Political Bookworm is a book blog for political junkies. If you need to know today which books will be shaping popular thought and public policy tomorrow, you’ve come to the right place. Political Bookworm discusses new books long before they...

By Steven Levingston  |  February 28, 2010; 8:32 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
 
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The politics of disaster: does government regulation save lives in catastrophic earthquakes?

How a government responds after a disaster usually captures the headlines. But often far more important is how governments prepare for such an event. Richard Sylves has long studied emergency management and the politics of disaster. Here he discusses how...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  February 28, 2010; 8:28 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
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Author posing as schoolboy writes letters to politicians and receives revealing replies

Bill Geerhart did a pretty naughty thing: pretending to be a school boy he wrote letters to people in high places. He sought advice on the big questions of life; he asked for tips on how to run his campaign...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  February 28, 2010; 6:45 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Say What  | Tags: boy's letter to politicians;  
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Time to declare a new dawn in Iraq?

A full understanding of the Iraq War will be left to historians. A fine starting point, however, may be the documents in “The Iraq Papers” edited by John Ehrenberg, J. Patrice McSherry, Jose Ramon Sanchez and Caroleen Marji Sayej and...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  February 28, 2010; 6:32 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Guest Blogger  | Tags: iraq war name change to operation new dawn; end of Operation Iraqi Freedom  
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Tomorrow's titles today: the world according to Rove, America's future according to Romney, the war on terror according to retired CIA agent Kiriakou

The following are among the new releases coming this month: Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight By Karl Rove (Threshold Editions, $30) March 9 Perhaps the most anticipated release for political junkies on both sides...

By Christopher Schoppa  |  February 28, 2010; 6:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
 
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Top Political Titles

1. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (Harper, $27.99). By John Heilemann & Mark Halperin 2. On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System...

By Christopher Schoppa  |  February 28, 2010; 4:13 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Politics Best Sellers  
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Washington Area's Top Titles

HARDCOVER FICTION 1 THE HELP (Amy Einhorn, $24.95) By Kathryn Stockett. A frank chronicle of the lives of several black maids working in a town in 1960s Miss. (31) 2 WORST CASE (Little, Brown, $27.99) By James Patterson & Michael...

By Steven E. Levingston  |  February 28, 2010; 4:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
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