Koncocoo

Best Democracy

A People's History of the United States
Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools—with its emphasis on great men in high places—to focus on the street, the home, and the, workplace. Howard Zinn (1922–2010) was a historian, playwright, and social activist.
Reviews
"My grandson had this book for his social studies class and I read a chapter while he was visiting."
"Read it and you will understand but the reality will still exist and you stand unable to. change it."
"Some of this I was already aware of from reading other more comprehensive history books on the events themselves."
"The book is very detailed, telling the history in a very long way, from court records, number of arrests etc and I am losing focus."
"A more honest, if less glorified story of the United States, including lots of things our country would rather you didn't hear about."
"It’s a whole new way of looking at our history and it’s not pretty."
"This is book tells the history of the United States from a class, sexist and racist perspective."
"Honest, no-holds-barred telling of how we Europeans overtook and overwhelmed this part of North America."
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On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
#1 New York Times Bestseller The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. "Timothy Snyder reasons with unparalleled clarity, throwing the past and future into sharp relief. He has written the rare kind of book that can be read in one sitting but will keep you coming back to help regain your bearings. Put a copy in your pocket and one on your bedside table, and it will help you keep going for the next four years or however long it takes." A slim book that fits alongside your pocket Constitution and feels only slightly less vital. A memorable work that is grounded in history yet imbued with the fierce urgency of what now.” —Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post “Snyder knows this subject cold. It is impossible to read aphorisms like ‘post-truth is pre-fascism’ and not feel a small chill about the current state of the Republic. Approach this short book the same you would a medical pamphlet warning about an infectious disease. Read it carefully and be on the lookout for symptoms.” — Daniel W. Drezner, The New York Times Book Review. “Snyder is superbly positioned to bring historical thinking to bear on the current political scene. These unpretentious words remind us that political resistance isn’t a matter of action-movie heroics, but starts from a willingness to break from social expectations.” — Jeet Heer, The New Republic. These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten.” — Tim Adams, The Guardian. Snyder detects dangerous trends in American politics that may be less visible to most citizens who cannot believe that our country, with its system of checks and balances, could succumb to illiberalism or authoritarianism.” — Darryl Holter, Los Angeles Review of Books.
Reviews
"The book adds commentary to his list, and it's worth the small cost. In addressing what he terms "the politics of inevitability," he notes. Until recently, we Americans had convinced ourselves that there was nothing in the future but more of the same. We allowed ourselves to accept the politics of inevitability, the sense that history could move in only one direction: toward liberal democracy. About this attitude, he states. In the politics of eternity, the seduction by a mythicized past prevents us from thinking about possible futures. Since the crisis is permanent, the sense of emergency is always present; planning for the future seems impossible or even disloyal. at 810-815. In contrast to both of these attitudes, he places history (an encomium with which I could not agree more): Both of these positions, inevitability and eternity, are antihistorical. The Polish poet Czesław Miłosz thought that such a notion of responsibility worked against loneliness and indifference."
"Another: the long and terrible legacy of dismantling the rule and protections of law as "exceptions" -- which quickly become permanent -- due to safety "emergencies.""
"Clearly, he is compelled to share cautionary lessons for Enlightenment-loving, Constitution-embracing, and liberal democratic citizens of his own country… and that would be us. We, who are so unprepared to face our threat, who are traumatized and ill-equipped to recognize and react to repression have ask ourselves: “what is to be done, how can we endure this, maintain our self-respect, and resist?”. In “On Tyranny”, prof. Snyder has distilled the life lessons of those countless courageous people who faced tyranny and he implies how countless more have shriveled and looked away from the horror they felt coming. Lesson number 1 is about how a person caves into tyranny: “…individuals think ahead what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”. Fortunately, the other 19 lessons truly instruct and remind the reader about options to resist letting tyranny dominate your life."
"I think I'll buy 50 copies and send them to my family and friends who also want to be appropriately pro-active in these crazy political times."
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The Retreat of Western Liberalism
lucidly expounds on the erosion of the West's middle classes, the dysfunction among its political and economic elites and the consequences for America and the world." Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about by ignorance of what it took to build the West, arrogance towards society's economic losers, and complacency about our system's durability―attitudes that have been emerging since the fall of the Berlin Wall. “Timely and informed, providing an important overview of the dynamics in an increasingly interconnected and fragmented planet . In his prescient 2012 book, Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent , Luce uncannily anticipated the politics of resentment and the bitter fights over immigration that would fuel ‘Brexit’ and last year’s American election. And in this new book, he lucidly expounds on the erosion of the West’s middle classes, the dysfunction among its political and economic elites and the consequences for America and the world.” ―Michiko Kakutani, New York Times. Throughout, one is struck by his command of the material and the activity of his prose―he is unsparing in his condemnation of the elites who didn't see this coming.” ―Fareed Zakaria, New York Times Book Review. Luce offers a useful wake-up call to elites, urging them to focus on the very real struggles of America’s besieged middle class before we all lose the freedom and democracy we cherish . Luce’s project is to explain what the recent dark turn in Western politics―the rise of ultranationalism, populist demagoguery, cultural insularity, and social unrest―has to do with global economics. It’s a story of trade balances and technological disruption, but also a withering dismantling of Western liberalism’s faith in progress.” ―Elias Muhanna, New Yorker , “What we’re reading this summer”. “Read this book: In the three hours it takes you will get a new, bracing, and brilliant understanding of the dangers we in the democratic West now face. Luce is one of the smartest journalists working today, and his perceptions are priceless.” ―Jane Mayer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Dark Money. For Luce, the combination of rising income inequality, vanishing economic mobility and distant technocracy has led to our moment’s populist resurgence.” ―Carlos Lozada, Washington Post. “No one was more prescient about the economic malaise and popular resentment that has hit the United States than Edward Luce in his previous book, Time to Start Thinking . It is a must read for anyone trying to make sense of the waves of populism and nationalism we face today.” ―Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lords of Finance. “In just 200 pages, [Luce] surveys economics, history, electoral politics, and international relations to paint a vision of the planet that’s as worrying as it is realistic.” ― VICE. “Luce’s well-crafted book locates the origin of the crisis in declining economic opportunities available to Western middle classes.” ―G. “Luce does a masterful job of describing the contours of the rise of illiberal democracy in the west.” ―Benjamin Knoll, New York Journal of Books. [Luce’s] writing has a vigour and sweep all too absent in the deadly prose of social scientists.” ― Financial Times (UK). “A succinct and powerful accounting of the global failure of the political left and the subsequent revolt of the people against a system that they see, not without reason, as having failed and abandoned them.” ― Toronto Star. Luce combines some hard, and unsettling, facts about the ‘stagnant’ state of Western economies and societies, with perceptive, even provocative insights into their implications.” ―Vikas Datta, Business Standard.
Reviews
"Its sweep takes in America, the UK and continental Europe and highlights the structural forces that's ailing the middle classes across all those countries. Luce's work stands back from the particularities and brings out what is threatening the west in general."
"I thought Mr. Luce's previous book, "Time to Start Thinking" was disturbing."
"The American model has been successful in that more people are being lifted out of poverty than at a faster rate than at any time in human history. Luce believes that the “reckless” foreign wars of George Bush have damaged America’s influence abroad, and its ability to promote democracy. He argued that the 20th century in Europe was a battle between three rival ideologies: communism, fascism, and liberal democracy. Sending jobs overseas has benefited China, Mexico and Poland but it has reduced the standard of living of ordinary people in the West. He suggests that when people don’t share in economic growth or are excluded from the affluence around them, this can become dangerous for societies and usually produces instability. The EU currently has a population of 508 million and it wants to expand to include Ukraine, the Balkans and perhaps Turkey. Britons eventually discovered that they were supposed to regard national sovereignty as a thing of the past. Many Britons began to object and Brexit became an attractive option for the growing number who did not like what the EU was becoming. One New York billionaire suggested to Luce that there should be competence tests for voters, only well-informed people should have the right to vote. If you read the commentators in London’s left of center Guardian, many seem to believe that ordinary people are not qualified to vote on issues like Brexit. They have little in common with the often socially conservative white working classes, whose views on immigration are often regarded as racist by liberals. Politicians like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair chose to abandon poor white people in the 1990s. The Democrats now receive large donations from Wall Street and Silicon Valley, so their interests have changed. Luce believes that by abandoning the politics of solidarity with the white working classes Democrats have shot themselves in the foot. Luce does not see Trump or populist nationalists in Europe, like Marine Le Pen, as the causes of today’s crisis in democratic liberalism but rather as symptoms. Luce does not believe that Trump and Brexit are one-offs, they represent dissatisfaction with the status quo. However, not enough people in the major parties seems to care enough about the white working class to resolve their problems."
"Edward Luce is English, well educated, and experienced -- served as bureau chief for the Financial Times for four years in India, then in D.C. for many years."
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Best Democracy

A People's History of the United States
Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools—with its emphasis on great men in high places—to focus on the street, the home, and the, workplace. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history.
Reviews
"A more honest, if less glorified story of the United States, including lots of things our country would rather you didn't hear about."
"My grandson had this book for his social studies class and I read a chapter while he was visiting."
"The book is very detailed, telling the history in a very long way, from court records, number of arrests etc and I am losing focus."
"Every American needs to read this book."
"I am so interested in history, but typically I find it hard to read history books due to their dull tone."
"I cant put it down, it like what do you think is going to happen when you take orhers people land !"
"Most history books guide you from event to event and are very dry."
"It should be a must read for every American."
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Best History

The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
The dramatic, pulse-pounding story of Harry Truman’s first four months in office, when this unlikely president had to take on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and the atomic bomb, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. although there are plenty of good biographies of Truman, few are as entertaining as Baime’s." Baime is a master storyteller, and The Accidental President contains everything a reader could ever want from a work of history: characters that jump off the page, tension that makes your pulse pound, and smooth, smart writing that makes you think. Baime's biography uses new sources to paint Harry Truman as a complex and thoroughly American figure. Baime has put a spotlight on those four months, recounting them faithfully and with heart, so that you come away with not only a sense of history, but a sense of the man, Harry Truman, as well. As Grandpa himself said a few years later, ‘It’s hell to be President of the Greatest Most Powerful Nation on Earth.’” —Clifton Truman Daniel, Truman’s grandson and author of Growing Up with My Grandfather: Memories of Harry Truman. “An entertaining new history of Truman’s first months in office...filled with events that are strikingly proportionate to what the Trump administration has weathered since January.” —John Batchelor, The Daily Beast. "By relying mostly on primary sources, Baime allows for a better perspective of Truman, in which his political decisions are equally as significant as the correspondence with his beloved wife, daughter, and mother. His carefully crafted narrative transports the reader back in time... Each sentence is carefully constructed and colorfully packed with details that makes Harry Truman and this period in history come alive.
Reviews
"His previous books on Willow Run and the La Mans battle between Ferrari and Ford were just tremendous. Taking what Baime claims is four of perhaps the four most consequential months of any presidency, a point of which is probably correct, this book starts off with FDR's surprising death in Warm Springs, Georgia as World War II reaches its penultimate moments with the collapse of Germany and the beginning of the end of the Empire of Japan."
"We have all read good books and great books from a historical perspective. This book is one, if you please, that is an absolute must read."
"I highly recommend this book to students of history, Truman, WWII, and/or the Presidency."
"Baime has produced a meticulously researched account of the period from April to August 1945, telling the dramatic story of how an underestimated man took the weight of the world on his shoulders. He took the oath, summoned the Cabinet, and began a series of meetings, in one of which he was informed for the first time of the Manhattan Project to build an atomic weapon. Over the next days and weeks he dealt with the complexities of guiding the US through the final days of the war in Europe, began to make plans for the post-war economy, made contact with other world leaders (some for the first time), discussed plans for the ongoing war with Japan, and above all had the first of a series of exchanges with Stalin, Molotov, and other Soviet officials which revealed sharp ideological differences. He oversaw the establishment of the United Nations, led negotiations at Potsdam with Churchill, Attlee, and Stalin, and approved the use of the atom bomb on Japan. Among the unanswered questions of twentieth century history are those which ask whether the Cold War was inevitable, or if Roosevelt could have done a better job than his successor in easing tensions with the Soviets, thus avoiding the creation of the Iron Curtain."
"Excellant Book !!!"
"My only regret is that my dad is no longer alive to talk with me; he was a gunner on a B-29 in the Pacific just as the new Truman administration was trying to figure out how to defeat the Japanese, leading to the A-bomb decision."
"Good book."
"Works well as a companion to other books."
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Best Political Ideologies

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
But as Jane Mayer shows in this powerful, meticulously reported history, a network of exceedingly wealthy people with extreme libertarian views bankrolled a systematic, step-by-step plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. If they pooled their vast resources, they could fund an interlocking array of organizations that could work in tandem to influence and ultimately control academic institutions, think tanks, the courts, statehouses, Congress, and, they hoped, the presidency. Richard Mellon Scaife, the mercurial heir to banking and oil fortunes, had the brilliant insight that most of their political activities could be written off as tax-deductible “philanthropy.”. These organizations were given innocuous names such as Americans for Prosperity. This process reached its apotheosis with the allegedly populist Tea Party movement, abetted mightily by the Citizens United decision—a case conceived of by legal advocates funded by the network. In a taut and utterly convincing narrative, she traces the byzantine trail of the billions of dollars spent by the network and provides vivid portraits of the colorful figures behind the new American oligarchy. "Jane Mayer's Dark Money is utterly brilliant and chilling — no matter how much you think you already know. Lay aside the endless punditry about Donald’s belligerence or Hillary’s ambition; Mayer is telling the epic story of America in our time. It is a triumph of investigative reporting, perhaps not surprising for a journalist who has won most of the awards her profession has to offer.... She’s a pro, and she’s given the world a full accounting of what had been a shadowy and largely unseen force. "The book is written in straightforward and largely unemotional prose, but it reads as if conceived in quiet anger. Mayer believes that the Koch brothers and a small number of allied plutocrats have essentially hijacked American democracy, using their money not just to compete with their political adversaries, but to drown them out. Dark Money emerges as an impressively reported and well-documented work. The importance of Dark Money [flows] from its scope and perspective. It is not easy to uncover the inner workings of an essentially secretive political establishment. She makes a formidable argument.” ­—From the cover of the New York. Times Book Review “Revelatory. Only the most thoroughly documented, compendious account could do justice to the Kochs’ bizarre and Byzantine family history and the scale and scope of their influence.” ­— The New York Times.
Reviews
"The fortune they possess together is greater than those of Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Warren Buffet, and other private individuals who are often characterized as the richest people in the world. As Mayer reveals, the brothers — Charles, especially — preside over a network of billionaires and centimillionaires who operate in tandem in support of the most virulent, Right-Wing causes and candidates in the country’s politics. In 1964, Scaife set out to change the terms of political debate by investing heavily in think tanks and academic centers to espouse a radical “free-market” ideology and imprint it on a new generation of scholars, lawyers, and activists. In addition to Scaife and the Koch Brothers, the “vast Right-Wing conspiracy” they set in motion includes the aging casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, an obsessively pro-Israel donor who has outpaced everyone else in the country in political spending in recent elections, and the De Vos family of Michigan, owners of Amway, as well as other members of the 0.01%, a majority of whose fortunes were built on oil, gas, coal, and finance. The plutocrats in the Kochs’ network profess similar political beliefs which they characterize as “conservatism” to promote “freedom” and the “free market” in America. On the contrary, it’s clear from Mayer’s account that the common intellectual thread that runs throughout this group of supremely privileged individuals is a determination to turn back the clock to the nineteenth century, repealing every political reform instituted under Teddy Roosevelt and all his successors. What these people want is clearly nothing less than the “freedom” to pollute, exploit their employees, avoid taxes, dictate the terms of political debate, and pass their vast wealth on to their children and grandchildren in dynastic fashion. They live in multimillion-dollar homes (usually, several of them), preside over huge businesses, and donate millions of dollars to “charity” (usually, arts institutions and universities that will place their names on buildings). At the same time, they consciously set out to foster the grassroots efforts that eventually produced the Tea Party, by creating phony populist organizations (“Astroturf”), providing funding and political expertise, and subsidizing sympathetic media. All this is possible now after the 2010 Citizens United decision and its sequels in the courts, which freed what Bernie Sanders calls “the billionaire class” to dominate federal elections to a greater extent than was feasible even under the Robber Barons in the closing years of the nineteenth century. Others, such as the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society, and the Kochs’ most identifiable political venture, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), are well known and substantial. Most of the organizations created by the members of the network exist merely to launder money from wealthy donors, funneling it through a series of obscurely named entities to avoid the few remaining campaign finance disclosure requirements. The most dramatic revelation in Mayer’s book is her account of the way the Koch brothers’ father built the fortune that was the foundation of their enormous wealth. A scholar who studied Koch’s work for Nazi Germany concluded that “the American venture became ‘a key component of the Nazi war machine.’ Historians expert in German industrial history concur.”. Some readers may also find surprises in Mayer’s accounts of the central role of the Koch Brothers and their allies in launching and funding the Tea Party and the protracted (and successful) effort to undermine the public consensus about the serious threat that climate change poses to human life in the near future. Charles and David had outspent what was then the world’s largest public oil company, ExxonMobil, by a factor of three.”. About the author. Jane Mayer is an investigative journalist who has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for twenty years."
"The book is not anti-republican, rather it highlights the funding of anti-government movements and intentional divisions within the republican party as a result of libertarian ideas held by the Koch brothers. Throughout the book, every time a major economic player is introduced, Mayer underscores that introduction with a reference to a specific court battle or lawsuit due to fraud that that particular individual is facing. I understand that it is used to underscore why specific persons being referenced may have a disdain against the government, but in some situations, knowing the pending lawsuits for fraud are not advantageous to moving the story forward. Yet, the family background does serve well to highlight where the wealth of the Koch brothers originated from and ideologies of anti-government that came from their father who was also a member of ultra conservative groups while alive. It is a vital, well cross-referenced read, that chronicles the long growing investment of big business into politics, which has reached the plateau of influence in the election game."
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Best U.S.Congresses, Senates & Legislative

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate
It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics. "The best political book of 2017. "[AL FRANKEN, GIANT OF THE SENATE] may...be the funniest memoir by a sitting - standing, recumbent, squatting - U.S. senator. This is a genuinely funny book, often hilarious...the Senate, and the country, would be the poorer without him. [Franken] uses self-deprecating humor to poke fun at everyone on either side of the aisle, and he gives readers insight into the daily workings of life in the Senate.
Reviews
"That seemed like it was tough on him, and this memoir makes it clear just how tough it was, not only because Franken had been professionally funny for decades, but also because Franken had always used humor to say whatever he pleased throughout his life. This book is very funny, and Franken both borrows and satirizes the tropes of the traditional political bio in telling his own strange story of his rise to office. Because Franken gives himself leave to be funny again in this book, he is also very honest about his colleagues, the state of American politics, and himself."
"Humor that helps assuage the angst of political absurdities. from decency, from earnest efforts to solve our nation's real-life problems. And how deeply some are committed to addressing the real, existential needs of their constituents."
"Regardless of which side of the aisle people lean towards, reading Senator Franken's book is a good way to stay informed -- and entertained -- about the background of today's political climate."
"I loved the style, the humor, the satire, the snark, and, most of all, the good-hearted honesty and integrity that shines through the whole book. If you're just finding out who he is - maybe because of the Cabinet hearings - read this and learn more about this brilliant, remarkable man. You won't get half the jokes or understand the rest of the book."
"Senator Franken continues to share just how diabolical the bad Politicians are, gives the inside scoop of his awful first election delay, and explains the intricacies of passing Obama care."
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Best Fascism

The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
To cover up their insidious fascist agenda, Democrats loudly accuse President Trump and other Republicans of being Nazis—an obvious lie, considering the GOP has been fighting the Democrats over slavery, genocide, racism and fascism from the beginning. He expertly exonerates President Trump and his supporters, then uncovers the Democratic Left's long, cozy relationship with Nazism: how the racist and genocidal acts of early Democrats inspired Adolf Hitler's campaign of death; how fascist philosophers influenced the great 20th century lions of the American Left; and how today's anti-free speech, anti-capitalist, anti-religious liberty, pro-violence Democratic Party is a frightening simulacrum of the Nazi Party. In The Big Lie , D'Souza shows that the Democratic Left's orchestrated campaign to paint President Trump and conservatives as Nazis to cover up its own fascism is, in fact, the biggest lie of all. His other best-selling books include Obama's America , The Roots of Obama's Rage , What's So Great About America , What's So Great About Christianity , Life After Death , and Illiberal Education .
Reviews
"It is a slow process to convert a country, like the United States, into a socialist country, but if Hillary Clinton would have won, the United States and its citizens would have entered an era in which most of us would be through harder times than when Barack Obama was the president. They were a free country before Hugo Chavez became president and the middle class does not exist anymore and the rich people has left the country."
"The same is true for segregation. D'Souza's polemical strategy seems to be that when people point to American racism, Americans should point to the Democrat party, which is, after all, the only institution that supported slavery that remains, particularly in an age when Confederate statues are torn down. The difference between Fascism and Communism was that Fascism made the nation primary, whereas Communism made social class primary. The two approaches to Socialism diverged as a result of World War I when Mussolini, among others, saw how nationalism trumped social class. The result has been massive protests by Americans who feel that their cherished symbols of national pride have been insulted. D'Souza also discusses the "repressive tolerance" of Herbert Marcuse, whose writing seem to anticipate the hypocritical, psychotic time we are living through where the forces of tolerance are the most intolerant. There’s even precedent for the approach I’m discussing. During the Civil War Lincoln learned that Confederate soldiers were killing captured black federal troops or selling them into slavery rather than treating them as lawful prisoners of war. It said, “It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works.”9. Despite the evident harshness of his order, Lincoln knew this was the only way to change Confederate behavior. But that was wartime, and, upon reflection, we’re in a different situation. We’re the party that fought a great war to end slavery, fought lynching and segregation, shut down the Ku Klux Klan, opposed eugenics and forced sterilization, and resisted the incipient fascism of the street thugs in the 1960s. In the words of that slogan from the 1960s, “If not now, when?"
"Today’s euthanasia movement; the abortion movement; the political racial spoils system (i.e., “affirmative action); gun control policies; the secularization of society via the courts; ... all of these are the same rotten fruit from the poisonous tree that is known as American Progressivism which openly and wholeheartedly shared its plans, ideas and strategies with then up and coming fascist movements in Europe in the early 20th Century."
"D'Souza firmly established what a simple glimpse at Mousalini's past suggests: Fascism comes from the Left."
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Best Anarchism

The Anarchist Cookbook
Well, it's now in its 29th printing since 1971, has chapters on home preparation of weapons, electronics, drugs, and explosives.
Reviews
"I wonder what government watch list i just got on by ordering it?"
"Exactly as limited as the reviews say, but still an enjoyable tool."
"this book is quite outdated, possibly illegal in your state - and sometimes quite hilarious."
"Hey, its the cookbook, what else can you say."
"As most overblown books from the media this book is just ok more of a guide and an old guide, but as stated before to many crazies out there so even with this guide, they will still figure something out."
"When I opened the package, I was stunned to find this edition about 1/3 as thick as the original."
"This was listed as the 1971 edition and what arrived was the 2012."
"This is not the original."
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Best Libertarianism

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America
If you're worried about what all this means for America's future, you should be” – NPR An explosive exposé of the right’s relentless campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatize public education, and change the Constitution. Corporate donors and their right-wing foundations were only too eager to support Buchanan’s work in teaching others how to divide America into “makers” and “takers.” And when a multibillionaire on a messianic mission to rewrite the social contract of the modern world, Charles Koch, discovered Buchanan, he created a vast, relentless, and multi-armed machine to carry out Buchanan’s strategy. That plan includes harsher laws to undermine unions, privatizing everything from schools to health care and Social Security, and keeping as many of us as possible from voting. “ Democracy in Chains leaves me with hope: Perhaps as books like MacLean’s continue to shine a light on important truths, Americans will begin to realize they need to pay more attention and not succumb to the cynical view that known liars make the best leaders." “A remarkable new book which argues that the radical right revolution engineered by Charles and his brother David is not just about accruing political and economic power, but about restricting democracy itself.” —The New Republic. [MacLean] has dug deep into her material—not just Buchanan’s voluminous, unsorted papers, but other archives, too—and she has made powerful and disturbing use of it all. What we think of as dysfunction is the result of years of strategic effort.” —The Atlantic “This sixty-year campaign to make libertarianism mainstream and eventually take the government itself is at the heart of Democracy in Chains . To read Nancy MacLean’s new book, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America , is to see what was previously invisible." “[A] riveting, unsettling account of 'Tennessee country boy' James McGill Buchanan, key architect of today's radical right.” —O, The Oprah Magazine. James McGill Buchanan merged states rights’ thinking with free market principles and helped to fashion the inherently elitist ideology of today’s Republican Party. Professor MacLean’s meticulous research and shrewd insights make this a must-read for all who believe in government ‘by the people.’”. — Nancy Isenberg, author of White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. In clear prose, MacLean reveals how a public once committed to social responsibility and egalitarian values became persuaded that only an unregulated free market could protect ‘liberty’ and ‘choice.’ Because of this, our once cherished democracy is now subject to attack. Everyone who wants to understand today’s confrontational politics should read this important book, now.”. — Alice Kessler-Harris, author of In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men and the Quest for Economic Citizenship in Twentieth Century America. [she] offers a cogent yet disturbing analysis of libertarians' current efforts to rewrite the social contract and manipulate citizens' beliefs. "MacLean constructs an erudite searing portrait of how the late political economist James McGill Buchanan (1919 - 2013) and his deep-pocketed conservative allies have reshaped --and undermined--American democracy. A thoroughly researched and gripping narrative, she exposes how Buchanan’s strategies shaped trends in government in favor of “corporate dominance” and against the welfare state. “For those who think the Tea Party, Freedom Caucus, and the alt-right are recent constructs, MacLean provides an extensive history lesson that traces the genesis of the right wing back to post-WWII doctrines. A worthy companion to Jane Mayer’s Dark Money , MacLean’s intense and extensive examination of the right-wing’s rise to power is perhaps the best explanation to date of the roots of the political divide that threatens to irrevocably alter American government.” —Booklist (starred review).
Reviews
"Let me get down to the nub of what is already the most significant dispute between MacLean's critics and her defenders (bracketing the substantial portion of her critics whose one-line reviews betray that they clearly haven't read the book): MacLean's argument is based on a careful and detailed juxtaposition of the rationales adopted by libertarians in the 1950s and 1960s, and the concrete social and political context raging around them at the time (most crucially, the resistance to court-mandated de-segregation). One of the most fascinating and enduring lessons of MacLean's book is that the relationship between libertarianism and conservatism is vexed and far from inevitable--as are the relationships of either of these to Republicanism, states rights theory, or religious activism."
"This is a brilliant book, a true history assembled from archival discovery and written with verve."
"Read Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America. The current takeover of our country was organized in Virginia by white supremacists who opposed the U. S. Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that racially separate schools cannot be equal. Success today includes such cuts in tax funds that college students carry unbearable student loan debts, tax money goes more and more to private schools like the segregation academies of the fifties and sixties, and an avowed enemy of public education is now the U. S. Secretary of Education. Jesus was mistaken , they published: The Good Samaritan was wrong because helping those who are down and out merely created "parasites" who would exploit those with wealth rather than earn their own way. As articulated by David Stockman, President Reagan's' budget director, they would have to fight "Social Security recipients, veterans, farmers, educators, state and local officials, [and] the housing industry" whose middle class buyers relied on mortgage tax deductions. Unable to finance their massive tax cuts and military spending, the president "forsook the fact-based universe." The Kemp-Roth bill slashed taxes on the wealthiest but tripled the national debt so that by 1989 it amounted to 53 percent of gross domestic product. Stealth methods included "counterintelligentsia" deployed in universities, "think tanks", newspaper and magazine and radio and television, and more recently, in social media to portray government as the enemy, social security and Medicare as "bankrupt", environmentalists as dangerous (See War on Coal!"
"This book describes the philosophy of John C Calhoun back in the 1830s and 40s."
"Brilliant, important book, warning us of the danger the Koch brothers pose for the future."
"This illuminating book is required reading to understand the infusion of radical libertarian thought and corporate wealth in our current politics."
"It is essential reading for all interested in the modern U.S. and its political economy."
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Best Nationalism

Billionaire at the Barricades: The Populist Revolution from Reagan to Trump
She unmasks the opposition, forecasts the future of the Make America Great Again agenda and offers her own prescriptions for bringing real change to the swamp of Washington. With sharp humor and insight she traces the DNA of the populist movement: from Goldwater’s 1964 campaign, to Nixon’s Silent Majority, to Reagan’s smashing electoral victories. Laura Ingraham is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including The Obama Diaries, Power to the People, Shut Up & Sing , and Of Thee I Zing .
Reviews
"Conservative populists tend to support a policy of economic nationalism --- people-centered economic policies that put the nation and its workers first….They also believe high taxes are bad because they sap workers’ wages and economic freedom. She shows how Reagan and Trump identify instinctively with middle class America by supporting our agendas, not the Establishment’s: ======. Reagan. “Our nation’s capital has become the seat of a ‘buddy’ system that functions for its own benefit—increasingly insensitive to the needs of the American worker who supports it with his taxes.”. Trump: “My dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. The Free Trade Mavens told us: “We must pass {NAFTA-WITH-MEXICO, GATT-WITH-CHINA, TPP} because these ‘free trade’ agreements will create millions of high-paying jobs for American workers. American workers DESERVE the opportunity to work making products to export to other countries.”. Then we discovered that American companies rarely ever use free trade agreements to export American-made products to other countries. Then they slander the American workers whose jobs they stole: “American workers are lazy, maleducated, and stupid. Like Ms. Ingraham, I've begun to understand that the Republican and Democratic party establishments have been brainwashed by corporation money into believing that it’s a good thing when Americans lose their jobs to predatory foreign trade, and that America’s legacy population should be dis-employed, encouraged to die early, and be replaced with a tidal wave of foreigners. In November, 2013, I predicted that Donald Trump would rise to lead a reincarnated Republican Party: =====. Mr. Trump occupies an important place in the political spectrum --- that of being a Republican Populist. We know what doesn’t work: global trade deals that enrich other countries at the expense of our own workers; lax immigration policies that compromise the nation’s security, health care system, schools, and jobs; a tax and regulatory regime that stifles economic growth and competitiveness, and strangles innovation; and an imprudent interventionist foreign policy that costs us trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives. The resulting economic and personal pain, felt across the vast American landscape, has fueled the rise of populism and its stalwarts—from Goldwater to Reagan, Buchanan to Trump. Let’s “primary” these people out of Congress whenever we can, and replace them with younger, more Conservative Populist people whose apron strings aren’t pulled by multinational corporations who believe that they prosper by putting Americans out of work, and repopulating the country with illegal aliens."
"This book is a home run for persons that truly want to follow the events and policies that created where the country is today."
"Thank you Ms Ingraham for your work, your courage and your patriotism!"
"Readable, detailed, logical, and informative without being screechy."
"Often I can't adequately express how I am feeling in relation to Trump and what is going on today in politics."
"Super book by a super person, easy reading."
"This book is written in a style that is straight forward and informative."
"My first book by Laura Ingraham and I'm very pleased."
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Best Utopian Ideology

A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions
A winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and bestselling author of Banker to the Poor offers his vision of an emerging new economic system that can save humankind and the planet Muhammad Yunus, who created microcredit, invented social business, and earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in alleviating poverty, is one of today's most trenchant social critics. He explains how global companies like McCain, Renault, Essilor, and Danone got involved with this new economic model through their own social action groups, describes the ingenious new financial tools now funding social businesses, and sketches the legal and regulatory changes needed to jumpstart the next wave of socially driven innovations. He is the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, a pioneer of microcredit, an economic movement that has helped lift millions of families around the world out of poverty.
Reviews
"This is an astute analysis of present-day world, including its economic and political challenges that stem from ever-growing income inequality."
"Two evenings spent with Mr. Yunus's latest book has made me once again realize that: a) there are actually many good things happening; b) the world is a much bigger place, politically, than it seems on my TV or my radio; and c) many world leaders---perhaps most---think in terms of progress (not regress) and have developed plans to make such happen. Anyone who is really pressed for reading time can verify what I just wrote by thumbing through just Chapter 6 of WTZ to see how progressive and enlightened thinkers---like Mr. Yunus, of course---look at the world in a 2017 context, not a 1959 one. Muhammad Yunus's World of Three Zeros provides exactly this."
"But I think without two more "zeros", zero population growth and zero world economic growth (implying a need for redistribution as well), the three goals for poverty, unemployment and carbon emissions will remain impossible. A quick look at world bank data shows that despite fertility falling from 6.7 children/woman to 2.1 (probably close to replacement), Bangladesh's population still grew faster in 2015 (1.8 million) than it did in 1960 (1.4 million)."
"Dr. Yunus presents the concept of a social business as a solution to address unemployment, poverty, and pollution, including examples of successful social businesses in places as varied as Uganda, Bangladesh, France, and the United States."
"The author does a good job at describing challenges and problems, but is very limited in how to identify and implement solutions."
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Best Communism & Socialism

Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio (Sound On Sound Presents...)
Learn the subtle editing, arrangement, and monitoring tactics which give industry insiders their competitive edge, and master the psychological tricks which protect you from all the biggest rookie mistakes. Pick up tricks and tips from leading-edge engineers working on today's multi-platinum hits, including Michael Brauer, Serban Ghenea, the Lord-Alge brothers, Tony Maserati, Manny Marroquin, Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado, Jack Joseph Puig, Mark "Spike" Stent, Phil Tan, Andy Wallace, and many, many more . Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Mike Senior on Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio , "The 'Why The Hell' Challenge". In all these cases I've started with real-world small-studio recordings and used widely available mass-market technology to remix it to a commercial level, all without ever setting foot inside a "real" studio. If you want that kind of transformation for your music, then you can find a detailed explanation of my method in Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio . The second reason you might want to take notice of these mixing techniques, though, is that they've been drawn not only from my own professional experience, but also from more than four million words of first-hand interviews with the highest-profile engineers and producers on the planet. Amongst many other things in Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio , I try to deliver a stout kicking to the following questionable (but surprisingly pervasive) pieces of received wisdom: Indeed, the two most celebrated mixing speakers of all time, the Yamaha NS10 and the Auratone 5C Super Sound Cube, both have extremely uneven frequency-response plots, but excellent time-domain performance. Those common experiences are just the tip of the iceberg, and it's only by learning to work around the fickleness of your own hearing that you can begin to get decent mix results reliably. Corrective processing can certainly produce unmusical results, but it's important to realize that it doesn't have to, even if you're just using the editing facilities built into your software DAW. Furthermore, almost every small-studio production I've worked on sounded more musical (and became a lot easier to mix) once careful timing and tuning correction had been applied. In that case, it's much better to start with those while your ears are fresh, and while you've still got lots of mix real estate and computer CPU power to play with. In fact, a lot of the established classic reverb units sound pretty unnatural (the AMS RMX16, say, or the EMT 140 plate), but that doesn't stop them from appearing all over the current charts. I call this the "silver bullet" myth--that comforting delusion that the only thing separating your mix from the ones you hear on the radio is some single esoteric process. The malaise can almost always be traced to a whole selection of minor misjudgments that have been made at various points in the arrangement, editing, and mixing process. It doesn't matter if you have to replace the drums with samples, stuff synth pads between the guitar layers, add new backing vocals, or remove certain instruments entirely--just as long as your final product sounds great enough to make the client a happy bunny.
Reviews
"I bought a mixer, and this book, and I'm already recording, and better yet, learning how to improve my recordings quite a bit."
"Too often I embark on new projects and buy all the gear only to find out that my interest and tenacity wains, leaving me with a lot of equipment that I end up selling cheaper that I purchased it for. You can get this knowledge free my trawling around the internet and joining forums, but it does mean you have to weed out the chaff from the grain as there is a lot of opinion out there."
"There are so many different ways that we can record and mix audio now; Computer/Analog, ProTools/Logic, Rock/Country. If you read this trying to understand the concept and idea rather than expecting him to tell you exactly what settings to use you can learn a lot. This is a great reference for people learning to mix as well as experienced people who just want to pick up a few new ideas."
"This book has everything you need to know, and nothing you don't. It is my go-to book if I'm having issues with a mix, and always seems to provide just the right advice."
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Best Radical Political Thought

The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
To cover up their insidious fascist agenda, Democrats loudly accuse President Trump and other Republicans of being Nazis—an obvious lie, considering the GOP has been fighting the Democrats over slavery, genocide, racism and fascism from the beginning. He expertly exonerates President Trump and his supporters, then uncovers the Democratic Left's long, cozy relationship with Nazism: how the racist and genocidal acts of early Democrats inspired Adolf Hitler's campaign of death; how fascist philosophers influenced the great 20th century lions of the American Left; and how today's anti-free speech, anti-capitalist, anti-religious liberty, pro-violence Democratic Party is a frightening simulacrum of the Nazi Party. In The Big Lie , D'Souza shows that the Democratic Left's orchestrated campaign to paint President Trump and conservatives as Nazis to cover up its own fascism is, in fact, the biggest lie of all. His other best-selling books include Obama's America , The Roots of Obama's Rage , What's So Great About America , What's So Great About Christianity , Life After Death , and Illiberal Education .
Reviews
"It is a slow process to convert a country, like the United States, into a socialist country, but if Hillary Clinton would have won, the United States and its citizens would have entered an era in which most of us would be through harder times than when Barack Obama was the president. They were a free country before Hugo Chavez became president and the middle class does not exist anymore and the rich people has left the country."
"The same is true for segregation. D'Souza's polemical strategy seems to be that when people point to American racism, Americans should point to the Democrat party, which is, after all, the only institution that supported slavery that remains, particularly in an age when Confederate statues are torn down. The difference between Fascism and Communism was that Fascism made the nation primary, whereas Communism made social class primary. The two approaches to Socialism diverged as a result of World War I when Mussolini, among others, saw how nationalism trumped social class. The result has been massive protests by Americans who feel that their cherished symbols of national pride have been insulted. D'Souza also discusses the "repressive tolerance" of Herbert Marcuse, whose writing seem to anticipate the hypocritical, psychotic time we are living through where the forces of tolerance are the most intolerant. There’s even precedent for the approach I’m discussing. During the Civil War Lincoln learned that Confederate soldiers were killing captured black federal troops or selling them into slavery rather than treating them as lawful prisoners of war. It said, “It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works.”9. Despite the evident harshness of his order, Lincoln knew this was the only way to change Confederate behavior. But that was wartime, and, upon reflection, we’re in a different situation. We’re the party that fought a great war to end slavery, fought lynching and segregation, shut down the Ku Klux Klan, opposed eugenics and forced sterilization, and resisted the incipient fascism of the street thugs in the 1960s. In the words of that slogan from the 1960s, “If not now, when?"
"Today’s euthanasia movement; the abortion movement; the political racial spoils system (i.e., “affirmative action); gun control policies; the secularization of society via the courts; ... all of these are the same rotten fruit from the poisonous tree that is known as American Progressivism which openly and wholeheartedly shared its plans, ideas and strategies with then up and coming fascist movements in Europe in the early 20th Century."
"D'Souza firmly established what a simple glimpse at Mousalini's past suggests: Fascism comes from the Left."
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Best Political Conservatism & Liberalism

Dangerous
The liberal media machine did everything they could to keep this book out of your hands. ''Fat people will hate this book.''.
Reviews
"As an information professional I have always been very interested in intellectual freedom issues and am a card carrying member of the Freedom to Read Foundation so as soon as my industry colleagues began to tell me how dangerous Dangerous would be, I knew I had to read it as soon as possible. I emailed my old Intellectual Freedom & Censorship professor from grad school about the cancellation and her response was that Milo already had a platform so it's not the same type of insidious censorship. It is important to be mindful that censorship can come from both the political right and the political left. It seemed a bit ironic to me that all these alleged advocates of free speech were refusing to get a book called Dangerous because it would be too dangerous for people to read. Milo was more invigorating to read than Trump, probably because he is by trade a professional word slinging journalist. I'm not saying I agree with literally all the things Milo Yiannopoulos says or stands for but that doesn't matter. Dangerous is a decent book and censorship is dangerous."
"I pre-ordered the book out of curiosity, there was so much controversy when Simon and Schuster cancelled the book deal."
"As a gay man who has seen not just the gay rights movement but the entire progressive movement hijacked by Marxist regressives, Milo is and has always been a breath of fresh air. Milo comes back from a takedown that would have left most people in hiding."
"You don't have to like who he is, you might not like the way he looks or speaks or expresses his thoughts, but what he stands for is EVERYTHING that we are slowly losing as the media outlets take control of manipulating everything we see and hear."
"It is extraordinarily funny, and gets the modern conservative viewpoint across in a way that stereotypical stuffy conservatives can only imagine. While I have tried my best to encourage free-thinking in her impressionable young mind, the mindset in her public school has her believing all sorts of PC based nonsense. I asked for specific examples, but they have thus far been unable or unwilling to give examples."
"Milo is absolutely correct in the following excerpt from "Dangerous". "In short, I’m the Left’s worst nightmare: a living, breathing refutation of identity politics, and proof that free speech and the truth wrapped in a good joke will always be more persuasive and more powerful than identity politics.""
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