Best Political Leadership
2016 Recipient of the McGuffey Longevity Award. from the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA) Translated into 12 different languages and used in 89 countries, this market-leading text successfully combines an academically robust account of the major theories and models of leadership with an accessible style and practical examples that help students apply what they learn. "I have found Peter’s books exceptionally well written, applauded by my students for its quality and readability. "A useable and up-to-date introduction of the psychodynamic approach that brings psychological concerns about motivation and personality into a helpful conversation with mainstream leadership theory." [The Adaptive Leadership Chapter] presents leadership through a new lens and provides an approach to leadership that was missing from previous editions. "Leadership: Theory and Practice is a scholarly examination of leadership as a dynamic, evolving, and elusive influence process with differing approaches to effectively build relationships and facilitate the achievement of goals and visions." He then presents the strengths and weaknesses of various leadership approaches in a compelling way, yielding evidence based leadership practices." "This is the ideal text for a survey course on leadership theory that also helps students put their leadership into practice."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Good read."
"used for a class at university and liked it."
"Great theory in this textbook."
"A little dry, but a good amalgamation of several leadership theories and models."
"Every student of business leadership should have this easy-to-read guide."
"Not the best book but needed for the class and the ebook version was easy to buy and download."
"Great book."
The story is told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—a close relationship that strengthens both men before it ruptures in 1912, when they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential nomination that divides their wives, their children, and their closest friends, while crippling the progressive wing of the Republican Party, causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected, and changing the country’s history. The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. *Starred Review* In this hyperpartisan era, it is well to remember that a belief in an activist federal government that promoted both social and economic progress crossed party lines, as it did during the Progressive movement of the early twentieth century. Goodwin, the acclaimed historian, repeatedly emphasizes that fact in her massive and masterful study of the friendship, and then the enmity, of two presidents who played major roles in that movement.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Our struggles as a country are made clear here with the story of the progressive movement and insight into a country that wanted law and order, fairness, freedom of speech and religion( from or of), and the people who tried to strangle those values, as well as the people who fought with intelligence and integrity to fortify and insure, and foster the individual citizen's rights. The same families are involved in current oligarthic agendas, and our rights and power are being squelched by a country that is currently killing individual rights for the power of the corporation and the ultra rich."
"Although I was more familiar with Roosevelt, Taft was a fascinating person as well."
"Roosevelt's decision to fight Taft for the presidency he earlier helped Taft win tells us much about Teddy."
"The story line about the writers is also good, particularly their role on influencing Roosevelt."
"With all the biographical background on Roosevelt and Taft and the various players in the investigative journalism movement (Sam McClure, Ida Tarbell, William White, Ray Baker, etc."
"Lots of information about the times and the figures that I wasn't aware of."
"This is a well crafted story of a time of change that really laid the foundations of how we live today."
If your funny older sister were the former deputy chief of staff to President Barack Obama, her behind-the-scenes political memoir would look something like this... Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama for almost a decade, and long before his run for president. is an intimate portrait of a president, a book about how to get stuff done, and the story of how one woman challenged, again and again, what a "White House official" is supposed to look like. "WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? This book tells the story of a young woman succeeding under extraordinary circumstances, and throughout it all, never taking herself too seriously. Her stories - from the front line of the White House to her kitchen - will entertain, inspire, and humor you for a long time to come. "A candid and charming memoir of her unexpected career in government...The memoir abounds with intimate glimpses of Washington, D.C., celebrities (Biden, Clinton, Michelle Obama, and scores more) and cheerfully dispensed survival strategies. But as Alyssa Mastromonaco writes in WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?, the reader gets a real and raw peek behind the curtains where Alyssa experiences the good, the bad, the distressing, and the often hilarious. "A moving, funny, and sometimes heart-wrenching look back at the years [Alyssa Mastromonaco] spent in politics and by [President Obama's] side.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"From getting POTUS and entourage a second plane in case of an Iraqi sandstorm, or making sure the U.S. Secret agents were allowed to bring their weapons into South Africa, Ms. Mastromonaco got the job done. However, when one considers the grim souls currently stalking the west wing, one remembers to appreciate the fact that she has a human, beating heart, and that she had the emotional capacity to actually care."
"This was such a fantastic book!!!!"
"I enjoy the conversational style of the writing and also like the humor."
"Interesting book about working on a political campaign and in the White House."
"Nice interesting read, I took this on vacation for a beach read."
"Alyssa has accomplished so much but she stays down to earth."
"A light read and a fun perspective on life inside the inner Obama circle."
"This book reads more like a mundane diary of someone who happens to work in an interesting place."
Best Leadership
The story is told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—a close relationship that strengthens both men before it ruptures in 1912, when they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential nomination that divides their wives, their children, and their closest friends, while crippling the progressive wing of the Republican Party, causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected, and changing the country’s history. The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. An Amazon Best Book of the Month, November 2013: In an era when cooperation between the national media and the US government seems laughable, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s timely 100-year look backward explores the origins of the type of muckraking journalism that helped make America a better country. Focusing on the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and his successor, William Howard Taft -- one-time colleagues and friends who later became sworn foes--Goodwin chronicles the birth of an activist press, which occurred when five of the nation’s best-ever journalists converged at McClure’s magazine and helped usher in the Progressive era. At times slow and overly meticulous, with a lot of backstory and historical minutiae, this is nonetheless a lush, lively, and surprisingly urgent story--a series of entwined stories, actually, with headstrong and irascible characters who had me pining for journalism’s earlier days.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Our struggles as a country are made clear here with the story of the progressive movement and insight into a country that wanted law and order, fairness, freedom of speech and religion( from or of), and the people who tried to strangle those values, as well as the people who fought with intelligence and integrity to fortify and insure, and foster the individual citizen's rights. The same families are involved in current oligarthic agendas, and our rights and power are being squelched by a country that is currently killing individual rights for the power of the corporation and the ultra rich."
"Although I was more familiar with Roosevelt, Taft was a fascinating person as well."
"Roosevelt's decision to fight Taft for the presidency he earlier helped Taft win tells us much about Teddy."
"The story line about the writers is also good, particularly their role on influencing Roosevelt."
"With all the biographical background on Roosevelt and Taft and the various players in the investigative journalism movement (Sam McClure, Ida Tarbell, William White, Ray Baker, etc."
"Lots of information about the times and the figures that I wasn't aware of."
"This is a well crafted story of a time of change that really laid the foundations of how we live today."
Best Communications
2016 Recipient of the McGuffey Longevity Award. from the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA) Translated into 12 different languages and used in 89 countries, this market-leading text successfully combines an academically robust account of the major theories and models of leadership with an accessible style and practical examples that help students apply what they learn. "I have found Peter’s books exceptionally well written, applauded by my students for its quality and readability. "A useable and up-to-date introduction of the psychodynamic approach that brings psychological concerns about motivation and personality into a helpful conversation with mainstream leadership theory." [The Adaptive Leadership Chapter] presents leadership through a new lens and provides an approach to leadership that was missing from previous editions. "Leadership: Theory and Practice is a scholarly examination of leadership as a dynamic, evolving, and elusive influence process with differing approaches to effectively build relationships and facilitate the achievement of goals and visions." He then presents the strengths and weaknesses of various leadership approaches in a compelling way, yielding evidence based leadership practices." "This is the ideal text for a survey course on leadership theory that also helps students put their leadership into practice."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Good read."
"used for a class at university and liked it."
"Great theory in this textbook."
"A little dry, but a good amalgamation of several leadership theories and models."
"Every student of business leadership should have this easy-to-read guide."
"Not the best book but needed for the class and the ebook version was easy to buy and download."
"Great book."
Best Political Parties
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
Find Best Price at Amazon"Lots of information based on facts and proof."
"The way history is laid out and the information contained about Democrats and progressives, awesome and enlightening!"
"Fast delivery and everyone loves the book."
"The historical comparisons were very interesting."
"Great opinions with supporting facts!"
"Dinesh D'Souza researched this book from stem to stern and I was amazed by his extraordinary expose of Leftism's influence on the National Socialists of Germany."
"It is long, and long winded, including giving the reader more than enough real world examples of things like real events in which the left essentially has mimicked fascist and Nazi tactics, such as not respecting outcomes of democratic elections and physical threats to the other side."
"Outstanding book."
Best Political Advocacy Books
The New York Times bestselling author of Stonewalled pulls back the curtain on the shady world of opposition research and reveals the dirty tricks those in power use to influence your opinions. Behind most major political stories in the modern era, there is an agenda; an effort by opposition researchers, spin doctors, and outside interests to destroy an idea or a person. Now, the hard-hitting investigative reporter shares her inside knowledge, revealing how the Smear takes shape and who its perpetrators are—including Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal and, most influential of all, "right-wing assassin turned left-wing assassin" ( National Review ) political operative David Brock and his Media Matters for America empire. Now hard-hitting investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson, the New York Times bestselling author of Stonewalled , takes you behind the scenes of the modern smear machine, exploring how operatives from corporations and both sides of the political aisle have manipulated a complicit mainstream media to make disinformation, rumor, and dirty tricks defining traits of our democracy. And she doesn’t just tell stories—she names names, sharing her deeply researched account of how smears take shape and who their perpetrators are—from Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal to liberal political operative David Brock, who, along with his expansive Media Matters for America empire, has been rewriting the rules of the smear game for decades while raking in millions of dollars in generous compensation. Dissecting the most divisive, partisan election in American history, she explores how both sides used every smear tactic as a political weapon, culminating in Donald Trump’s hard-fought victory, even as his detractors have continued their smears against him into the Oval Office.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The consumer of news is “pummeled by countless narratives—some based on grains of truth; others wholly invented for the audience.”. The author warns news consumers to be cautious even if all the media outlets are parroting the same line: “Today, if enough pundits, operatives, and media parrot the same narrative, it becomes incorporated into the fabric of the news as an accepted fact.”. And yet, smear campaigns are not new—they are as old as the Republic: “Our founding fathers knew very well the power of a sharp character assassination . “The Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination showed both sides that the best way to fight a smear might not be to take a defensive posture—but to mount an offensive countersmear.”. Attkisson is careful to define what she means by “smear.” It’s not the dissemination of falsehoods, so much as exaggeration: “Expert smear artists take a sprinkle of truth—in this case Imus’s objectionable comments—and pervert it into a weapon of mass destruction to advance a larger goal, often political or financial.” Smear campaigns take something that is true and "amplify a misdeed out of proportion.”. For me, one of the most fascinating sections was the explanation of a variation of smear called “Astroturf.” In this variation, the pros pretend they are ordinary folks: “Paid interests disguised as ordinary people troll assigned topics, news sites, reporters, blogs, and social media for the purpose of posting comments that spin and confuse.” The idea is to “give the impression there’s widespread support for or against an agenda when there’s not.”. Attkisson concludes with this sobering warning: “One thing you can count on is that most every image that crosses your path has been put there for a reason."
"It provides the insight and evidence that we've come to expect in her reporting, and opens the curtains of the smear industry so we might peer in and be prepared to spot when the smear is in play (hint...it's everywhere!)."
"This book documents political smear campaigns, behind-the-scenes coordination between the press and political campaigns and other special interests, and efforts by our own government to manipulate the news, influence public opinion, and punish whistleblowers. Although some events in the book go back to the 1990's, most of the information pertains to events of the last ten years, with the emphasis on the 2016 presidential campaign and its aftermath. Worst of all, our own government seems to be an active player in much of this. Many op-eds that you read on the editorial page are not written by the person whose byline appears beneath them, but by activists working for political campaigns, corporations, and special-interest groups. The Obama Department of Justice and other Obama agencies targeted reporters, stonewalled investigations, and maintained behind-the-scenes relationships with special interests."
Best General Elections & Political Process
Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president. On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. —James M. McPherson, The New York Times Book Review.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"What I enjoyed most is the lesson I learned when contrasting the life of Lincoln and that of Chase."
"This, along with several other books about Lincoln and the civil war that I’ve read all confirm one thing - our politics today, bad as they may seem, are polite and courteous compared the the 1800’s."
"This has become one of my favorite books."
"Very fascinating story of Lincoln and his cabinet!"
"Lincoln was a very complex personality but his sterling character was not obvious at the beginning and he was frequently under-rated by most people until sufficient time had elapsed."
"Fascinating insight into Lincoln and his 'Team'!"
"Most interesting viewpoint of Lincoln's presidency."
"So amazing and in depth... the stories go way beyond anything I ever learned in school to the heart of a man willing to risk everything for the right thing."
Best Media & Internet in Politics
You will see the powerful and deceptive methods of manipulation that affect us all, as numerous organizations and political activists cunningly plot to have their stories seen, heard, and believed by as many people as possible. The depths of lies, distortions, and omissions from traditional mainstream media will shock you; and now they’re colluding with the top tech companies trying to maintain their information monopolies. Mark's YouTube channel has over 1 million subscribers and more than 400 million views, and his viral videos have been mentioned on the Fox News Channel, CNN, the Drudge Report, TMZ, the New York Daily News , the Washington Times , and other media outlets around the world.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I believe a person that is not ready to be awakened may experience severe soul pain and Mark forgot to put "Trigger warning" on the cover but still I believe for awakened people this is going to be great laugh and joy to read pages and see how death of media complex is unravelling and humanity awakening while people that still caught in nets of news manipulators may feel really bad but after few weeks I believe healing effects of truth will be refreshing."
"The book mentions how our leftists media is trying to persuade us to accept insanity like there being more than 2 genders, and how the media is pushing fake hate crimes committed by leftists in attempt to frame Trump supporters as Nazis,white Supremacists,KKK members, and racist."
"A lot of people don't know history and how much the media has been involved with the CIA and FBI and the rest of our federal gov't to create stories, manipulate events, etc."
"The news media has become so untrustworthy, the majority of sane Americans have seen this before even reading Marks book!"
"Great book and well written!!!!"
"Excellent book; this will not disappoint."
"Awesome work once again by Mark Dice as he exposes the nature of propaganda - otherwise known as the mainstream news in America."
"A must read."
Best Elections
Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. In these pages, she describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. Ultimately, the book might be a historical artifact most of all — the chronicling of what, exactly, it was like to run for president as the first woman major-party candidate (and, yes, a Clinton as well). Plenty may disagree with Clinton’s opinions on what went wrong for her, but her story will still be an important part of that history when America looks back on the melee that was the 2016 election.” —. NPR. While What Happened records the perspective of a pioneer who beat an unprecedented path that stopped just shy of the White House, it also covers territory that many women will recognize.... She demonstrates that she can mine her situation for humor.” — People.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"She was less convincing on this front as virtually nothing Sanders said against HRC during the primary battle was new; his criticisms of HRC were general talking points before Sanders ever entered the contest. The book whitewashes the DNC's actions against Sanders during the primary, actions that turned a good number of Sanders supporters (HRC continues use of the odious "Bernie Bros." epithet) against her. HRC praises the hard work of Donna Brazile but fails to mention how Brazile was caught stealing debate questions (for the debate with Sanders) from CNN and then leaking those questions to HRC and not to Sanders. What is telling in HRC's memoir and analysis are her own blind spots, her weakness as a campaigner who fails to inspire, her over-reliance on her status as "first female Presidential nominee from a major party" (53% of white women voted for Trump, but HRC doesn't examine why), and her refusal to acknowledge how the DNC, during the primary, alienated the progressive voters she would later need to win the general election. (Even here, though, we have figures now indicating that 12% of Sanders supporters went over to Trump, whereas in 2008, after HRC lost the primary to Obama, 24% of her supporters went over to McCain. In other words, Sanders supporters were still more supportive of HRC than HRC's supporters were of Obama by 2-to-1.)."
"I wrote a verified purchase review and it has been deleted 3 times."
"I'm a non-partisan who has actually read this book and have to agree with many of the negative reviews here."
"what happened to the negative reviews?"
"In my previous review I referenced her book Hard Choices...."Believe it or not I actually liked this book.""
"I voted for Bill Clinton in both Presidential elections and voted for Hillary Clinton against Trump last year. I think that there are some good things to be said about Hillary Clinton. But still, this book seems to crystallize for me a lot of the problems that I have with Hillary Clinton at this moment in time, and the problems that I have with the Democratic party, and in general why I think that they are currently doing so badly. Although Clinton does attempt in the book to explain why she lost the election, in the end, she really seems to have no idea. If instead the book had been called "What Campaigning in the 2016 Election Was Like for Me," likely I would feel comfortable giving the book another star. So if the goal of the reader is to learn more about Hillary Clinton, as a person, then perhaps this book is worth reading. What the book does not do is to provide any reasoned or persuasive discussion on what I see as the key questions that political leaders need to be discussing with regard to the 2016 election and the current state of affairs. In my opinion, the biggest question that Clinton does not discuss at all in this book is how much the Democratic party has turned all of its focus toward the goal of making rich people (like Jeff Bezos, no?). Not once in the book does she consider the possibility that perhaps the reason that Sanders was popular was because the Democratic party (as well as the Republican party) had focused too much of its attention on the 1% (or, more specifically, the 0.0001%) and had left the rest of the population out in the cold. In general, the impression that I get from this book about Clinton in general - in terms of her political life and her personal life - is that she believes she is right about everything, that she is very very defensive about the idea that she is right about everything, and that she is very slow to change in the face of new information. All of those are the LAST things that I would use if I got sick, and the idea of Hillary Clinton forcing them on me anyway makes me wonder what other kinds of outmoded, counterproductive things she would have tried to force on the American public had she become President."
"I voted for her."