Best Public Affairs & Administration
Over the course of five years, investigative reporters Sherry Sontag and Chris Drew interviewed hundreds of men who had never spoken about their underwater livesnot even to their wives and children. Throughout the Cold War, the U.S. depended heavily on submarines for intelligence gathering, whether tracking Soviet missile subs, monitoring Soviet harbors and missile tests or, in some cases, retrieving lost Soviet equipment. Although the authors have based their book largely on interviews with submariners, intelligence operatives and politicians, they recognize the possibility of distortion and back up personal accounts with an elaborate and convincing system of verification. From captains to seamen, the participants combined technical proficiency, insouciant courage and a cheerful scorn for regulations that often interfered with their missions.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Have lived close to keyport and bangor all my life, new found respect for the work they all do."
"I'm looking forward to their next book/revelation of hidden stories about real heroes and selfless patriots."
"Reads like a novel bt is history amd mostly accurate."
"I was flooded by new information and my image of the Cold War has completely changed, Contrary to its very serious content the well written book reads almost like a thriller."
"I served 68-72 in the surface ship Navy, and had no idea this was going on."
"A very interesting read about the advent of US submarine technology."
"It holds your attention with all the excitement of trying to envision, in your mind, those things as they happened. Not to discount or downplay either of those books, but by far, "Blind Man's Bluff" is certainly a more exciting read, as it gives quite a bit more detail, even regarding the sinking of the U.S.S."
"A little dry but interesting explanation of what happened to the submarine fleet during the Cold War."
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home. A consummate political insider, Roger Stone views the JFK assassination through the prism of a murder investigator's first question, cui bono (who benefits)? Any serious student of politics or history should read Roger Stone's stunning new book The Man Who Killed Kennedy . Has evidence Lyndon B. Johnson arranged John F. Kennedy's assassination. — Daily Mail UK. Backs up the bombshell claim of President Lyndon B. Johnson's former mistress, that LBJ was the power-crazed mastermind behind the assassination of the man he replaced in the White House, John F. Kennedy! Roger Stone is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ . and the Bush Crime Family , The Clinton's War on Women , Nixon's Secrets , The Benghazi Report , and Tricky Dick . He is a legendary political operative who served as a senior campaign aide to Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Senator Bob Dole, and is a close friend and adviser to President Donald Trump. A veteran of eight national presidential campaigns, Stone would spend hours talking politics with Nixon as confidant and adviser in his post-presidential years. Stone is known for his hardball tactics, deep opposition research, biting candor, and love of English custom tailoring. Mike Colapietro is an investigative journalist and researcher who received his bachelors from Eastern Connecticut State and is studying for Masters from the University of South Florida.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I was in college (at Southwest Texas) when JFK was murdered."
"Hard to say that I "enjoyed" this book."
"More insight into our recent history by an author who was close to the horses mouth!"
"And left little to the imagination."
"This book fills in the blanks that people never wanted to consider."
"I knew he had it done."
"It ties up all the loose ends and answers questions folks might have about our "two party system"!"
Fully updated throughout for new regulations and workflows, with new case studies covering the latest in best practices, this classic textbook prepares students for the challenges of a career in emergency management. Jane A. Bullock has worked in emergency management for over 20 years most recently as the Chief of Staff to James Lee Witt the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In this position Ms. Bullock served as principal advisor to the Director on all Agency programmatic and administrative activities, provided advice and recommendations to the Director on policies required to carry out the mission of the agency; managed the day-to-day operations of the Agency; directed, monitored, and evaluated Agency strategic and communication processes; and oversaw administration of the Agency’s resources, including the disaster relief fund. Mr. Coppola is the author of Introduction to International Disaster Management (Butterworth-Heinemann), and co-author of Introduction to Homeland Security (Butterworth-Heinemann) and Hazards Risk Management (The Federal Emergency Management Agency).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Arrived on time and performed as described."
"The book was exactly as described."
"Good basic book."
"I bought this book for a class and didn't end up using it much, but from what I did read I enjoyed."
"Overall the book provides good information but has some editorial and factual errors which should have been addressed by now."
"though out of date, very good info!"
"Looking for a detailed and complete overview of Emergency Management (in the USA), than this seems the book a must read."
"It's like all the other books."
Best Media Studies
As seen in the new movie The Post, here is the. captivating, inside story of the woman who helmed the Washington Post during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of American media. In lieu of an unrevealing Famous-People-I-Have-Known autobiography, the owner of the Washington Post has chosen to be remarkably candid about the insecurities prompted by remote parents and a difficult marriage to the charismatic, manic-depressive Phil Graham, who ran the newspaper her father acquired. Katharine's account of her years as subservient daughter and wife is so painful that by the time she finally asserts herself at the Post following Phil's suicide in 1963 (more than halfway through the book), readers will want to cheer.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"An engaging book about an amazing Lady."
"I bought this book after the sale of Washington Post."
"Katherine did a spell-binding history of her life in the land of wealth and prestigue, showing it to be one of just plain Jane and how she literally uplifter herself into one of grandeur."
"A wonderful book that brings the excitement, and the changes in our country alive, through Katherine Graham's recollections."
"THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BORING, WAS I EVER WRONG; ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING; LEARNED SO MUCH MORE ABOUT PUBLISHING A PAPER, UNIONS, ETC AND THIS WONDERFUL WOMANS LIFE; YOU WILL NOT BE BORED;"
"Loads of recent history and a real glimpse into the workings of the newspaper business ."
Best Public Policy
#1 New York Times Bestseller |. Named one of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Seattle Times • Esquire • Time Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction | Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction | Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award | Finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize | Finalist for the Kirkus Reviews Prize | An American Library Association Notable Book A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields.” —David Cole, The New York Review of Books “Searing, moving . Just Mercy will make you upset and it will make you hopeful.” —Ted Conover, The New York Times Book Review “Inspiring . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he’s also a gifted writer and storyteller.” — The Washington Post “As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty.” —The Financial Times “Brilliant.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer “Not since Atticus Finch has a fearless and committed lawyer made such a difference in the American South. Just Mercy is his inspiring and powerful story.” —John Grisham “Bryan Stevenson is one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and influential crusader for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. When Stevenson was a 23-year-old Harvard law student, he started an internship in Georgia where his first assignment was to deliver a message to a man living on death row. This is a title for the many young adults who have a parent or loved one in the prison system and the many others who are interested in social justice, the law, and the death penalty. [It] demonstrates, as powerfully as any book on criminal justice that I’ve ever read, the extent to which brutality, unfairness, and racial bias continue to infect criminal law in the United States. But at the same time that [Bryan] Stevenson tells an utterly damning story of deep-seated and widespread injustice, he also recounts instances of human compassion, understanding, mercy, and justice that offer hope. Just Mercy is a remarkable amalgam, at once a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields.” —David Cole, The New York Review of Books “A searing, moving and infuriating memoir . This book brings new life to the story by placing it in two affecting contexts: [Bryan] Stevenson’s life work and the deep strain of racial injustice in American life. Against tremendous odds, Stevenson has worked to free scores of people from wrongful or excessive punishment, arguing five times before the Supreme Court. Stevenson has been angry about [the criminal justice system] for years, and we are all the better for it.” —Ted Conover, The New York Times Book Review “Inspiring . “As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty.” —The Financial Times “Brilliant.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer. Bryan Stevenson, however, is very much alive and doing God’s work fighting for the poor, the oppressed, the voiceless, the vulnerable, the outcast, and those with no hope. Just Mercy is his inspiring and powerful story.” —John Grisham “Bryan Stevenson is one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and influential crusader for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. Bryan Stevenson is a real-life, modern-day Atticus Finch who, through his work in redeeming innocent people condemned to death, has sought to redeem the country itself. It is inspiring and suspenseful—a revelation.” —Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns “Words such as important and compelling may have lost their force through overuse, but reading this book will restore their meaning, along with one’s hopes for humanity.” —Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Mountains Beyond Mountains “Bryan Stevenson is America’s young Nelson Mandela, a brilliant lawyer fighting with courage and conviction to guarantee justice for all. Just Mercy should be read by people of conscience in every civilized country in the world to discover what happens when revenge and retribution replace justice and mercy.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My tendency is to put things into "liberal" and "conservative" buckets and this one seemingly fit into the liberal bucket and I am a professed conservative."
"I have a new hero . Bryan Stevenson. This is a great book."
"This is a system that condemns children to life imprisonment without parole, that makes petty theft a crime as serious as murder, and that has declared war on hundreds of thousands of people with substance abuse problems by imprisoning them and denying them help. JUST MERCY explores a number of devastating cases, including children as young as fourteen facing life imprisonment, and scores of people on death row - mostly poor, and mostly black - who have been unfairly convicted. But the central focus is on Walter McMillan, a black man sentenced to death for the murder of a prominent young white woman. Ours is no longer a country that sees compassion as a virtue; instead, we write harsher and harsher laws that demand longer and longer sentences for those we consider undesirables. It's rare these days to meet someone who truly dedicates himself to those least able to help themselves, especially someone who isn't after media attention or self-promotion."
"He is a witness in the stories, a helper, an overwhelmed human who makes sure his clients and the system are the focus of his stories, so we, the readers, can begin to understand what really happens in the legal system, from the behavior of police to the biases of justices with unchecked power, and the witnesses that are the wrong color to be heard."
Best Social Services & Welfare
Then one April morning a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man and a crying infant - and the path of the couple's lives hits an unthinkable crossroads. Winner of three ABIA awards for Best Literary Novel, Best Newcomer and Book of the Year. Winner of two India Awards for Best Debut and Book of the Year. Recently voted Historical Novel of 2012 by GoodReads' reading community. Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2012 : Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a tiny island a half day’s boat journey from the coast of Western Australia. M. L. Stedman’s vivid characters and gorgeous descriptions of the solitude of Janus Rock and of the unpredictable Australian frontier create a perfect backdrop for the tale of longing, loss, and the overwhelming love for a child that is The Light Between Oceans . Stedman, a spectacularly sure storyteller, swept me to a remote island nearly a century ago, where a lighthouse keeper and his wife make a choice that shatters many lives, including their own. “Haunting...Stedman draws the reader into her emotionally complex story right from the beginning, with lush descriptions of this savage. and beautiful landscape, and vivid characters with whom we can readily empathize. “This fine, suspenseful debut explores desperation, morality, and loss, and considers the damaging ways in which we store our private sorrows, and the consequences of such terrible secrets.” — Martha Stewart Whole Living. Tom, traumatised on the western front, takes a job as lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, 100 miles off the Australian coast between the Indian and Southern oceans, where he hopes that the vast surrounding emptiness will bring him peace. Told with the authoritative simplicity of a fable…Stedman’s intricate descriptions of the craggy Australian coastline and her easy mastery of an old-time provincial vernacular are engrossing.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As a trigger warning, I highly suggest that any woman who has had difficult miscarriages and/or has had trouble conceiving think twice before reading this book. The author did a good job of not letting you know what was up her sleeve for the end, and I found the last couple chapters somewhat anxiety-causing. At one point I think I did actually flip to the back (which I have a pretty strict rule for myself that I do NOT usually allow myself to do that) because I wanted to find out one particular detail that was worrying me."
"The Light Between Oceans tells the story about an Australian lighthouse keeper and his wife who have their world turned upside one day when a boat containing a body and a baby wash up on their island. The island only has 2 trees, a handful of animals and a small vegetable garden but it is home for them, and M.L Steadman does an excellent job of portraying the island and the conditions that Tom and Izzy are living in."
"Married couple, isolated, working an important Lighthouse, trying to have, but failing to have, children. The tears of both joy and despair will sit either side of you - to debate, to fight and argue forever."
"The struggles of the two main characters, Isabel and Tom, as they deal with loss and as they deal wth the remote life they have created at the lighthouse, is compelling and interesting throughout. However, at the same time, the lighthouse is powerless to illuminate the space closest to it. The experiences of Tom and Isabel at the island occur in darkness, away from the light."
"But it's fundamentally about that fine line separating "right" from "wrong", and how each of us makes the decision where to place that line."
"I felt sorry for Isabel, of course, but she turned into a witch."
Best Urban Planning & Development
In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation—that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Through extraordinary revelations and extensive research that Ta-Nehisi Coates has lauded as "brilliant" ( The Atlantic ), Rothstein comes to chronicle nothing less than an untold story that begins in the 1920s, showing how this process of de jure segregation began with explicit racial zoning, as millions of African Americans moved in a great historical migration from the south to the north. Based on careful analyses of multiple historical documents, Rothstein has presented what I consider to be the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation.--Wiliam Julius Wilson, author of The Truly Disadvantaged. Through meticulous research and powerful human stories, Rothstein reveals a history of racism hiding in plain sight and compels us to confront the consequences of the intentional, decades-long governmental policies that created a segregated America.--Sherrilyn A. Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Masterful...The Rothstein book gathers meticulous research showing how governments at all levels long employed racially discriminatory policies to deny blacks the opportunity to live in neighborhoods with jobs, good schools and upward mobility.--Jared Bernstein.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"When William Julius Wilson writes that a book is "the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation," it grabs your attention. Rothstein's book is exactly that--a seminal work on the history of housing discrimination that is required reading for anyone who cares about the effect of residential segregation on cities and schools in our country. Stegner and friends formed a cooperative to purchase a 260-acre ranch in Palo Alto in which they planned to build 400 affordable homes for low-paid professors and other working-class families. Because the Veterans' Administration also relied on FHA rules for underwriting, black servicemen were similarly barred from receiving the same VA loans for housing that white vets enjoyed."
"Rothstein modestly suggests a number of "remedies" to compensate for the financial losses and missed educational opportunities their kids suffered because they were deliberately forced by discriminatory federal government housing and lending policies and local laws to live in segregated low-income city neighborhoods. His book's great value comes from showing readers that it was deliberate government policies, not private choices or voluntary social forces, that created, enforced and perpetuated racial segregation in the North for nearly a hundred years. I wish I had been able to read this book last year when I was writing 30 Days a Black Man: The Forgotten Story That Exposed the Jim Crow South,' which only touches lightly on how Northern cities like Pittsburgh, Portland and Washington, D.C., kept their neighborhoods rigidly segregated."
"I am currently working in the credit analysis area and it was an eye opining for me that the US Government was in-fact institutionalizing discrimination by not insuring (such as the FHA) or not guaranteeing (such as the Veteran's Administration (VA) ) mortgage loans if the builder or the lender was selling to African-Americans (AA)."
Best Regional Planning
Fully updated throughout for new regulations and workflows, with new case studies covering the latest in best practices, this classic textbook prepares students for the challenges of a career in emergency management. Jane A. Bullock has worked in emergency management for over 20 years most recently as the Chief of Staff to James Lee Witt the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In this position Ms. Bullock served as principal advisor to the Director on all Agency programmatic and administrative activities, provided advice and recommendations to the Director on policies required to carry out the mission of the agency; managed the day-to-day operations of the Agency; directed, monitored, and evaluated Agency strategic and communication processes; and oversaw administration of the Agency’s resources, including the disaster relief fund. Mr. Coppola is the author of Introduction to International Disaster Management (Butterworth-Heinemann), and co-author of Introduction to Homeland Security (Butterworth-Heinemann) and Hazards Risk Management (The Federal Emergency Management Agency).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book was exactly as described."
"Good basic book."
"I bought this book for a class and didn't end up using it much, but from what I did read I enjoyed."
"Overall the book provides good information but has some editorial and factual errors which should have been addressed by now."
"though out of date, very good info!"
"Looking for a detailed and complete overview of Emergency Management (in the USA), than this seems the book a must read."
"It's like all the other books."
"I used the book for the class, still had it for review if I needed it for my next class."
Best Social Policy
At a moment of drastic political upheaval, An American Sickness is a shocking investigation into our dysfunctional healthcare system - and offers practical solutions to its myriad problems. Breaking down this monolithic business into the individual industries—the hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and drug manufacturers—that together constitute our healthcare system, Rosenthal exposes the recent evolution of American medicine as never before. In clear and practical terms, she spells out exactly how to decode medical doublespeak, avoid the pitfalls of the pharmaceuticals racket, and get the care you and your family deserve. Rosenthal told an interviewer her goal was to “start a very loud conversation” that will be “difficult politically to ignore.” We need such a conversation – not just about how the market fails, but about how we can change the political realities that stand in the way of fixing it.”— The New York Times Book Review “Patients can save thousands of dollars by purchasing An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal.”— New York Journal of Books. “Bold, insightful, well-researched analysis.” — Nature “Truly remarkable for the extensive interviews and range of documentation it provides.” — American Psychological Association “In this in-depth analysis of a malfunctioning system, Rosenthal makes a compelling case against the hospital and pharmaceutical executives behind the “money chase,” and it’s hard to imagine a more educated, credible guide…The patients she interviewed share mind-boggling stories…She builds her case with one damning statistic after another…Rosenthal presents solutions both personal and societal in this commanding and necessary call to arms.” —Booklist (starred) “Provocatively analyzes...Rosenthal unveils with surgical precision the "dysfunctional medical market"...a startling cascade.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review). I have not read another volume that diagnoses the “deeply, perhaps fatally, flawed” system of health insurance and delivery with such lucidity, dissects its critical shortcomings, and provides such a clear prescription for its ills. Bold, imaginative, tautly written and filled with fury and compassion, this book will serve as the definitive guide to the past and future of health care in America.” —Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene. Elisabeth Rosenthal’s remarkable, outrage-inducing book reveals how each attempt to check the health industry’s excesses has been exploited for monetary gain. Both a fascinating history of dysfunction, and a clear manifesto for change.” —Sheri Fink, M.D., Ph.D., Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Five Days at Memorial and War Hospital “Through vivid, heart wrenching stories and trenchant analysis, Libby Rosenthal unveils the irrationality, indifference, harmfulness, and downright unfairness of the American health care system that can often seem more driven by profit than caring and compassion.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"An American Sickness is a gripping, fast paced and revolting dive from 50,000 feet above into the morass of what passes for healthcare in the USA. Patients are barely tolerated in a system optimized to pass money from bank accounts to providers. Because Rosenthal (an MD herself) was a columnist for the New York Times, she received thousands of contacts over the years. She researched them and they provide the vivid and shameful examples of financial abuse in the industry (with real names). She has distilled them into a perverse list of principles of US healthcare that explains everything and forms the backbone of the book: 1. As the American economy freefalls into dysfunction, doctors and nurses have become “independent contractors”, just like everyone else. Administrators are no longer senior caregivers but numbers people who must limit the poorly insured and maximize the profit on every square foot. The rest of the western world and history are the proof: “If the March of Dimes was operating according to today’s foundation models, we’d have iron lungs in five different colors controlled by iPhone apps – but we wouldn’t have a cheap polio vaccine,” Rosenthal quotes Dr. Michael Brownlee. Rosenthal provides really useful links and sample letters, because customers are all in this same situation – ignorant and powerless. This book is worth far more than a month’s health insurance; it can save you a fortune, and give you back your life."
"I have been a nurse since 1978 and have had a front row seat to the changes in health care in the ensuing decades."
"Not a subject matter I would normally be interested in, but in the current political climate I felt I should get a better understanding of what is going on in the healthcare industries. I am not a big fan of the government getting involved in healthcare, however if we are going to let free enterprise control the costs I think it is important to know if the healthcare industries will respond to true competition like other industries such as the telecommunication and automotive industries."
"While we cannot mandate morals, consumers can choose alternatives to products and services born from financial incentives. But the greed of corporate organizations, a select few physicians and physician group practice managers who want to 'maximize' income charge prices that far exceed the value of what is given."
"Dr. Rosenthal's background makes her uniquely qualified to write this well-researched book."
Best Social Security
You could try reading all 2,728 rules of the Social Security system (and the thousands of explanations of these rules), but academia’s Kotlikoff, the popular press’s Moeller, and public television’s Solman explain the Social Security system just as comprehensively, and a lot more comprehensibly. Changes to Social Security that take effect in 2016 make it more important than ever to wait as long as possible (until age 70, if possible) to claim Social Security benefits. The new law also has significant implications for those who wish to claim divorced spousal benefits (and how many Social Security recipients even know about divorced spousal benefits?). “Getting smart about Social Security can put tens of thousands of extra dollars in your pocket. The book translates—into often entertaining English—the many convoluted rules that make up the Social Security program. By doing it right, you can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your lifetime income and leave more money for your spouse as well. Given that there are 2,728 core rules and thousands more supplements to them according to the authors, it pays, literally, to seek out a guide.” (Ron Leiber The New York Times). Smartly written by an all star, financial expert dream team, the engaging, down to earth prose makes Get What’s Yours the definitive guide to maximizing what is, for many, the most important retirement asset by far. From determining the best age to claim (hint: it’s not what you’ve been told) to figuring out the intricacies of spousal benefits to avoiding the ‘gotchas’ that can reduce your checks, this must read guide is truly that. Journalist Philip Moeller writes about retirement for Money and authors the Ask Phil Medicare column for PBS. He also is a Research Fellow at the Center on Aging & Work at Boston College and the founder of Insure.com, a leading site for insurance information.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Given the choice of learning 3000 pages of Social Security law and tens of thousands of regulations, or having two front teeth pulled without anesthetic, most would choose the latter, if only because it's over quicker. Worse, Social Security is now up to three million requests every week, but Congress keeps cutting back budget, staff, hours and whole offices. Combine that with the complexity factor, and the authors conclude you cannot trust what Social Security advises. As an aside, there is an annual survey that always says the same thing: nearly 50% of Americans couldn't raise an emergency $2500 in 30 days, not from savings or even from friends and family."
"Through simple charts, the authors point out that millions of Americans are making a BIG MISTAKE by claiming benefits too early. I have always been confused about what the rules were for Social Security benefits. Besides explanation on spousal benefits, there are also chapters to cover special situations, such as parent benefits. I found the most valuable chapters the "Secrets" chapters: Chapter 16, "50 Good News Secrets to Higher Lifetime Benefits," and Chapter 17, "25 Bad News Gotchas that can Reduce Your Benefits Forever." The authors point out that Social Security employees are officially encouraged to sign you up and get your signature whenever you come in to an office and inquire about filing for benefits. In other words, they point out, the Social Security department itself is not really the right place to go for objective answers on how to get the most benefits."