National Network for Equitable Library Service

While the hyper-partisanship in Washington that has stunned the world has been building for decades, Ira Shapiro argues that the U.S. Senate has suffered most acutely from the loss of its political center. In Broken, Ira Shapiro, a former senior Senate staffer and author of the critically-acclaimed book The Last Great Senate, offers an expert's account of some of the most prominent battles of the past decade and lays out what must be done to restore the Senate's lost luster.

Warnings is the story of the future of national security, threatening technologies, the U.S. economy, and possibly the fate of civilization.

Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in 1809. It looked like he would be a simple farmer, but Abe loved books and read anything he could get his hands on. In time, he became a successful lawyer and started getting attention as a politician. Known as a brilliant speaker, Abe impressed enough people to become the 16th president in 1861. Unfortunately, the country was heading for civil war. The issue of slavery divided the North and South, and soon President Lincoln faced the greatest emergency in American history.

This fully rounded biography of America's sixteenth President is the product of Donald's half-century of study of Lincoln and his times. In preparing it, Donald has drawn more extensively than any previous writer on Lincoln's personal papers and those of his contemporaries, and he has taken full advantage of the voluminous newly discovered records of Lincoln's legal practice. He presents his findings with the same literary skill and psychological understanding exhibited in his previous biographies, which have received two Pulitzer Prizes.

In his best-selling study, syndicated columnist and talk show personality Christopher Matthews combines newly-uncovered information and acute political analysis to portray two stunning, ultimately tragic figures who defined a generation. In language that is always accessible, Matthews vividly traces the lasting impacts John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon had on each other's political campaigns-and their presidencies. Despite their differences in upbringing and party affiliation, Kennedy and Nixon shared a warm friendship when they arrived in Washington in 1946.

A behind-the-scenes, revelatory account of John F. Kennedy's wily campaign to the White House, beginning with his bold, failed attempt to win the vice presidential nomination in 1956. A young and undistinguished junior plots his way to the presidency and changes the way we nominate and elect presidents. John F. Kennedy and his young warriors invented modern presidential politics. They turned over accepted wisdom that his Catholicism was a barrier to winning an election and plotted a successful course to that constituency.

The definitive biography of the mercurial Soviet leader who succeeded and denounced Stalin. Nikita Khrushchev was one of the most complex and important political figures of the twentieth century. Ruler of the Soviet Union during the first decade after Stalin's death, Khrushchev left a contradictory stamp on his country and on the world. His life and career mirror the Soviet experience: revolution, civil war, famine, collectivization, industrialization, terror, world war, cold war, Stalinism, post-Stalinism.

The revelation that the government has access to a vast trove of personal online data demonstrates that we already live in a surveillance society. But the erosion of privacy rights extends far beyond big government. Intelligence agencies such as the NSA and CIA are using Silicon Valley corporate partners as their data spies. Seemingly progressive tech companies are joining forces with snooping government agencies to create a brave new world of wired tyranny.

An inspiring collection of stories from ordinary Americans who sought Lincoln's help during the Civil War. What was it like to meet our 16th President' Was he really as kind and honest as we perceive him to be today' This astonishing new book is an inspiring and eye-opening collection of stories, anecdotes and quotes from people who sought out Lincoln for his wisdom, help or just his irresistible wit. He offered a patient ear to almost anyone who came to see him , and his compassion and understanding bettered the lives of hundreds who crossed his threshold.