Historical Democracies

"A world-class intellectual. . . . [Colin Woodard’s] research can help Americans rediscover their common identity in spite of all the attempts to divide them." —Garry Kasparov "A powerful paradigm for understanding the defining hot button issues of contemporary America and the action we can...

Democracies can die with a coup d'état - or they can die slowly. This happens most deceptively when in piecemeal fashion, with the election of an authoritarian leader, the abuse of governmental power and the complete repression of opposition. All three steps are being taken around the world - not least with the election of Donald Trump - and we must all understand how we can stop them.

From Daron Acemoglu, 2024 Nobel laureate in economics and coauthor of Why Nations Fail, an ambitious and expansive inquiry into the biggest story in global politics over the last hundred years: the rise and fall of liberal democracy With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it seemed like we...

Every American president, from Washington to Biden: Their lives, policies, foibles, and legacies, assessed with clear-eyed authority and wit. Authors of the acclaimed Killing books, the #1 bestselling narrative history series in the world, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard begin a new direction...

Over the past generation, the Democratic and Republican parties have each become nationally coordinated political teams. American political institutions, on the other hand, remain highly decentralized. Laboratories against Democracy shows how national political conflicts are increasingly flowing through the subnational institutions of state politics—with profound consequences for public policy and American democracy.

“This relentless chronicle of authoritarianism emboldened and empowered offers a painful and valuable reminder that democracy is fragile, never to be taken for granted and always in need of committed defense.” —Washington Post The massive international bestseller—an epic historical novel...

The fourth and last volume in Churchill's famous account spans 1815 to 1901. It closes when the British Empire is at its peak, with a staggering one-fifth of the human race presided over by the longest reigning monarch in British history: Queen Victoria.

At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law’s motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history. Swept away from his placid home at Cambridge University by the currents of the conflict, Keynes found himself thrust into the halls of European treasuries to arrange emergency loans and packed off to America to negotiate the terms of economic combat.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia under Yeltsin and Putin implemented a political system of "imitation democracy," marked by "a huge disparity between formal constitutional principles and the reality of authoritarian rule." How did this system take shape, how else might it have developed, and what are the prospects for re-envisioning it more democratically in the future? These questions animate Dmitrii Furman's Imitation Democracy, a welcome antidote to books that blandly decry Putin as an omnipotent dictator without considering his platforms, constituencies, and sources of power.

Meet the new President of the United States--a woman with an inquiring mind and an appreciation of history. In an attempt to save American democracy, Madame President asks a professor of ancient studies at Georgetown University to advise her on how Rome could have prevented the loss of its republic. Was Rome's civil strife really similar to ours? Because the professor is married to an up-and-coming senator from the political party opposite of the President, complications arise. Running a democratic government proves to be a delicate and difficult task.

Part memoir, part history, part political manifesto, Seeking Social Democracy offers the first full-length treatment of Ed Broadbent's ideas and remarkable seven-decade engagement in public life. In dialogue with three collaborators from different generations, Broadbent leads listeners through a life spent fighting for equality in Parliament and beyond: exploring the formation of his social democratic ideals, his engagement on the international stage, and his relationships with historical figures from Pierre Trudeau and Fidel Castro to Tommy Douglas, Rene Levesque, and Willy Brandt.

📘 The Life of Empires: When Belief Fades, Greatness Crumbles By HASE Fiero Empires don’t fall when their borders are breached. They fall when their people stop believing. The Life of Empires is a sweeping philosophical exploration and cultural autopsy—an unflinching account of how history’s greatest civilizations rose through shared conviction and collapsed when those beliefs crumbled from within. From Rome to the Soviet Union, from colonial giants to modern America, HASE Fiero unpacks a haunting thesis: power without belief is brittle, and progress without trust is an illusion. ...

FROM THE PULIZTER-PRIZE WINNING STAFF OF THE NEW YORK TIMES, this edition of THE JANUARY 6 REPORT offers the definitive record of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, with exclusive reporting, eyewitness accounts and analysis. Listen to the report from the select committee’s investigation into...

From National Jewish Book Award Winner and author of Israel, a bold reevaluation of the tensions between American and Israeli Jews that reimagines the past, present, and future of Jewish life. Relations between the American Jewish community and Israel are at an all-time nadir. Since Israel’s...

Chris Cadwalader, a West Point graduate, retired Army officer, and university professor, is writing a book on military raids in World War II. His new wife, Stephanie, is a writer and her current novel is set in Palestine, in the 1930s. To allow the newlyweds to remain together, Chris focuses the next chapter of his book on Operation Atlas, a German raid into Palestine during the closing days of the war. The raid was a failure and three of the five commandos who parachuted into Palestine were immediately captured by the British. As Chris investigates, he discovers that the British wrote a ...

The New York Times bestselling author of Religious Literacy and God Is Not One presents a provocative crash course in the great “American scriptures”—those texts that have both divided and defined our understanding of what it is to be American. Stephen Prothero, a go-to expert on religion...

A exploration of prominent US Supreme Court cases from recent history (2010-2021) concerning elections and voting rights. Cases discussed include the relevant landmark cases namely: Citizens United, Rucho, Brnovich, Shelby County, and others. Full audio of oral arguments and opinions are included together with analysis of the relevant cases. Hear from the United States Supreme Court in their own words on topics that continue to be debated and shape the American political landscape today. Legal scholar Matt Bewig provides insightful commentary to frame the court's positions.

Five homeless people take over a radio station, turn the music programming over to a ballot system that everyone can participate in, and start a political avalanche changing America more into a democracy with an amendment to the Constitution initiated by a states' national constitutional convention. Historical fiction based on Radio Free Hawaii, Honolulu.

Caracas is burning. The regime has fallen. But the real war is only beginning. When General Valera’s dictatorship collapses, the people of Venezuela flood the streets in celebration. Yet inside the ruined halls of Miraflores Palace, a new struggle ignites. • Diego, a young revolutionary commander, demands vengeance and swift justice. • General Salcedo, weary but determined, pleads for restraint and law. • Isabel, a journalist armed with only her camera, records the fragile birth of a nation. • Mariana, the fallen dictator’s daughter, confronts her bloodline and vows to end the ...

A powerful, award-winning novel that follows the lives of two women as democracy starts to crumble in Hong Kong. One summer morning, college roommates, Ah Lei and Panda, wake up with very different reactions to the night before. They have been chased and tear-gassed in the streets of their city...