Recommended Books

The Clinton Wars

The title of journalist turned-embattled-White House aide Sidney Blumenthal's memoir/history of his tumultuous years inside the Clinton presidency is both literal and figurative, if something of an understatement; "apocalypse" would seem more to the point. Erudite and fiercely unapologetic, Blumenthal belatedly provides the overwrought saga's protagonists what they so often publicly lacked in its historical context: passionate advocacy and precious perspective. No mere presidential history, the battles chronicled here transcend politics as usual, bitter partisan campaigns whose roots Blumenthal forcefully argues extend beneath lingering class and generational resentments into the darkest heart of America's Southern racist past. Hillary Clinton's accusations of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" garnered cynical chuckles in its heyday; Blumenthal (whose own teasing White House nickname was "Grassy Knoll") merely cuts its treachery down to size, documenting the usual suspects, dates, and places with amply footnoted vengeance. There's irony to burn, from unexpected early Clinton supporters (former GOP standard bearer Barry Goldwater) and the blatant moral hypocrisy of his Congressional accusers to the Supreme Court's sole dissenting voice in arguments to reinstate the Special Prosecutor statute, Justice Scalia (who presciently warned it could easily become the tool of political witch hunts), and the heretical notion that the Clintons may have been the least cynical players in the entire drama; they certainly seem it's most tragically human. It's hardly surprising that much of the Washington news establishment has attacked Blumenthal's tome with equal ferocity; in Blumenthal's telling, the D.C. press corps that zealously safeguarded democracy during Watergate had by the advent of Clinton devolved into an insular faux aristocracy resentful of perceived carpetbaggers (especially from Arkansas) and suckers for any politically-motivated leak, rumor, or innuendo that might give them a leg up on the competition. The media's inept handling of the story is even more ironic considering much of what Blumenthal does here derives from the simple advice Watergate informer "Deep Throat" gave reporters during that crisis: "Follow the money." --Jerry McCulley

The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea--The Forgotten War of the South Pacific

Rangers at Dieppe: The First Combat Action of U.S. Army Rangers in World War II

Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45

Living Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama

Northanger Abbey

Whose Body?

Murder on the Orient Express

Lavinia

Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers

You will read literature and discuss it from an analytical viewpoint within a large body of discussions. An analysis involves your opinion based on information from the text as well as secondary sources. Discussions are lively and interaction from all members of the class is expected. Make literature matter to you by putting it in the context of the time in which it was written, the present and the future: because these particular time frames matter to you so should literature and your understanding of it.

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 7th Edition, Volumes A & B Package 1

The Little, Brown Handbook

"The Unfortunate Lady: A True History"

Hammerfall

Prioritizing Security Spending

The Shortcut Guide to Prioritizing Security Spending (ebook)

Chemistry

In Cold Blood

"In Cold Blood," is the best documentary account of an American crime ever written....The book has the special merit of requiring and repaying, throughtful attention even while it tempts one to devour is contents with uninterrupted excitement.--F. W. Dupee

Personal Freedom: An Owner's Manual for Life

"Gerry Spence has become the Socrates of Jackson Hole."--Larry McMurtry "Gerry Spence is one of America's last true originals--a man who thinks as brilliantly as he lives, who writes as compellingly as he talks and who practices law as faithfully as most people practice religion."--Dan Rather.

Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women

American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson