Current Events
by Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson
We are on the verge of a crippling energy crisis that could undermine our economy and change our way of life. In Who Turned Out the Lights?, Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, editors of the award-winning nonpartisan Web site PublicAgenda.org, offer a much-needed reality check.
by Ali Eteraz
Children of Dust is an extraordinary adventure that reveals the diversity of Islamic beliefs, the vastness of the Pakistani diaspora, and the very human search for home. It is a spellbinding portrayal of a life that few Americans can imagine.
by Richard Benjamin
Between 2007 and 2009, Rich Benjamin, a journalist-adventurer, packed his bags and embarked on a 26,909-mile journey throughout the heart of white America, to some of the fastest-growing and whitest locales in our nation.
by John Wasik
The Audacity of Help unrolls the blueprints and looks at how the packages passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama will affect healthcare, education, the environment, energy, taxes, and more.
by Michael Baigent
International bestselling author and controversial religion theorist Michael Baigent turns his keen attentions to modern-day Jerusalem and its increasingly important role in global affairs, exploring yet another of his explosive theories: that hardliners within the three great Abrahamic religions are working to hasten our end as prophesized in each of their texts and traditions of faith.
by Kirsten Olson
While reformers and policymakers focus on achievement gaps, testing, and accountability, millions of students mentally and emotionally disengage from learning and many gifted teachers leave the field. Ironically, today's schooling is damaging the single most essential component to education -- the joy of learning.
by John Wasik
Wasik's observations are firmly grounded in exclusive on-the-ground research, interviews with thought leaders, and the latest studies and statistics. He exposes the untold truths about home ownership: “green” isn't always so “green”; life isn't cheaper after accounting for gas, water, and taxes; and modern suburban living isn't so idyllic considering the toll it takes on our health.
by Doug Stanton
Horse Soldiers is the dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to war on horses against the Taliban. Outnumbered forty to one, they pursued the enemy across mountainous terrain and, after a series of intense battles, captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was strategically essential if they were to defeat the Taliban.
by Ed Husain
Though raised in a devout but quiet Muslim community in London, at sixteen Ed Husain discovered an intriguing political interpretation of Islam known as Islamism. Lured in by its ambitiously fundamentalist tenets, Islamism quickly became the center of his life.
by Douglas Schoen
Hugo Chavez, the current president of Venezuela and a self-proclaimed enemy of the United States, commands what even Osama bin Laden only dreams of -- but few Americans see him as a true danger to this country. This book argues that we should.
by Russ Baker
After eight disastrous years, George W. Bush leaves office as one of the most unpopular presidents in American history. Russ Baker asks the question that lingers even as this benighted administration winds down: Who really wanted this man at the helm of the country, and why did his backers promote him despite his obvious liabilities and limitations?
by Tony Wagner
Despite the best efforts of educators, our nation’s schools are dangerously obsolete. Instead of teaching students to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers, we are asking them to memorize facts for multiple choice tests. This problem isn’t limited to low-income school districts: even our top schools aren’t teaching or testing the skills that matter most in the global knowledge economy.
