"From the former secretary of state and bestselling author -- a sweeping look at the global struggle for democracy and why America must continue to support the cause of human freedom. From the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union to the ongoing struggle for human rights in the Middle East, Condoleezza Rice has served on the front lines of history. As a child, she was an eyewitness to a third awakening of freedom, when her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, became the epicenter of the civil rights movement for black Americans. In this book, Rice explains what these epochal events teach us about democracy. At a time when people around the world are wondering whether democracy is in decline, Rice shares insights from her experiences as a policymaker, scholar, and citizen, in order to put democracy's challenges into perspective. When the United States was founded, it was the only attempt at self-government in the world. Today more than half of all countries qualify as democracies, and in the long run that number will continue to grow. Yet nothing worthwhile ever comes easily. Using America's long struggle as a template, Rice draws lessons for democracy around the world -- from Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, to Kenya, Colombia, and the Middle East. She finds that no transitions to democracy are the same because every country starts in a different place. Pathways diverge and sometimes circle backward. Time frames for success vary dramatically, and countries often suffer false starts before getting it right. But, Rice argues, that does not mean they should not try. While the ideal conditions for democracy are well known in academia, they never exist in the real world. The question is not how to create perfect circumstances but how to move forward under difficult ones. These same insights apply in overcoming the challenges faced by governments today. The pursuit of democracy is a continuing struggle shared by people around the world, whether they are opposing authoritarian regimes, establishing new democratic institutions, or reforming mature democracies to better live up to their ideals. The work of securing it is never finished"--
Simon Wiesenthal has been fighting against the tyranny of Nazism for more than fifty years. Born in 1908 in the small town of Buczacz in Galicia, he was a successful architect before Hitler came to power. During the Nazi regime he survived thirteen concentration camps including Plaszow, the notorious Polish death camp depicted in Schindler's List. Liberated from Austria's Mauthausen camp in 1945, Wiesenthal vowed to avenge the horrors of the Holocaust by searching for Nazi perpetrators and bringing them to trial. Revered by some as a Jewish hero and condemned by others as an egomaniac and a liar, Wiesenthal has provoked admiration and sharp criticism. Hella Pick's compelling biography provides a comprehensive and objective portrait of this highly controversial and enigmatic public figure. In this well-researched volume she chronicles Wiesenthal's early life and vividly describes his survival in the camps. Pick's gripping accounts of his major hunts for Nazi criminals - including Adolf Eichmann, Franz Stangl, Franz Murer, Josef Mengele, and Hermine Braunsteiner-Ryan - illustrate the methods Wiesenthal uses in his searches and illuminate the difficulties he has encountered, not least from other Nazi hunters.
Inside the Revolution takes you inside the winner-take-all battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of the people of the Middle East. It includes never-before-seen profiles of the Radicals, the Reformers and the Revivalists. It explains the implications of each movement and the importance of each leader--not only through the lenses of politics and economics but through the third lens of Scripture as well. Today, wars and revolutions define the modern Middle East, and many believe the worst is yet to come.Inside the Revolution deals with questions like these:--"How real and serious is the threat of Radical Islam to American national security eight years after 9/11?"--"Are there any Muslim leaders who oppose the violence of the Radicals--and is there any hope that such leaders will come to power in key countries in the Middle East?"--"What is God doing in the Middle East--and is there any hope that Muslims will find faith in Jesus Christ?"--"How can we as Christians help strengthen our brothers and sisters who love Jesus in the Muslim world, and how can we reach out to Muslims here at home?"The Followers of Jihad: On April 1, 1979, Iran became the first Islamic republic in history. Three decades later, the shock waves from the Iranian Revolution are still being felt around the globe [and] we are rapidly approaching the most dangerous moment in the history of the Iranian Revolution. Iran’s senior leaders have stated publicly that the end of the world is “imminent.”…They are feverishly trying to build, buy or steal nuclear weapons….Iran, however, is not the only threat. Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network remain a clear and present danger to U.S. national security…. What the Radicals need most is Western ignorance, apathy, and lack of moral clarity. If the West can be lulled to sleep…then the Radicals will soon be able to pull off a series of attacks that make 9/11 pale by comparison and could leave millions dead.The Followers of Jefferson: “Aren’t there any Muslims out there who think the Radicals are crazy and are willing to fight back against the jihadists?” I am often asked. “Where are the Muslim leaders who are promoting freedom and opportunity and trying to create and expand democracy, as difficult as that may be in the modern Middle East?”…Here are the answers: “Yes, absolutely,” and “They’re out there, but they don’t get nearly enough attention.”…While not all Reformers are full-blown “Jeffersonian democrats,” a growing number of Muslim leaders are, in fact, seeking to follow and emulate Thomas Jefferson’s teachings and example….And they are not simply talking about the power of representative government; they are actually gaining real political power and wielding game-changing influence in critical countries in the Middle East.The Followers of Jesus: You rarely hear about it on the news. But the big, untold story is that more Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus Christ today than at any other time in human history….During the course of interviewing more than 150 Christian leaders in the epicenter, I have been able to assemble enough data and anecdotal evidence to paint a picture of how powerfully the God of the Bible is moving to draw Muslims into His family….The head of one leading Iranian ministry told me: “Based on all the things we are seeing inside Iran today, I personally believe that if every Iranian who secretly believes in Jesus could come forward right now and declare his or her faith publicly, the number would top a million.”
“Machiavellian”—used to describe the ruthless cunning of the power-obsessed and the pitiless—is never meant as a compliment. But the man whose<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> name became shorthand for all that is ugly in politics was more engaging and nuanced than his reputation suggests. Christopher S. Celenza’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Machiavelli: A Portrait removes the varnish of centuries to reveal not only the hardnosed political philosopher but the skilled diplomat, learned commentator on ancient history, comic playwright, tireless letter writer, and thwarted lover. Machiavelli’s hometown was the epicenter of the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century, a place of unparalleled artistic and intellectual attainments. But Florence was also riven by extraordinary violence. War and public executions were commonplace—Machiavelli himself was imprisoned and brutally tortured at the behest of his own government. These experiences left a deep impression on this keen observer of power politics, whose two masterpieces—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Prince and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Discourses—draw everywhere on the hard-won wisdom gained from navigating a treacherous world. But like many of Machiavelli’s fellow Florentines, he also immersed himself in the Latin language and wisdom of authors from the classical past. And for all of Machiavelli’s indifference to religion, vestiges of Christianity remained in his thought, especially the hope for a redeemer—a prince who would provide the stability so rare in Machiavelli’s worldly experience.
Lincoln's death, like his life, was an event of epic proportions. When the president was struck down at his moment of triumph, writes Merrill Peterson, "sorrow - indescribable sorrow" swept the nation. After lying in state in Washington, Lincoln's body was carried by a special funeral train to Springfield, Illinois, stopping in major cities along the way; perhaps a million people viewed the remains as memorial orations rang out and the world chorused its praise. It was the apotheosis of the martyred president - the beginning of the transformation of a man into a mythic hero. In Lincoln in American Memory, historian Merrill Peterson provides a fascinating history of Lincoln's place in American thought and imagination from the hour of his death to the present. In tracing the changing image of Lincoln through time, this wide-ranging account offers insight into the evolution and the struggles of American politics and society - and into the character of Lincoln himself. Westerners, Easterners, even Southerners were caught up in the idealization of the late president, reshaping his memory and laying claim to his mantle, as his widow, son, memorial builders, and memorabilia collectors fought over his visible legacy. Peterson also looks at the complex responses of blacks to the memory of Lincoln, as they moved from exultation at the end of slavery to the harsh reality of free life amid deep poverty and segregation; at more than one memorial event for the great emancipator, the author notes, blacks were excluded. He makes an engaging examination of the flood of reminiscences and biographies, from Lincoln's old law partner William H. Herndon to the poet Carl Sandburg and beyond. Serious historians were late in coming to the topic; for decades the myth-makers sought to shape the image of the hero president to suit their own agendas. He was made a voice of prohibition, a saloon-keeper, an infidel, a devout Christian, the first Bull Moose Progressive, a military blunderer and (after the First World War) a military genius, a white supremacist (according to D.W. Griffith and other Southern admirers), and a touchstone for the civil rights movement. Through it all, Peterson traces five principal images of Lincoln: the savior of the Union, the great emancipator, man of the people, first American, and self-made man. In identifying these archetypes, he tells us much not only of Lincoln but of our own identity as a people. This absorbing book leads us on a revealing tour through our changing image of our greatest president - and our changing image of ourselves.
Democracy by Condoleezza Rice | Literally Just Books
