Politics & Government

As far as topics go, politics may be as divisive as they come. Still, there's no escaping the role that it plays in our lives. The texts in this collection explore the gamut of how politics shapes and reshapes societies throughout history.

The Power Elite

by C. Wright Mills

Publication year 1956

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Power & Greed, Politics & Government, Social Class

Tags Sociology, Politics & Government, Philosophy, Social Science, Business & Economics, World History, Philosophy

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The President is Missing

by Bill Clinton, James Patterson

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Politics & Government

The President Is Missing is a thriller co-written by prolific author James Patterson and former United States President Bill Clinton. The novel was published in 2018 and revolves around a dramatic series of events when fictional president Jonathan Duncan faces a cyberattack that threatens to destroy the infrastructure of the US. Through this plot, Patterson and Clinton explore themes including Leadership Requiring Controversial Decisions, Misunderstandings and False Accusations Due to Limited Information, and Loyalty to... Read The President is Missing Summary

The Price of Inequality

by Joseph E. Stiglitz

Publication year 2012

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Community

Tags Business & Economics, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government

In 2007 the United States experienced an economic downturn that caused the standard for living for millions of Americans to plummet. While the share of national income dropped for 99 percent of Americans, the top 1 percent of Americans saw their wealth increase, in some cases considerably. Joseph E. Stiglitz published The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future in 2012 to explain this income gap and offer some hope that it... Read The Price of Inequality Summary

The Prince

by Niccolò Machiavelli

Publication year 1532

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Politics & Government, Nation, Power & Greed

Tags European History, Politics & Government, Philosophy, Social Class, Italian Literature, Renaissance, Education, Education, World History, Philosophy

The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise of the Renaissance period written by Italian diplomat and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. The work, which was likely distributed for years prior to its official publication in 1532, is one of the most influential works of political philosophy in human history. Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a guide for new and future rulers, instructing them on how to seize and hold onto power, frequently citing specific examples from history... Read The Prince Summary

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power

by Daniel Yergin

Publication year 1991

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Colonialism, Economics, Globalization, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Power & Greed, Environment

Tags Military & War, Science & Nature, Business & Economics, World History, Politics & Government

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, & Power is an influential work by Daniel Yergin that was originally published in 1991. Yergin, a highly regarded American historian and economic researcher, examines the history and influence of the global oil industry. With a background in energy economics and policy, Yergin brings a wealth of expertise to this comprehensive examination, providing a detailed narrative of the oil industry’s evolution and its substantial impact on global... Read The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power Summary

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

by Max Weber

Publication year 1905

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Sociology, Social Science, Business & Economics, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government, Religion & Spirituality

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a book written by German historian and sociologist Max Weber in 1905. Weber is often considered to be one of the founders of the discipline of sociology, and The Protestant Ethic is one of his most famous texts. As a work of sociology, the book seeks to analyze broad changes in both the economic and the religious structures of Western European and American societies. Over the... Read The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Summary

The Radical and the Republican

by James Oakes

Publication year 2007

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags US History, Race & Racism, Education, Education, American Civil War, Military & War, World History, Politics & Government, Biography

The Radical and the Republican is a nonfiction book written by James Oakes and published in 2007. While many nonfiction works are centered around a central thesis, hypothesis, or argument, The Radical and the Republican does not follow this pattern; instead, Oakes’s approach is one of compare-and-contrast. He sets up Abraham Lincoln (the Republican) and Frederick Douglass (the Radical) as foils, which allows him to move back and forth from the two historical figures as... Read The Radical and the Republican Summary

The Radicalism of the American Revolution

by Gordon S. Wood

Publication year 1991

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Colonialism, Nation, Politics & Government, Equality

Tags US History, American Revolution, Politics & Government, American Literature, World History

The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1991) is a non-fiction book written by American historian and Brown University professor Gordon S. Wood. Most revolutions are an act of violence that result in deaths, property destruction, and a world turned upside down. Americans do not see the American Revolution this way. The American founding fathers were educated men who wrote pamphlets and spoke openly in legislative halls. As the story goes, they were gentlemen, not radicals... Read The Radicalism of the American Revolution Summary

The Rape of Nanking

by Iris Chang

Publication year 1997

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Trauma & Abuse, World History, World War II, Military & War, Chinese Literature, Japanese Literature, Politics & Government

The Rape of Nanking is a historical nonfiction book published in 1997 by American author and journalist Iris Chang. Subtitled The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, the book chronicles the 1937 Nanking massacre, during which the Imperial Japanese Army, over a six-week period, killed between 260,000 and 400,000 Chinese noncombatants and raped between 20,000 and 80,000 women. The Rape of Nanking was enormously influential in drawing attention to Japanese wartime atrocities, earning Chang numerous... Read The Rape of Nanking Summary

The Rebel

by Albert Camus

Publication year 1951

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes War, Community, Politics & Government, Fate, Power & Greed

Tags Philosophy, Politics & Government, Absurdism, French Literature, World History, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

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