International Education Summer Reading Lists

2007-2008

World Affairs Council Speakers with Books 2007-2008
 

Smart Power: A Smarter, More Secure America
Joseph Nye, Harvard University

 

Good Intentions Corrupted: The Oil-for-Food Scandal and the Threat to the U.N.
Mark Califano, Chief Legal Counsel, UN Oil-for-Food Investigation

Russia’s Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed
Anders Anders, Peterson Institute for International Economics

 

Re-Engaging the Americas: An Action Plan for the Next President
Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald

 

Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

 

Iran and the U.S.: Can War Be Avoided? Pulling Back From the Nuclear Brink

Trita Parsi, National American Iranian Council

 

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

Jeffrey Toobin, CNN

The Oil & the Glory: The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea

Steve LeVine, Author

 

Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President

Vicente Fox, Former President of Mexico

 

African Development: From Predatory to Accountable Government

Robert Guest, The Economist

 

Ruling But Not Governing:  The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey

Steve Cook, Council on Foreign Relations

 

Planet India

Mira Kamdar, World Policy Institute, Asia Society

 

Africa Unchained: A Blueprint for Africas Future

George Ayittey, American University, Free Africa Foundation

 

Statecraft: And How to Restore Americas Standing in the World

Dennis Ross, Washington Institute for Near East Policy

 

Foreign Affairs recommended books 2007-2008

Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? The Transformation of Modern Europe
by James Sheehan
"This gem of a book is the story of the battle between pacifism and militarism in Europe over the past century — and the story of how pacifism won. . . . This book is a model for how good history can be used to explain the present." —Philip H. Gordon

Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East
by Ussama Makdisi
"This richly researched study not only accomplishes the historian's basic task of explaining what happened and who was involved. It also contributes to a better understanding of the confrontation between the West and the Middle East in modern times." —L. Carl Brown

Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa
by Robert Paarlberg
"In this sharply argued book, Paarlberg suggests that African farmers are the victims of an antiscience bias in both their governments and the international community. . . . Carefully argued and grounded in a rich understanding of African agriculture, this no doubt controversial book deserves to be widely read." —Nicolas Van de Walle

Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium
by Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O'Rourke
"This new history of the last thousand years of world trade is remarkable in both its grand sweep and its scholarly depth. It pieces together the story of global commerce from the medieval spice traders and nomads of Central Asia to the discovery and incorporation of the New World, to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Europe, and to the globalizing forces of the postwar world economy." —G. John Ikenberry

Bounded Rationality and Policy Diffusion: Social Sector Reform in Latin America
by Kurt Weyland
"In this important scholarly polemic, a well-regarded political scientist takes aim at dependency theorists who exaggerate U.S. coercive power as well as at mainstream scholars who assume the simplifying maxims of full rationality to be true. . . . As demands for social justice grow in Latin America, Weyland's formidable findings will take on particular urgency for both theorists and practitioners alike." —Richard Feinberg

 

The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict, and Nationhood in the Caucasus
by Christoph Zurcher
"This is an uncommonly well-argued and well-written explanation of the violent conflicts that erupted across the Caucasus during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union." —Robert Legvold

The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace
by Aaron David Miller
"[Miller] is best known for having argued that Washington has been too much 'Israel's lawyer' and not a truly honest broker. This book, an insightful critique of U.S. policy packaged as a personal memoir, relates how he came to that conclusion, along with much more . . ." —L. Carl Brown

Oil and Politics in the Gulf of Guinea
by Ricardo M.S. Soares de Oliveira
"Soares de Oliveira has written an important study of the impact of oil on the region's politics. . . . That oil represents a curse is no longer a novel insight, but Soares de Oliveira's study provides a rich political sociology of the oil curse in West Africa." —Nicolas Van de Walle

Empires
by Herfried Münkler
"Münkler, a German political theorist, provides an illuminating survey of the sprawling history and theory of empire with an eye to making sense of today's unipolar order — and it joins Michael Doyle's Empires and Anthony Pagden's Peoples and Empires as one of the best single summary volumes." —G. John Ikenberry

Iran and the Bomb: The Abdication of International Responsibility
by Thérèse Delpech
"Those curious as to why France is at the forefront of efforts to curtail Iran's ambitions to become a nuclear power should read this wonderfully pugnacious book . . . For a short, sharp book on the current crisis and how it should be managed, it is hard to see how this could be bettered." —Lawrence D. Freedman

Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants
by Jorge G. Castañeda
"Castañeda is a wonderful writer — literate, lucid, iconoclastic — and guides the reader through the complex immigration debates with a firm yet responsive grip. . . . he also offers one of the best case studies so far of contemporary inter-American diplomacy." —Richard Feinberg

Getting Russia Right
by Dmitri V. Trenin

Russia — Lost in Transition: The Yeltsin and Putin Legacies
by Lilia Shevtsova
"Rarely have Westerners been more in need of help in understanding Russia than now, and one could ask for no better guides than Trenin and Shevtsova. Both combine extraordinary intellectual sophistication and an ability to think outside their national skins with hardheaded realism — analytic skills applied equally well to Western policies toward their country." —Robert Legvold

For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War
by Melvyn P. Leffler
"This is a masterful account of the Cold War by a distinguished historian in full stride. . . . This important book will enlighten and sophisticate the debate on the Cold War, even if it will not end the discussion." —G. John Ikenberry

What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism
by Allan B. Krueger
"In a compelling analysis, Krueger points out how a lack of legitimate political expression and civil liberties turns some individuals to terrorism. . . . This book is a model of how academics can contribute to major public policy debates." —Lawrence D. Freedman

The Blair Years: The Alastair Campbell Diaries
by Alastair Campbell
"These 'extracts' — Campbell estimates these more than 700 pages to be only around one-sixth of the entire diary — offer a fascinating study of power and a rare look behind the scenes of the Blair government. " —Philip H. Gordon

China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise
by Susan L. Shirk
"Shirk combines the highest standards of academic scholarship with government experience as the State Department official responsible for U.S. relations with China during the Clinton administration." —Lucian W. Pye

The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS
by Helen Epstein
"Her vivid description of personalities, anecdotes, and organizations is the strength of her account. . . . Her careful reporting and passionate stance makes this book well worth reading. . ." —Nicolas van de Walle

All Politics Is Global: Explaining International Regulatory Regimes
by Daniel W. Drezner
"[Drezner's] main contribution is to explode a popular notion of globalization and thereby to set an agenda for the study of global regulatory politics." —G. John Ikenberry

Democracy
by Charles Tilly
"This book is essential reading for those eager to see democracy spread further around the world. But its message is sobering." —G. John Ikenberry

Foxbats Over Dimona: The Soviets' Nuclear Gamble in the Six-Day War
by Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez
"Here is a book that is truly revisionist, challenging what we thought we knew about the origins and conduct of the Six-Day War, Israel's crushing victory over Egypt, Jordan, and Syria 40 years ago. ... Ginor and Remez have succeeded to the point where the onus is now on others to show why they are wrong." —Lawrence D. Freedman

Secularism Confronts Islam
by Olivier Roy
"Secularism Confronts Islam is the latest brilliant little book by the French scholar Roy, one of the world's leading academic experts on Islam ... his highly informed exploration of those challenges is an important contribution to an often emotional debate." —Philip Gordon

The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace
by Ali A. Allawi
"With this book, the sad story of the United States in Iraq has found its author. ... This book offers all the insights of that firsthand experience and also much more: it is the most comprehensive and perceptive account yet to appear." —L. Carl Brown


2006
Learning to Love Africa: My Journey from Africa to Harvard Business School and Back, by Monique Maddy

The Romanov Phrophecy, Steve Berry Exciting historical fiction novel of modern day oligarchs trying to revive the Romanov monarchy and an American lawyer caught in the adventure.

Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East, by Clyde Prestowitz. 2005.

Snow, by Orhan Pamuk. Gives great insight into Turkish politics.

My Father’s Rifle: A Childhood in Kurdistan, by Hiner Saleem. An autobiographical narrative that tells of the life of a Kurd named Azad as he grows to manhood in Iraq during the 1960’s and 70’s.

Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees, by Caroline Moorehead. A journey across four continents examines why and how millions of people become refugees.

Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter, by Adeline Yen Mah
Non-fiction This true story of Adeline Yen Mah's childhood in China tells of her courage and triumph over the abuse she suffers at the hands of her father and stepmother.

Caucasus: Mountain Men and Holy Warriors, Nicholas Griffin Non-Fiction The author travels through the Caucasus to find out much about the history of the region and why the Chechnyan situation exists today.

Three Cups of Tea One man’s mission to fight terrorism and build nations… one school at a time by Greg Mortenson. Non-Fiction. Mortenson works to build schools in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan

The Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant. Fiction Story set in Florence, Italy about a young woman during the Renaissance and how she is affected by an artist hired to paint the family palazzo.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, the Man who would Cure the World - Tracy Kidder - semi-Biography of Paul Farmer, Harvard professor who spends 3 months out of the year in Boston and the other 9 in Haiti, leading a hospital that is changing the face of Haitian Health Care.

Desert Flower - Waris Dirie - true story of girl who ran away from oppressive life in African desert and ended up being a United Nations special ambassador as well as supermodel

Kremlin Rising: Vladmir Putin’s Russia and the End of Revolution, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser Offers a thorough look at Putin’s rise to prominence and events such as Beslan, the Moscow theater disaster, and the resurgence of Russian nationalism

Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia, by David Remnick Non-Fiction

Lenin's Tomb : The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick Non-Fiction

Stalin, Simon Sebag Montefiore Biography

The Dancing Girls of Lahore: Selling Love and Hoarding Dreams in Pakistan's Ancient Pleasure District  Sociologist Louise Brown spent four years in the most intimate study of the family life of a Lahori dancing girl. With beautiful understatement, she turns a novelist's eye on a true story that beggars the imagination. Maha, a classically trained dancer of exquisite grace, had her virginity sold to a powerful Arab sheikh at the age of twelve; when her own daughter Nena comes of age and Maha cannot bring in the money she once did, she faces a terrible decision as the agents of the sheikh come calling once more.

Ivan the Terrible: First Tsar of Russia, Isabel de Madariaga Biography

Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali
If Dutch Parliament member Ayaan Hirsi Ali doesn't have a price on her head, it is only because her would-be assassins would gladly do the job for free. Since 2002, her feminist critiques of Mohammad and Islam have brought numerous threats, some of them with terrifying immediacy: The killer of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh left a "death letter" to Hirsi Ali on the body of his victim. In Caged Virgin, Hirsi Ali -- now in a secret location somewhere in the Netherlands -- speaks out on the oppression of Islamic women.

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time Jeffrey Sachs
The End of Poverty, the culmination of 25 years of research, addresses the most pressing economic issues confronting world leaders. Jeffrey Sachs describes disturbingly divergent patterns in international development and explains how problems can be solved in this age of extremes.

The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar
A short and fun read. A fictional story of a young kitchen boy who lives with the Romanovs in captivity in Ekaterinburg before their demise. Brings up some interesting theories

The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff. Non-Fiction. Taoist philosophy explained through Winnie the Pooh.

No God but God. Reza Aslan.

A Problem from Hell--America and the Age of Genocide, by Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power. "Nothing less than a masterwork of contemporary journalism....Everybody in the foreign policy apparatus of the American government must read it....An angry, brilliant, fiercely useful, absolutely essential book."--The New Republic

Crescent and Star by Stephen Kinzer is a very interesting survey history/cultural history of Turkey. Talks about the influence of the "founder" of the country, Ataturk, andhow Turkey straddlesbetween the worlds of West and East.

By the Lake of Sleeping Children. The Secret Life of the Mexican Border haunting and unprecedented look at what life is like for those living on the Mexican side of the border, eking out only the barest of lives not far from the white sands and coral reefs of Southern California

The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman

2005
West of Kabul, East of New York by Tamim Ansary is an urgent communiqué by an American with "an Afghan soul still inside me," who has lived in the very different worlds of Islam and the secular West.

Confucius lives next door: What Living in the East Teaches Us about Living in the West, by T.R. Reid

Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World’s Last Unchallenged River, by Colin Angus. A small team of Gen-Xers boat Central Asia’s Yenisey River.

Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia, by Tom Bissell. Investigates the ecological calamity of the Aral Sea.

Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village, by Sarah Erdman.

Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder. Tells the story of Paul Farmer, doctor and anthropologist, who grew up to become the visionary founder, in Haiti, of the now worldwide medical aid organization Partners in Health.

Terror in the Name of God, by Jessica Stern. Explains how terrorist organizations are headed by charismatic leaders who are skilled at turning disenfranchised and disillusioned souls into zealous operatives.

A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, by Gil Courtemanche. A Quebecois journalist, who witnessed the event, accounts an AIDS epidemic in Rwanda that becomes dwarfed by the tribal holocaust that unfolds.

Resource Wars, by Michael Klare. Non Fiction.

The Coming Plague: Newly emerging diseases in a world out of balance, by Lori Garrett.

The River Runs Black, by Elizabeth Economy. Looks at China’s environmental problems.

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy, by Carlos Eire. The true story of a child airlifted out of Cuba in 1962 – exiled from his family, his country, and his childhood by the revolution.

Journey from the Land of No: A girlhood caught in revolutionary Iran, by Roya Hakakian. Nonfiction.

Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos, by Dore Gold

Habibi, by Naomi Shihab Nye for students (6th grade and up)

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Fiction, set in Afghanistan.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond. Non-Fiction.

Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi.

The Missing Peace, by Dennis Ross. Ross was the chief U.S. Peace Negotiator in the Middle East under Bush Sr. and Clinton. He gives an insider’s view on the peace process during this period of time.

The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman. The book is about how the world is getting smaller due to the changing nature of business around the world.

The Lexus and the Olive Tree, by Thomas Friedman.

Above the Clouds: Diaries of a High Altitude Climber, Anatoli Boukreev.

Burro Genius, Rain of Gold, Thirteen Senses, and Wild Steps of Heaven, by Victor Villasenor. Non-Fiction. Four books about his life as a Mexican-American and his family's lives in the Mexican Revolution.

Bones of the Master: A Journey to Secret Mongolia, by George Crane - Brilliant and charming. It is the biography of a displaced Chinese Buddhist Monk who returns to Mongolia to rebuild after the destruction by the Red Guards.


The Mystery of Capitalism, by Hernando de Soto.

2004


Life of Pi is fabulous - great comments in part about Hindusim/Christianity/Islam
1421- A book that shows the Chinese were here in the W. Hemisphere ahead of
Columbus. Very interesting.

A Problem from Hell--America and the Age of Genocide, by Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power. "Nothing less than a masterwork of contemporary journalism....Everybody in the foreign policy apparatus of the American government must read it....An angry, brilliant, fiercely useful, absolutely essential book."--The New Republic

Balzec and the Little Chinese Seamstress - during the period of re-education in China

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire (1921-1997), was a Brazilian educator. He is considered by many to be the most influential author about education in the 20th century. He argued that any curriculum which ignores racism, sexism, the exploitation of workers, and other forms of oppression at the same time supports the status quo. It inhibits the expansion of consciousness and blocks creative and liberating social action for change.

Krakakoa by the same Brit who wrote The Map That Changed the World. Both were excellent reading for geopolitics.

Tent of Miracles by Jorge Amado. It's concerned with the poor of Brazil.

World on fire: how exporting free market democracy breeds ethnic hatred and global instability. Amy Chua claims that "Today's global economy [.] represents the triumph of five decades of American Foreign Policy"

Dreams of Trespass - growing up in Morocco - by Fatima Mernissi

Power Lines by Jason Carter (grandson of Jimmy) about his two-year assignment in South Africa. Very interesting analysis of how the country as a whole, and the area he was assigned to, have fared during the post-apartheid era.

Crescent and Star by Stephen Kinzer is a very interesting survey history/cultural history of Turkey. Talks about the influence of the "founder" of the country, Ataturk, and how Turkey straddles between the worlds of West and East.

A Little Too Close to God by David Horovitz
Life of recent Jewish immigrants to Jerusalem. Horovitz is the editor of the Jerusalem Report.

Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism also by David Horovitz
He shares his frustrations at the missed opportunities for peace and describes in detail how terrorism effects everyday life.

The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric. An absolute must reading to understand the cultural conflict in the Balkans. Beautifully written prose received the Nobel Prize for Literature for Ivo Andric.

The Lunar Society integrates economics, politics, technology, geology, biology, philosophy, and a host of other studies that surround the Industrial Revolution in 18th century Britain. It focuses on the informal society formed by Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, Watts, Boulton, Priestly among others. The met every 28 days on a Monday closest to the full moon, hence Lunar Society.

A Season in Bethlehem: Unholy War in a Sacred Place by Joshua Hammer
Chronicles the unique environment in and around Jerusalem and the siege of the Church of the Nativity.

American Dynasty: House of Bush by Kevin Phillips
Biographical story of bush family rise to prominence by a republican strategist of the Nixon/Reagan era. Not very flattering to the Bush, but its very revealing.

The Conquerors by Michael Beschloss
story of how America dealt with the restructuring of postwar Germany, the revelations of the Holocaust and the role of Henry Morgenthau, FDR's friend and Sec of Treasury.

Master of the Senate by Robert Caro, or any other book by him. This one is about LBJ.

The Last Jihad (fiction) by Joel C. Rosenberg
Very descriptive scenario of a terrorist attack on the U.S. and it’s connection to Israel and the Palestinian issue.

By the Lake of Sleeping Children: The Secret Life of the Mexican Border
Luis Alberto Urrea, John Lueders-Booth a haunting and unprecedented look at what life is like for those living on the Mexican side of the border, eking out only the barest of lives not far from the white sands and coral reefs of Southern California

The Last Days (fiction) by Joel C. Rosenberg
A continuation of The Last Jihad as the U.S. faces global terrorism in a post-Iraq Saddam as well as bin-Laden dead. An end of the world scenario focusing again on Israel.

Out of This Furnace
Thomas Bell, David P. Demarest (Afterword) a powerful novel that spans three generations of a Slovak family, Thomas Bell vividly tells the story of immigrants and their children who lived, toiled, and died in America's mill towns."

Machiavelli on Modern Leadership by Michael Ledeen. He takes the philosophy of Machiavelli and applies it to today’s leaders.

Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
Piers Paul Read

Civilization and Its Enemies by Lee Harris
Interesting political philosophy that discusses why America is disliked and misunderstood around the world. He deals with the “fantasy ideology” of Islam.

The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership by Zbigniew Brzezinski.

An End to Evil: How To Win the War on Terror by Richard Perle and David Frum
They describe how we can attack and defeat terrorism with an aggressive pro-active approach.

Reading Lolita in Tehran (recommended twice) A true story about a female Iranian professor who leaves the university in Iran when the Ayatollah takes over. She holds a reading group for several female students. They compare themselves to these international classics
and we the readers observe the culture clash of them doing so. Very good stuff. Gives a great look inside the country and its religious rulers.

Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order
by Robert Kagan. Kagan discusses how Europe’s new alliance is putting the Trans-Atlantic alliance at odds. Predictions for the future are intriguing.

The Pentagon's New Map (2004) by Thomas Barnett. Barnett divides the world up between those functioning in the world economy (the Functioning Core) and those not (the Non-Integrating Gap) and argues ways for shrinking the gap. Barnett believes a large function of the US military is military operations other than war.

Truman’s Dilemma: Invasion or the Bomb by Paul Walker
Excellent account of the modern history of Japan and their military philosophy and how the bomb was probably the best choice.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver an American missionary family travels to the Congo in the 60’s.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Alfred Lansing In the summer of 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set off aboard the Endurance bound for the South Atlantic. The goal of his expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland, but more than a year later, and still half a continent away from the intended base, the Endurance was trapped in ice and eventually was crushed.

The World and a Very Small Place in Africa by Wright
An example of the changes brought to isolated places in the world through trade and global systems.

Maggie's American Dream: The Life and Times of a Black Family
James P. Comer Foreword by Charlayne Hunter-Gault This poignant book is several stories: the oral history of the struggles of a black mother who saw education as the road to the American dream and propelled her five children to 13 college degrees

Thomas Friedman – His books put very complicated topics in a way for us all to understand.
The Lexus and the Olive Tree – deals with issues of globalization.
Latitudes and Attitudes – compilation of his articles in the New York Times after 9/11. Also includes excerpts from his journal regarding 9/11.

From Beirut to Jerusalem

Jihad vs. McWorld by Benjamin Barber – How globalism and tribalism are reshaping the world.

§ Desert Flower & Desert Dawn
by Waris Dirie - (recommended twice) a true story about a Somolian girl who escapes her past and ends up as a model and UN Representative. Excellent for girls to read as well. It addresses female genital cutting-graphic but important.

Occidentialism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit, (Penguin, March 2004).

The World That Trade Created by Steven Topik (recommended twice) A great collection of essays on cultural diffusion through trade from 1400

Cry, the beloved Country apartheid in South Africa

Inside the Mirage: America’s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia. Thomas Lippman. 2004, Westview Press, 0-8133-4052-7, $27.50 hb.
This is an engaging, carefully researched, anecdote-laced account of how us companies and individual Americans managed their business and personal relationships in Saudi Arabia.

Why I Am a Muslim: An American Odyssey. Asma Gull Hasan. 2004, ThorsonsElement, 0-00-717533-7, $22.95 hb.
Why do Muslims like being Muslims? This is a question that many non-Muslims don’t stop to ask, but Hasan, an attorney and the child of immigrant parents, goes right to the heart of it with a self-effacing humor not often found in anyone’s discussions of religion. She speaks of her own pride in her name, of how forgiveness and personal growth have been integral to her faith; of the differences among cultural and religious practices; of what it feels like to be all of female, Muslim and American; and of how being a Muslim makes her a better American.

Princess, Jean Sasson the life of a Saudi Arabian Princess

Madam Secretary, Madeleine Albright, bio of not only her time as Secretary of State, but also her life which is fascinating. A great look at history and world events.

Into thin Air. A childhood dream of some day ascending Mt. Everest, a lifelong love of climbing, and an expense account all propelled writer Jon Krakauer to the top of the Himalayas in May 1996.
Life of Pi is fabulous - great comments in part about Hindusim/Christianity/Islam

1421- A book that shows the Chinese were here in the W. Hemisphere ahead of
Columbus.

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"Our lives are increasingly affected by global affairs. We may differ on policies, but the United States needs to be engaged in a thoughtful way as the issues are vital to our future. The World Affairs Council system is dedicated to non-partisan public education on world affairs and I urge you to participate in its important work."
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