debate substance. i i'm biased towards governors. they have proven track records in our state we cut our budget 26%, actually some returning the -- slunk the size of our government. we measure success in the people's prosperity, and i think that is what at the heart of the obamacare debate and i don't think healthcare reform can be a debate how many people have card. it's whether we have high quality, affordability. the real question and answer is simple. who do you want in control? do you want it to be patients and their doctors or bureaucrats? government bureaucrats or insurance bureaucrats. doesn't matter you want the consumer the patient the american family in control. >> thank you for coming. >> thank you very minute for having me.

>> every weekend booktv offers programming focused on nonfiction authors and books. keep watching for more. here on c-span2. and watch any of our past programs online at booktv.org. booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they're reading this summer. >> dead weight. eric larson. ed a all of his works. this is a great book, almost a minute by minute description of what happened to the lusitania. and it is very dramatic and it goes back and forth between what is happening in europe and what is happening in washington, with president wilson, and what is happening to the passengers on the ship. their stories. it's really a great read, well,

well written and i think really brings that piece of hoyt -- piece of history in 1915 back to life and makes it very human. these are real human beings we can relate to, who lost their lives on lose takeny. -- lusitania. the illustrious jed is all about how typists actually really was responsible for destroing napoleon's army and the invasion of russia. people thought it was the cold or the russian army. those things didn't help but the real killer was typus. it was devastating. really devastating. napoleon lost more than 90% of his army in the invasion of russia and a lesson, by the

way, that obviously a century and a half later adolph hitler did not attempt to his regret. a friend of mine, elizabeth warren, grew up across the street from me. an historian at the university of virginia. dr. elizabeth warren and wrote a great book on an -- an maddox and it's a revisionist hoyt, correct one about how robert e. lee and the south used and misused the agreement an appomattox to foster sews of resegregation, resuppression of black americans after the union won the civil war and slavery was supposed to be over. they essentially invoked the free spirit of appomattoxs meaning that none of them should be prosecuted for war crimes. robert e. lee had been indicted after the war and he invoked appomattox and insisted the u.s.

grant -- invoke the agreement they had to protect report e. lee. robert e. lee to his death remained very rep probate on the issue of race in the south. he has saintly view in some verses of hoyt but this is a pretty penetrating and compelling re-assessment of how appomattox and what the meaning of appomattox was did damage for the next 90 years in terms of race in america. this book about thomas cromwell is a reappraisal of a controversial and historic figure during the reign of henry viii. those who are fans of thomas moore who was beheaded because we would not agree to at the

remarriage of henry the 8en in to an bow -- ann bolin and arguing for the separation of the church and england from the church in rome, and ultimately for thomas moore's demise as well. ultimately ironically, thomas conwell lost his head as. we but it's a maybe more sympathetic portrayal of a skilled statesman a skilled manager who managed the king dom for henry 8th who also is responsible for the destruction of the monasteries the breakup of church hold examination properties and ultimately the severance of the relationship between the church of england and rome. some of the this occurred in the reign of henry viii. great read and comes out as people are watching wolf hall on public radio.

this is the single best biography i've ever read of napoleon by andrew roberts and it is a stupendous read, and very accessible read about who napoleon was and his triumphs and his failures. he won almost all of his battles but unfortunately the one he lost were pretty dispositive. he was a brilliant statesman and manager and brilliant general but kind of toward the end because of hubris, kind of lost sight of his own techniques, his own lessons learn and ultimately they were turned against him. but this is a great read and a real -- re-appraisal and re-assessment of the importance of napoleon, even down to modern history. must read. scott bird wrote a wonderful biography on woodrow wilson, a

re-appraisal. wilson had this mix of incredible progressive record in the white house especially in his first term. statesman during world war i. but also a retrograde attitude toward race religiouses in america, but -- race relations in america but the progress receive moment that woodrow wilson took advantage of to the benefit of american in my view. great single volume biography of woodrow wilson. this book, "13 days in september" by lawrence wright itch love this book because it humanizes diplomacy and talks about camp david accords and the 13 days, anwar sadat and prime minister begin of israel and jimmy carter spent together north always harmony obviously -- harmoniously at camp david and how that work

out. personalities, anxieties mistrust the role of interlocker to, jimmy carter put a lot of then table including his own reputation, and it worked. and the camp david accord to this day remains the only lasting peace accord in the middle east. and jimmy carter deserves a lot of credit, as do the other two participants. if you want to see how at human levels dim prime minister works grate great book. ought to be read by every graduate school that studies international studies. another biography walter isaacson on ben gentleman main franklin and american life. a wonderful biograph. benjamin comes through as a contemporary man. we would relate to him easily. this is a great man great vision. lived a long life, many episodes to the life, as a political

figure in pennsylvania, as a political figure on behalf of the colonies in europe, political figure back with the declaration of independence, back to europe, representing now the confederacy of america during the revolutionary war. then comes back and actually serves as a key figure in the constitutional convention, helping to save the day really, for that constitutional convention and arguing for it, and what was a very close thing in the approval of the constitutional convention in the 13 states. benjamin franklin, bigger than life figure, quintessential american home spun, shrewd, smart, entrepreneurial represents so much of the american character. this is a wonderful biography. and finally "dying every day. "i have a love of ancient roman history. this book is