where the isn't an easy access to prosthetics. it's a really long, complicated issue but a very important. okay. [applause] >> just a reminder there is a book signing one level up in the bookstore. we will see you up there in just a few moments. [inaudible conversations] >> booktv isn't what this book and we want to hear from you. tweet us, twitter.com/booktv or post a comment on our facebook page.

facebook.com/booktv. here's a look at the books president obama is reading this summer. the list includes three nonfiction titles.

>> one of the things i've learned over a quarter-century researching one little corner of american history while covering as a foreign correspondent a succession of american military actions abroad, most of which

have been forgotten. is that the one war that never ends for many people in the united states is the war between the states. one of the most important lessons i learned about that war is how badly we failed to understand its most obvious lessons. it needs to be remembered that the history of wars is largely a history of delusions of those dreams of rapid victories they some simple strategies that lead to long nightmares of slaughter. the french right of what they call -- by which they mean the pathologist takes over politics and the press and eventually the whole people discouraging all debate and dissension. costs are not calculated, benefits are fabricated. the rhetoric of glory disguises their grotesque realities of combat until armed confrontation not only seems inevitable, it is inevitable.

i will leave it to you to ponder the sense to which that is a problem with us today. certainly the first lesson we should learn from the wars between the states should be it was based on delusions which our man in charleston, robert bunch, understood and reported on with uncanny accuracy. the reasons the fighting began in 1861 and the reasons that turned out as it did seem simple to me when i was young then, enormous republican when i studied the conflict more closely. states' rights, yes and free trade, insults of the abolitionists, the south loss of its dominance, and the economies addiction to slavery altar of the suckers towards secession. amid the turmoil the extremist played off each other so effectively that the voices of moderation, indeed the voice of the majority, voices of the majority on each side were lost

and to an amazing extent have remained obscure to many americans ever since. and yet as bunch of perfectly because the state department concluded by the powerful people he knew both privately and publicly and, indeed, listed in the ordinances of secession for almost every one of the confederate states, ultimately there was no question that the south secede to defend slavery. in the north went to war to stop secession. this is a simple concept. you can reduce it to 140 characters. the next time you see anybody go to anybody say the war was not about slavery, you can tweak that after the south secede to defend slavery in the north was the war to stop secession. that's what the civil war was about. there should be no debate about that today and get it is. because people cling to

delusions with greater faith and conviction and they devote to facts. so let's not debate why it was the south secede. white was the north went to war. is an aspect of history that is not denied so much as it is ignored. let's understand that when secession finally seemed inevitable, the strategic notion that make it actually seem possible was based on a single stunningly simple and stunningly wrong calculation. the secessionists assumed that britain, the most powerful nation on earth, had no choice but to support the cotton growing confederacy with official recognition and support. if it came to a fight, the secessionists believed, the british would supply the money, the arms and the naval power to guarantee the south separation from the union. they would sweep away what was

the first a paper blockade. they would bottle up what was, in fact, a tiny federal army at the beginning of the war and that would be checkmate, game over. why? why would the british do that? why would they believe that? because rock cotton was the most important international commodity of the 19th century or you could say was that i can consensual oil was to 20 into the 21st. without the textile mills of britain and france would shut down and hundreds of thousands of people would loose their jobs overnight. britain got 80% of its raw cotton, slaveowning south. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2, television for six readers. here's a quick look at our primetime lineup this evening.

>> booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they are reading this summer. >> first of all i am an avid reader. a catalog of books since i'm such a. my child. my mom really instilled a love of reading for me and i've

always looked forward to some reading. very exciting for me today to share my summer reading list. i had the privilege of represent new york's 21st district in my district is steeped in history related to the revolutionary war. so i'm always interested in history so three of the books that on my list this summer on "champlain's dream." i live on lake champlain and it talks about the exploration of new york and some of the canadian provinces. it talks about what i represent in congress. for those interested in history this is a great read, highly recommended and it is by david hackett fischer. a second book which is also further to my district is "benedict arnold's navy" which, of course, is a famous person from the revolutionary war that it specifically talks about kind of the untold story of some of the battles, the naval battles that happen on lake champlain that led to the use having our victory at the battle of

saratoga. again for those who are interested in the founding of our country, i'm so privileged to represent this district but it should be fun read. at the third book which is an older book but it was just recommended to me by the ceo for ticonderoga, is "fort ticonderoga: key to a continent" and it was written by a director of fort ticonderoga in the 1960s. it's going back in the path a little bit but still the preeminent book that provides a history of fort ticonderoga attended my last book which is unrelated to my district but i tried and i'm interested in books of powerful women in the united states history, and i was walking through a bookstore, i saw the autobiography of helen keller, the story of my life. that was published quite a long time ago but when i was in middle school i remember reading a miracle worker in my english class so i'm looking forward to reading her story of her life. >> booktv wants to know what

you're reading this summer. tweet us at booktv or you can post it on our facebook page, facebook.com/booktv. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2 poor in new york city and one of the things we like to do when they come up to new york is to talk with authors and get previews of the books that come out in the fall. joining us now, pulitzer prize-winning author stacy schiff, her newest book coming out in the fall is called "the witches: salem, 1692". stacy schiff, we all know about the salem witch trials. what do we know that is incorrect? >> that's pretty much what got me started. for starters there was no voodoo, it's not about women. women are the accusers in fact that many of the victims are men.