[inaudible conversations] according to publishers weekly. the russia hoax he argues against the investigation into russian interference on the 2016 presidential election. girl, wash your face. after that it is liars, leakers and liberals. they defend president trump against many of his detractors. and forth its magnolia table. a cookbook hd tv.

.. .. some of these authors have appeared on become tv. you can watch them on the web site, booktv.org. >> become tv recently visit capitol hill to ask members of congress what they're reading this summer.

>> i'm actually right now reading a book by harvard prefer lawrence tribe but the roberts court but the book is just finished is a surprisingly good book but the 1968 election, and i -- that was my coming out election. i got very involved in the '68 election with gene mccar their and bobby kennedy, hugh burt humphrey. a heartbreaking year with the assassinations of martin luther king inning and and bobby kennedy and lawrence o'donnell has done an extraordinary job of recounting that very dramatic, i would say pivotal area in american politics with his book called "playing with fire" and i recommend if i you want to understand what happened then 1968, especially politically. great book. another book also 50 years later, 196, this book calls hue 1968. the story in graphic detail of

the tet offensive in the -- in february of 1968, but the battle for hue. the city of hue, which was a peaceful, beautiful, architecturally stunning city that was utterly and completely destroyed in the tet offensive, and unlike other battles around south vietnam, the battle of hue lasted months, and this book is a little bit different. it's not your classic antiwar book. it's really -- really focuses on the bravery and the actions on our marines and our army in trying to fight back and win back the city of hue. and very dramatic, and tells us from both sides, the seening congress, north seemese and and south vietnamese side and it's an extraordinary re-telling and gives you a lot of insights how and why -- the battle 0 hue was in many ways very system

symptomatic only the problems in vietnam and the complete denial of what was happening by william westmoreland. another book work read neglect current times he, the sociopath next door. what it's like to work with people who are almost universally seen as charming, who have no moral compass no sense of right or wrong, and no empathy for other people, and tend to be extremely narcissistic, i don't know but this book seemed to be relevant and i recommend it. took up a new mystery writer, more gee john, joe nesbo, an extraordinary writer and i want to read everything he has written and this is called "the first" but if you like complex characters, not your normal heros, very flawed, sort of main character who nonetheless solves

crimes, this is the writer and it's very complex writing, and a joy to read. jo nesbo. book by mel irvin paint can called "stand to go armageddon" the united states goes through cycles in terms of progressive reforms, and this documents that period of time, and well worth -- history well worth knowing, informs us about movements today. at bit dry in is prose and not as many -- the main characters in the progressive era, nonetheless a good compendium to understand what that was progress sir era and why is it relevant today. another mystery rite write -- write are is a canadian writer, louise penny, a main character and she has the same setting,

the small canadian town, and it's a really great writing, and she has get a great flair for mysteries and characters development, and it's -- once you get into it, you want to read of their books and i read all of her books this last year. liked them that much and going to do the same with jo nes bo. just finish a political biography, a book "the unfinished life of john f. kennedy" but wrote a political biography of franklin room. s -- franklin room. no one has failed the same dilemma na having to respond to the war's economic cataclysm and then a sneak attack on pearl

harbor and having to win over four years a two-front war, one in the pack and one in the atlantic. no one has faced that kind of challenge. roosevelt did it with great skill, heroic figure in his personal life and his political life, and reshaped america, certainly one of my heros and one of robert dowd's as well so if you want a good one volume, this is a recent updated version of who franklin roosevelt was, and very much worth reading. this book called "the unwinding" by george packer. recommend for people who want to understand the economic unsettlement that produced donald trump why were so many midwest, rust belt, industrialized cities of the past -- why were they so upset? the hollowing out, the impact on human lives, the extraordinary

stress caused be the loss of a job and the economic dislocation for the whole family is brilliantly recounted in the book called "the unwinding" and high lyings a number of plays, including youngstown, ohio, for example, and you can't not read this book and not understand the forces, the economic forces that led to the political forces that led to the election outcome of 2016. i really recommend this book. this book called "this gulf afire is the story of the earthquake and tsunami that hit lisbon, portugal. it was not that long ago next late 18th century, and there was an earthquake that devastated lisbon, and then it was followed by a tsunami from the mediterranean that destroyed the rest of the city, and this the account of that great event,

by mark malesky, really well done, a piece of history that gets overlooked all the time but it is worth remind ourselves this kind of disaster obviously can change the course of human history and certainly in our lifetime we saw the impact of both earthquakes and tsunamis in the asia-pacific region. this book called "a gentleman in moscow" is one of my favorite novels read in the last year. it is the story of a man, a noble man, very cultured, who was condemned by a soviet court in the early part of the soviet union, 1920s, to spend the rest of his life in exile in a hotel in moscow, and this the story of all those decades of what happens to him and how he live his life and it's a joy to

read, and i'm now in the midst of reading "the rules of civility," his other book. but this is a gem and going to go down in fictional history as one of the best pieces of modern fiction in a long time. if there is a book about the war in the pacific, world war ii, that is not only approachable but i think brilliant and i could not put it down, and it's a trilogy, part of a trilogy, the book "the congress kerring tide --" conquering tide" and the predecessor, part of the pacific war trilogy. takes us through pearl harbor, through midway, the most decisive battle probably of the pacific in terms of turning the war, and then '42 to '44 the island hopping campaign from --

i would say the best history of the pacific i've ever seen or ever touched. highly recommend. goal used was wherein but theern revolution, wrote a book called "divided" about 0 john adams and thomas jefferson. one of the most fame out pairings in american history, they were very close in paris together as dignitaries, ambassadors for the united states, early burgeoning united states, colonial united states, and then of course became rivals for the presidency, ran against each other, got very bitter, and they didn't talk or communicate for a number of year, then they resumed their correspondence to the enter session of benjamin rush, one of the founders of america and a physician in philadelphia, and that blossomed into an enduring friendship

until they dade. they both died on july 4, 1826. within hours. wasn't of the great coincidences in american history. this is that story. and it's really a joy to read and a lot of tidbits but their personalities and what made them tick, and both of them being admirable figures and both having flaws. gordon woods does a good job of describing both. the final book i want to highlight, one more i didn't bring, and that's called "the three lives of james madison" the state of james madison's evolution as a political figure, and he earnedded up being a very different kind of man than he began in the revolutionary period and definitely his role in the stuff. people think of james madison as a small government, we don't want that big federal government encroaching. nothing could but' further from the truth 'when he was writing

the constitution and defend night he federalist paper he want the congress to have veto over state legislation. can you imagine that? he actually favored a strong -- much stronger central government, and was only later when we actually started to have a stronger central government, the constitution was implemented. the fell back on the jefferson point of view but he was strong ally and went even further than alexander hamilton in his philosophy of governing. great book, well done. finally, cant end the year without recommending walter isaacson's biography of the life ofdavinci, a great book, fascinating work. we like to think a lot of davinci as this towering figure in heart and sculpture but he kind of got bored and picked up projects and end them and not

finish them, and he left behind a lot of unfinished products, which must have frustrated hit clientele no end but i don't think he cared. nonetheless, an intellect of endless curiosity, which is what drove his art and his science, and the man way ahead of his time in many way, especially in scientific endeavors. that is a biography that is a must on your list. have to read the biography of divine which da vinci. that was my year. >> book of the wants to know what you're reading. >> we're live from the fourth annual mississippi book festival. in a few minutes we'll be back if a one author

discussion on the history of the south. that will be happening live in a few minutes from mississippi state capitol in jackson. >> here's a look at some books being published this week. ann coulter shares her or session vacations but the left's resince stance to the trump presidency in "resistance in futile" in "the chosen wars putt a history of judaism in america. historian raymond looks at the life of late professional tennis player and civil rights activist, our thunder ashe. also being published is godless citizens in a godly republic. cornell university professors' history of atheism in america. another cornell professor, looks a changes the american work force over the past 70 years in this book "temp." historian arnold recounts the life of vice president and 1968

democratic presidential candidate, hubert humphrey. in eracinging american, the thought throwingship between the political left and american history. and a rex of her life in syria and her family's attempts to escape in "the boy on the beach. " watch for the authors in the near future on booktv on c-span2. booktv visit capitol hill ask member-of-congress what they're reading this summer. >> i'm reading a lot this summer and kind of following up on last year, first of all, to c-span. you guys take the time to go into ideas and books and the newspapers every morning. i appreciate, my constituent is appreciate all your work. i'll just launch. finished king -- kissinger on china. the way the chinese think over

the long-term, gave some metaphors, chess and checkers it's in the news, it's really but china. there's lot of russian news but it's but who in, north korea, russia, iran you look behind the scenes, this guys or the $18 trillion economy in the room right next to us. so they're that -- russia is not comparable, no one is comparable. these guys are the threat on the scene but they're still communists and economic. this opened up the economic to some freedom but pollitt politics are totally repressive. they're have something growth problems right now, have something debt problems, and so that led know want to learn more about china, so i watch a lot of youtube and this next one by graham alliesson, destined for war, provocative arguments. there's one graph to pique their interest. i used to be a professor. don't want to princeton seminary

studied history of ideas and philosophy ideas did a phn economic size taught for 20 years. so, i love sharing books so destined for war by graham, and that is the graph that ought to catch your attention, the chinese surpassing the united states in about 2015 in terms of gdp per cap attempt purchasing power parity. that's what the world bank and the international comparisons use, the best comparison. they surpassedded in gdp. not gdp per capita. there's a difference there. and-- but folks can read the book and i tagged one other -- get a little sense of the thesis of the book. in this chart he's got 16 or 20 periods in history where you have a dominant power and then a rising power. so the analogy right now, the u.s. is the dominant power in the world without question. china is on the rise. and in the book, two-thirds of the case is the rising power

goes to war against the dominant power. in four or five cases there's no war and so that is the title, "destined for war? we'll see. hope hopefully not but the record wakes you. then he recommend -- you can go youtube him at harvard kennedy school. the head of the kennedy school. had nearing ferguson and other historians on the panel with him. makes for very interesting google. he recognized and recommended new stat -- "thinking in time." foreign policy, more applied a view of that. so this it's more dated but goes case studies of that thinking. then finally, kissinger, who wrote on china, i start on, on the world order. if you read the age -- it's a little date but if you read the first few sentences, the first

few parade, you'll think you're reading about today. with the trump president si, the world order, the questions he asks, are just fundamental. and so then you can see -- interested in china civilization, a big macro stuff. used to work at the world bank. did grad school up the road at american university. did my ph.d up here, worked in the world bank in the poverty section and so civilization, i read last year, i think i was on with c-span, by neil ferguson, and civilization gets you into the next chunk of books, i like to share with every student, chinese students in -- at georgetown, all studying law, from china, and they came in the office and said what do you recommend that i read? i said when it comes to our service -- i taught this book for 20. >> short history of ethics by alister mcintyre. notre dame press.

and starts off and concludes on one question -- base quick question,erted with air to thele and plato, and -- aristotle, what is a good life? and so the western tradition has -- to answer the question you choose -- the judeo-chin and greek reason, put if you go back the toe the greeks where the starts they decide not always he the conception of the good you agree with. read the first few chapters. if you go back to illad and the odyssey and homer, they're view of the good, you will disagree with as modern, and i certainly disagree with it. i'll give you that hint. it's not a common sense thing, platter and aristotle tried to define the term and haven't squared that one. while i'm on alice story mcintyre, this comes to mind. there's a war for of ideas in

this country right now, and conservatives debate with the left, liberals, now liberals morphing into a little bit of socialism, what are the fill so is cal under -- philosophical underpings of the conservative movement and the liberal leftist lurch laidly. and alice star mcintyre -- we say our values help gets at that through history over time. whose justice, which rationality. there's not one view of justice. many definitions of justice. not one rattallity so if you're interested in the question is highly recommend that book. i'm going to go back to it myself this summer. just on a person religious, i went to princeton seminary, led by a systemic theologian.

high he recommend, church dog whattics and then doing doh! dogmaities and thing i recommend deidre mccloud ski, and she follows up with the importance of rhetoric, and asks the question, what was the ultimate cause of long-run economic growth in in the west? all of human history made about $500 or a thousand dollars a year, for all of human history-doesn't matter what culture or country, everybody made thousand bucks a year until 1700. then you have massive takeoff in economic forget in thest west in western europe. why did that happen? what were the causes of that? and so mccloskey started off with bourgeois, and then the bourgeois dignity and i don't want to give away too much but the takes on in -- she has six

volume set underway but she attacked on every nobel laureate in economics. human capital, education, private property rights, marxist exploitation, trade, geography. all plausible otherwises. she has a very different view -- i love her view -- she says what ultimately caused -- the ground foundational first cause was when the moral rhetoric changed net 1700. such that we finally start calling the businessman and businesswoman morally good and go back in check your western and eastern -- the businessman, the been -- business woman were not always considered morally good. i have classic stuff from the greeks, st. augustine, st. aquinas, buddha, usually wealth was nice, scholars needed

wealth the prince had to fund them good for art collections, but work itself but didn't have dignity. bourgeois dignity attached to it. she makes a very compelling case, takes on using dating right when economic growth is starting, the moral language exchanged that's related to the other book is mentioned. whose justice, what kind of rhetoric-we using. the left right now cannot identify a philosopher of note that they agree with. that's a startling claim. i'm putting -- that's a big claim. conservatives obviously lean on the western canon, plato, aristotle. the nexus between judeo-christianity and -- the left who do they look to? a couple of folk nikolas canons that consider human nature good

russo, he couldn't answer the question, what makes human nature go bad, the civilization, bureaucracy, et cetera, and he was caught in a trap there. that's in this book, by the way. mcintire explains that transition very well. who came on the scene to explain what makes human nature go bad if your claim is that human nature is good? karl marx answered i. i if you're an owner of capital you're morally bad. he hasn't lasted the test of time with that they simple. if you own a hammer, own agricultural equipment, it's the most simplistic philosophy of morality you can come up with. but the left is still trapped in that language. they're putting everyone in buckets, and kind of making moral claims, moral arguments about your moral goodness or badness based on what bucket you're in instead of based on definitions of what a good action might look like. and so i just like putting everything together, throwing

out the big picture, and i applaud c-span for letting me share a few books i'm looking at over the summer and book i've read in past and students come back and say, thank god you made me read that, made me write papers on that, and so c-span is one of the great networks to help share deep ideas with more than 30-second sound bites. thank you very much. hope you have a great day out there. >> become of -- book tv wants to know what your reading, send us your summer reading list on twitter, instagram or affection. booktv on c-span chops, division for serious readers. - [music]

, we're we're bak live with a look at south from the 19th 19th century to today. [music] [music] ♪ ♪ ♪

>> very nice to meet you. >> a pleasure. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, everyone.