[applause] >> jean edward smith will be here signing books. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> welcome to jackson, mississippi and booktv's live coverage of the mississippi book festival, now in its second year, the festival hosts the state capital throughout the day. he will hear from justin ward, krista sanders, trent lott, john meacham and many other authors talking about topics such as civil rights, education and southern history. booktv on c-span2 is live coverage from the mississippi book festival, it starts now with a panel discussion on race. ..

i would like to introduce jean edward smith who is a distinguished biographer of presidents and other notable figures. he has written about eisenhower, fdr and grant as well is others. all this while holding down a day job as a professor. he's been with the university of toronto for 35 years and a dozen years at marshall university and columbia and university of virginia and several other schools that are probably leaving out. now he has zeroed in on the president of george w. bush. he is very critical of our 43rd president, no question whether it's been miss guided invasion of iraq or torture tactics, the fumbled response to katrina, there, there is much to be critical about. he places responsibility for the administration's resonating failure firmly on the former president, notwithstanding the influence that also. [inaudible] but as a reviewer in the new yorker said his book doesn't feel like a hatchet job. it's in the word of the new york times, a comprehensive and compelling narrative and they said life with a sense of history. one of the most interesting tidbits i learned about h

and at 10 p.m., biographer jean edward smith remembers the tenure of president george w. bush. we wrap up our sunday prime time lineup at 11 with a critical look at the involvement of the federal government in education with vicki alger. that all happens tonight on c-span2's booktv. >> booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they're reading this summer. >> well, i read constantly. i grew up in a small town, and the library was an important part of my life. the way i saw the rest of the world was not by travel particularly, but what books i checked out at the local public library. so all my life i've been a realizer and still want that book -- a reader and still want that book in my hand. i'm old-fashioned in wanting the hard copy. and i'm reading at the moment, i often read biographies, history, things that you might expect somebody who's interested in government, politics to read. but the one at the moment is douglas macarthur, a biography. he certainly predates my time, and i didn't know a lot about him other than he's been somewhat controversial,