this is booktv on c-span 2. >> host: and you're watching booktv on c-span 2. prime location in las vegas at freedom fest and we are joined now by author tom woods, his most recent book is "rollback" repealing big government before the upcoming fiscal collapse. how would you describe the premise behind your book and what are your main points that you try to get across? >> guest: only 5% deals with fiscal issues and i'd rather jump out of windows and read or read a book on this. but you set the stage i'm explaining we are on a trajectory that letter writer democrat or republican, we'll have to admit cannot be sustained. obviously some very wrenching changes are coming. the rest of the book is sort of geared towards kind of revisiting some of the arguments by

this is booktv on location in las vegas. >> host: here on booktv on c-span 2, we want to introduce youto author elizabeth ames who has written a book, "how capitalism will save us". elizabeth ames, first of all, tell us about yourself and your personal experience, particularly when it comes to economics. >> guest: okay, i've been a financial journalist, but i've also been on both sides of the press release. so i started out as a journalist and had my own pr business and also done projects, other communications projects for clients. among them, co-authoring the book and basically and conversations led to the idea for this book. >> host: how did you meet steve ford's? >> guest: i met him at an event when i was working at the university of southern california. i move back to new york and started working out "forbes" in the pr department. >> host: so elizabeth ames khmer practical experience prior to working at "forbes," had even checked that into how capitalism will save us? >> guest: basically have learned a lot since ford's. i've learned a lot about markets and again i began as a journa

. >> and you are watching booktv on c-span 2. we are on location in las vegas at freedom fast and as entrepreneur, wayne allyn root -- allyn root in his book, "the conscience of a libertarian". mr. root, if we start by giving us a quick bio of yourself so people know who's talking. >> guest: appgen automation or at life through at first joseph is based in vegas. i was thinking of vegas for skimming for 25 years before he ever got involved in politics. i guarantee i'm the only person of freedom fest with a star in las vegas. las vegas walk of stars of the people of the world. wayne newton and wayne root and franks are not shut shatt and liberace, interesting crowd. i did into politics at a guarantee of nearly las vegas huffaker to be a vice presidential nominee and a regular on fox news. american sherbet or fox news.com. i write for probably every major conservative website in the world. my commentary is read by 75 million people and i do about a thousand radio interviews he aired. so i get my political advice and insights and anal

doing things that inspire the rest of the world to >> author steve forbes is trying to send booktv on c-span 2. >> up next -- >> on your screen now is the cover of a new book coming out august 2012, "seven principles of good government: liberty, people and politics." it's written by former new mexico governor, gary johnson. and he is also the libertarian party nominee for president in 2012. governor john said, when and why did you leave the republican party and become a libertarian? >> you know, i've probably been a libertarian my entire life. this is just kind of coming out of the closet. i don't think i am unlike most americans. i think there's a lot more americans in this country that declare themselves libertarians as opposed to voting libertarian. so the picture and trying to make right now is vote libertarian with me this one time. give me a shot at changing things. and if it does somewhere, you can always return to tyranny and i'm going to argue that so so we have right now. >> what are the seven principles of good government you read about? >> one as being reality-based. just find ou

. >> next weekend on booktv on c-span 2, the 12th annual national book festival will take place on theional mall in washington d.c. some of the panelists and guess covered by the include to wrinkly, daniel turgut, sally bell smith, david and julie nixon eisenhower, tom m., david airiness. those are just some of the authors they see her at the national book festival. so join booktv on c-span 2 next weekend. ..

join us on booktv on c-span 2. >> i have been bred in history books for 30 years am one of the things i have done throughout his every single book i try as much as possible to go to the site of the experience is that i'm writing about, especially presidential books. this is an historical monument as president lincoln lincolns college. it is where abraham lincoln spent about a quarter of his presidency. came here every summer. it was neglect did for a long time until 10, 15 years ago until they restored it and they're doing their best to restore it so looks the way it did at the time abraham lincoln was president. it is up the hill from the white house, which is down near the river. so as a result, it is far enough away that it was a lot cooler. the book i'm writing this about presidents have more time from james madison and the war of 1812 to george w. bush and iraq. one of the signers of this book is abraham lincoln and the civil war. the thing about lincoln is the experience of america during those years in the demand you almost might think is there anything further to be said about

. >> and conversations here at columbia university continue on booktv on c-span 2 and we are now joined by helen benedict, the author of "the lonely soldier." or faster benedict come you start your book out with a quote, were happens to people one by one. what does that mean? >> i was struck by that quote because i was following the war home to the heart of every individual, which is a phrase i'm quoting from dh lawrence and war does affect every single individual involved, whether they be soldiers or civilians. it is a monster that reaches deep inside every single person and turns everything upside down and i thought it was a very apt quote. >> how many women served in the iraq war? >> about 200,000 -- over 200,000 served in iraq and afghanistan. >> americans. >> is that unusual? >> yes. the iraq war in particular set a precedent. more women have served and been wounded and killed in the iraq war by about 2005 to get into the war already. all americans for together since world war ii, including afghanistan. so it was a huge, huge difference. one in every 10 troops was women. >> did the

. >> you are watching booktv on c-span 2.go to universities to talk to professors who are also authors. right now we are at columbia university in new york city and we are joined by professor richard john, who is the author of this book, "network nation: inventing american telecommunications." so professor john, samuel morris invented the telegraph, yes or no? >> guest: no. we loved the heroic advantage and it turns out one recently the is because they think he needs of the promoters who are actually developing the networks that would prove so enormously important in an 18th century communications and communications today. so yes, samuel morris was a gifted inventor who had the good fortune to have a college classmate who began granting him an extremely broad that enabled him to supply the telegraph. he didn't succeed, but that was instant basis, planes that were then picked up by the second telegraph, the western union, to use the plan to busters thereof. so it's quite a single-story. but no, senator morris did not invent th

this is booktv on c-span 2. >> next, dambisa moyo talks about basic resources, which she says is hugerpassing demands around the world. this is about an hour and 15. >> good evening. how's everybody doing tonight? everybody's awake i hope, not freezing. my name is alyse cato, director of community programs at the world affairs council. chinese firms, many state owned are going global in case you haven't figured that out by now. very purchasing commodity, investing resources in accessing foreign markets. china has become one of the top investors in africa, south america and eastern europe. the top four holder of u.s. debt and is speculated to be buying up record quantities of gold. with a limited amount of resources on the line, what does china's race for resources mean for the rest of the world? for six years the world affairs council has word in global understanding and engagement in greater seattle through programs for teachers and to bring delegates with local community members and organizations interpublic programs like this one tonight. programs made possible through sponsorships

. >> host: bill in mobile, alabama, you are on the air on booktv on c-span 2 at tom brokaw. >> caller: thank you very much. political question with three parts. have you ever seen in your view of history a president like george w. bush, telling the american people when he's were selected that we inherited too much money from the previous administration, we're going to give it back to the people in tax cuts, and then lower the rates for the wealthy. number one. number two. have you ever seen a character like grover norquist who coerces republican legislators to promise not to pass -- to tax the american people, because if they don't come it will and they will make sure that they are not reelected. and don't you think that george h. abby bush had integrity, he said read my lips, no new taxes. he didn't come director his own jeopardy of being reelected. thank you very much. >> guest: grover norquist is absolutely entitled to pursue what he believes to be the best interest of the country. i do feel very strongly that we are entitled to have representatives as the senators have the courage

. >> host: you on booktv on c-span 2. >> caller: i just want to say to the author, i really appreciateyou this morning because everything you said about sports in character and respect, when you look at the data and different subjects, and you have c-span and the rest of the media, and you take it on tv and you interview the author, information that the book and author wrote is so unrealistic, the interview does not challenge the author on the material that they are writing, we don't get the opportunity to have the information they put out, as americans, we are destroying which are intermediate in this manner. >> host: is there anything you'd like to respond to, david pietrusza? >> a man. >> host: and we will move on. >> caller: is had a question about the 1948 election. my question is, how can the polls be so wrong in that election. a lot of experts who should have known -- how did it happen, do they? >> the polls were interesting that year. because truman is up-and-down roller coaster. basically, his whole tenure in the white house come actually his whole political career, he is up-a

. >> host: you on booktv on c-span 2. >> caller: i just want to say to the author, i really appreciate you this morning because everything you said about sports in character and respect, when you look at the data and different subjects, and you have c-span and the rest of the media, and you take it on tv and you interview the author, information that the book and author wrote is so unrealistic, the interview does not challenge the author on the material that they are writing, we don't get the opportunity to have the information they put out, as americans, we are destroying which are intermediate in this manner. >> host: is there anything you'd like to respond to, david pietrusza? >> a man. >> host: and we will move on. >> caller: is had a question about the 1948 election. my question is, how can the polls be so wrong in that election. a lot of experts who should have known -- how did it happen, do they? >> the polls were interesting that year. because truman is up-and-down roller coaster. basically, his whole tenure in the white house come actually his whole political career, he is up-

. >> for more on booktv recent visit to columbus, ohio and other cities on c-span local content vehicle tour. visit c-span.org/local content. you're watching booktv. john talking about the threat of nuclear weapon the today and discusses what can done to safe guard against the ultimate catastrophe. this is about an hour. [applause] >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining me today. i don't have some chair for you, i'm afraid. i was thinking how to spend this speech and wasn't it nice fft fine english historian who must have been thinking the same thing to write something in the day's "the wall street journal" opinion case for me and the tight of it is "it's always prepare for the cataclysm. we think of august as a month, everybody at the beach. we sort of chilling out in the heavily political season, enjoying life, and for those events in washington, congress is in recess, which generally speaking it meanses a lot of lobbyist leave town. it's a nice time. alabama drew roberts wanted to bring us back to a little historical reality along with the peaceful events

follow our coverage on c-span, c-span radio, and online at c-span.org. now on booktv, peter takes about why our economy produces great wealth and great poverty at the same time. he offers suggestions on how to improve the conditions on tens of millions of americans living below the poverty line. this is about 50 minutes. >> well, thank you so much, debra. i am totally delighted to be here and thanks to busboys and poets for allowing me to be here, to talk with you, and, of course, thanks to all of you for coming. i see a lot of -- a lot of friends, some of my students are here. they already got their grades so no -- [laughter] nobody was threatened. this is -- we could spend a lot of time talking about how bad things are now, but we all know. it's a terrible time for a lot of reasons, and especially for low and lower income people and in our country, both directly and because of what's happened to our politics that are making matters a lot worse, both for the poor and the near poor, and as you know, it's happening at the federal level. it's happening because so many s

on booktv and on booktv.org. [inaudible conversations] >> this is yeta, by the way. [laughter] [applause] my c-span wife. at the national book festival on the mall in washington d.c. booktv on c-span2. [applause] and as you can see, we have a great audience still here in the history and biography tent. we're joined by gene edward smith, an eisenhower biographer and, of course, david and julie nixon-eisenhower, grandson and granddaughter-in-law and, of course, daughter of president nixon. so we're very pleased to have everybody here. [applause] we're going to put up the numbers on the screen, 202-585-3885 in the east and central time zones, 585-3886 for those of you in the mountain and pacific time zones. the eisenhowers and mr. smith we're talking earlier with jonathan yardly, so you heard a lot about their presentation. i have one question for each, we've got people lined up here, and i'm going to get everybody a chance. i'm just going to get my questions out of the way really fast. gene edward smith, did president eisenhower like campaigning? >> guest: certainly not in 1952. [laughter] in 1952 this was

. >> for more information on booktv's recent visit to columbus, ohio, and other cities on c-span's local content vehicles tour visit c-span.org/local content. >> i would like to thank brad for the very generous introduction. i think it's good that he mentioned that i'm a writer for the "washington post," do is make predictions. right? we're dealing with the things we've come across and are not guessing. so of course i'd like to start off tonight by making a prediction. and that is that it's highly likely that the first latino president of the united states has been born. now, he could be, or she could be, an infant right now, or in second grade, or in high school, or maybe even in the united states senate. but it's clear from looking at the united states and the changes in our demography that latinos will continue to play a larger role in national dialogue. if you look at the specifics, in 2004, 7.6 million latinos are said to have voted in the united states. that's according to research that's been done at the national level. in 2008 in a presidential election, that jumped up to 9.7 mil

one extraordinary african-american family." by the way, booktv covered professor cashin earlier on this book, and it's about an hour in length. you can go to c-span -- sorry, booktv.org. just go up to the search function up in the upper left-hand corner and type in her name, and you can watch the entire hour. thanks for being with us. >>> every weekend booktv offers 48 hours of programming focused on nonfiction authors and books. watch it here on c-span2. >> what are you reading this summer? booktv wants to know. >> as chairman of the homeland security committee and sort of now going over into my personal reading, so i'm reading a number of books involving islamic terrorism, the american response to 9/11, what we're doing as far as wars in this afghanistan and iraq. the main book i read was hard measures by jose rodriguez. he was, basically, head of the team that put together the interrogation methods after september 11th including waterboarding which has been criticized but which i think was effective and did the job. a very, very well-written book. also the art of intelligence by hank compton. he's with cia, but he was orchestrating, managing,

on c-span. here on c-span2 it's booktv all day every day throughout the convention with highlights of non-fiction authors and books from the past year. and on c-span 3 also throughout the convention, 24 hours of american history tv with lectures lectures with oral history and a look at historical american sites and arty -- arty facts we talk to georgetown university history professor on the recent bock about the civil war. >> at beginning the war is about union for most northerners not all. but most. what, i mean, by that most of them where the war convinced that the united states has to survive. it has to survive so show the world that representatives and government can work. in 1848 a serious series of revolutions as they see it failed. they were failed democratic revolution and so as they see the united states, this is it. this is the world last shot. self-government works here or it won't be tried again. if the states think they can destroy the government which is how union soldiers see it. they didn't like who got elected. we said self-government doesn't have to work. we have to prove it sur

. >> for more information on booktv's recent visit to columbus, ohio, and other cities on c-span's local content vehicle tour, go to c-span.org/localcontent. >>> in 1942, bill

. >> for more information on booktv's recent visit to columbus, ohio and other cities on c-span's local content vehicle tour, go to c-span.org/localcontent. >>> up next, "after words" with juan williams. this week, the pulitzer prize winning journalism team and their latest book, "the betrayal of the american dream" best selling authors detail dismantling of the middle class through washington deregulation and wall street speculation. >> host: don bartlett and james steele are the author of "the american dream," and you are a team of investigative reporters as honored as any, bob woodward, former colleague at the post, speaks highly of you. your peers celebrate you, winning two pulitzers, national magazine awards. plight sers for auditing the irs going after the how ways and means committee in terms of tax loopholes given to big business. you've won six george pope awards. you're in a line of a great tradition of american for what people in the old days called muckrakers, but today you're called investigative reporters. investigative reporters is a craft that's in decline. we went throu

. >> for more or information on booktv's recent visit to columbus, ohio, and other cities on c-span's local content vehicle tour, visit c-span.org/localcontent. >> david wessel reports on where the money goes. this is about an hour. rz. >> you're doing great, i think i'll just met you keep talking, and i'd find out what the interesting parts of the book are. very good to be here at politics & prose, and i assured brad that not all these people are my friends or fellow members of temple sinai. there actually are, apparently, people who want to think about the budget in august which is, i think it's heartening. i want to talk a little bit at the beginning about how this book came to be. my agent, who's here, talked to me once about doing a book about the budget, and the editors at the crown unit of random house who had published the book i did on the fed said to me, well, the fed was boring, and you made that interesting. the budget's boring, can you make that interesting? [laughter] and i said, well, you know, making the fed exciting in 2008 when we were about to tumble into a great de

on c-span. it on c-span2, it's booktv all day everyday throughout the convention with highlights of the nonfiction authors and books. and on c-span3, also throughout the convention, 24 hours of american history tv with lectures, oral histories and you look at historical american sites and artifacts. >> next on booktv, boston university journalism professor christopher daly discusses the evolution of journalism from the 1700s to the digital age. in his book, "covering america," he examines the current arguments that journalism is in danger and points to the numerous obstacles that the news industry has faced throughout its history. this is a little under an hour. >> welcome everybody. and please take your seat. i'm nicholas lemann, the dean of the journalism school. this is to celebrate the publication of a book of "covering america" which is a history of american journalism. certain it will soon be if it isn't already a standard history of american journalism for many years to come by this gentleman, christopher daly, who is a professor of journalism at boston university and an old friend of mine.

fall our coverage on c-span, c-span radio and online at c-span.org. >> you've been watching booktv, 48 hours about programming beginning saturday morning at eight eastern through monday morning at eight eastern. nonfiction books all weekend every weekend writing on c-spa c-span2. >> watch and engage as the presidential candidates in the october 3 for the first three debates as part of c-span's road to the white house coverage. ..

c-span it's one of the favorite media in the world. i'm hoping it's a beginning of doing more things with c-span. thank you for recording this for booktv. you're here i fienltd it fulfilling. these are important matters. so thanks for all of that. [applause] a couple of personal notes about the book and how it came about. you know, i had been engaged in kind of questions about my own heritage, i had two grandfathers, one on each side that were victims of the genocide. survivors their families were victims, twoabl. it baffled me about why the government and all the people that would target every day people. my family were not elite, they were not even really educated there, they were farmers. why would they be targeted for aniluation. it lead to the question to why would people want to kill them? it was coupled with other questions when i put them together lead me down the path of mass media. one other incident with -- do you remember in the 1990's there was an emergence of a new kind of talk radio they we hadn't heard before. we had mostly straight ahead public affairs on the television and the newspaper. we had the emergence of emotio

. >> for more information on booktv's recent visit to columbus, ohio, and other cities on c-span's localontent vehicle tour, visit c-span.org/localcontent. >> here's a look at some books that are being published this week. in "mortality," the late christopher hitchens chronicles his battle with cancer and how he dealt with facing death. 2001 nobel peace prize winner kofi annan recounts his experiences serving as the united nations' secretary general in "interventions: a life in war and peace." israeli politician danny cannen,

on c-span3. .. i'm hoping it's beginning of doing more things with c-span. thank you for recording this for booktv. and thank you to all of you. i'm grateful you're here. it's a thurs night. there's so many things going on in los angeles. you could have been in a million places. you're here. i find that personally fulfills. and fulfilling totally these are important matters. thanks for all of that. [applause] a couple of personal notes the book and how it came about. , you know, i had been engaged in kind of questions about my own heritage, i had two grandfathers, one on each side that were victims of the -- survivors their families were victims, obviously. and the only thing -- about why the government and all the people recruit would target every day people. my family were not elite, they were not even really educate there, they were farmers. why would they be targeted? and so it started to lead to these questions about why would they be hated so badly people would want to try to kill them? that was coupled with other questions that when i put them together lead me down the path of mass media an

on c-span. here on c-span2, it's booktv all day everyday throughout the convention with highlights of nonfiction authors and books from this past year. and on c-span3, also throughout the convention 24 hours of american history tv with lectures, oral histories and a look at historical american sites and artifacts. >> what are you reading this summer, booktv wants to know? >> i think there's some wonderful political books, and, of course, since that's what i do, i'm always interested in looking at the history and things that have happened. i think certainly robert k. rose book, the third in his series about lbj is worth the read. this one documents his years as vice president, when he was running against president kennedy for the nomination, and then president kennedy tapped him for vice president. we all know that was a troubled time, for both lyndon johnson and president kennedy. they were certainly different in just about every aspect. so it was a time of trial certainly in lyndon johnson's life. and then as he is passing into the presidency, this is i think one of the more interesting times t

on the screen. the e-mail address, but tv@c-span at her. correct twitter.com/booktv. vid maraniss will begin taking this in just a minute. david maraniss, in your book on the reference transfer my father quite a bit. here's a little bit from president obama in 2004 for talking about his autobiography. >> you know, just had an appearance on charlie rose. he was asking me, how does the book connect with your politics? it's very clear to me there is a direct line between the subject matter contained in "dreams from my father" and the types of politics i aspire to. because essentially what this story is about is a boy born to a father from kenya and a mother from kansas in hawaii with an unusual name who traveled to indonesia, came back, found himself in chicago work in some of the lowest income neighborhoods in the country and then traveled back to africa and somehow was able to weave together a workable meaning for his life as an african-american, as an american and as somebody who's part of the broader human family. and that was not an easy task. it wasn't an easy task

here on c-span2, it's booktv all day everyday throughout the convention with highlights of non-fiction authors and books from the past year. and on c-span, also throughout the convention, 24 hours of american history tv. with lectures, oral history, and a look at historical american sites and art -- artifacts. >>> from the american museum of natural history in new york city. astrophysic talks about the history and future of nasa. and the u.s. space program. he argues that the exploration of space benefits more thans more than they might think. it's a little over two hours. good evening, everyone, and welcome. thank you for your patience. my name is suzanne morris, i'm the senior manager of public programs. we are thrilled to have you all here tonight, so give yourselves a round of applause. [applause] the american museum of natural history has been home to some of the country's greatest thinkers. scientists and citizens who have changed the way we understand scientific and natural phenomena. and have brought that understanding to the national consciousness. from teddy roosevelt who generated american conservations and preservation pract

on the camera rises at the back. you should also know that the event is being taped, both for the library's archives and by c-span for airing on booktvaking, the microphones and economy to the right into the center, please come up to those and please silencer cell phones and beepers. >> so it is with a combination of enormous admiration and affection that i am here to introduce sally bell smith and in local author here in washington with her husband, the editor of the washington examiner. when i tried to reach her last week to talk about today, we exchanged several e-mails before i was able to catch her in her office. that was between an afternoon speaking engagement and an evening talker the next day she was heading off to virginia beach for a luncheon discussion and then back to washington in time for reception and dinner. she told me she was embarking on a seven city tour of the states and officer of the royal oak foundation. that is the organization that works at the british national trust. all of which made me realize that sally probably has more formal engagements these days than her majesty has. and without, of course an entou

on c-span. here on c-span2 it's booktv all day, every day throughout the convention with highlights of nonfictionhors and books from this past year. and on c-span3, also throughout the convention, 24 hours of american history tv with lectures, oral histories and a look at historical american sites and artifacts. >> during the republican and democratic conventions, we're asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's student cam video documentary competition. students answer the question, what's the most important issue the president should consider in 2013 finish a chance to win -- for a chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. c-span's student cam video competition is open to students grades 6-12. for complete details and rules, go online to studentcam.org. >> next, satirist christopher buckley discusses his recent novel that revolves around a washington lobbyist and neoconservative angle templeton's efforts to gain approval for a secret weapons system. mr. buckley has written a number of other novels. this is about 35 minutes. [applause] >> than

on c-span. here on c-span2, it is booktv all day every day throughout the convention, with highlights of nonfiction from this past year. on c-span3, also throughout the convention, 24 hours of american history tv with lectures, oral histories, and they look at historical american sites and artifacts. tonight in prime time on booktv, former national intelligence officer discusses his biography about the chinese leader. >> because the idea of reform was not unique, and even criticizing his successor, the one that has now been chosen to be his successor, who turned out not to be a great were strong leader, was in favor of the reforms. a lot of the senior officials were in favor of the reforms. to a certain extent, he did have a very long time perspective. when he thought about hong kong, he said, you know, if he asked obama, what are you planning to do for the next 50 years for your country, there would hardly be a serious question. no american leader can think to the end of this comment to the end of the next election. i think that he did have a long-term perspective, but at the same time, he was exp

stick with us on booktv on c-span2 or you can join us online at booktv.org web casting live all day long from the national book festival and if you are in the area come down. the c-span bus is down here. we are passing out big book bags. the caller is pink. add your palette of book bags right here on the national mall. the coordinator of the national book festival is jennifer gavin. we talked about the history and biography tent. what else is going on down here? >> this place is so full of books and doctors. we never had so many before. we are proud to be bringing 126 authors leaders illustrators and pellets to the people this year. we are able to do that, this is our second year of the book festival. we are able to do that by opening an hour earlier than last year and have several presentations where we have multiple authors. >> how many people will be here? >> guest: we estimated 200,000 and no reason to get fewer when you have more officers, and relatively good weather. >> host: it never seems that crowded perhaps because of the size of it. >> guest: let's be honest. we aren't able -- we don't have a gate we bring people in so we can't count that way and we don't

c-span for booktv. i'm a great fan. i'm not familiar with any of the works by ms. quindlen. i'm going to hark back to the comments on-choice debate, and perhaps i took your statement wrongly, but it seemed to me you were discounting any of the opinions that men may have on this topic. one of the things that i've run into in discussion with women who are of the pro-choice philosophy when i point out to them that if a woman who decides to have a baby and the husband is the one who wants to have the abortion, doesn't want anymore children, that's out of the picture because of the pro-choice, and at the same time, he's expected to support this child after it's born. there seems to be -- >> host: edward, i think we got your point. anna quindlen? >> guest: the point is absolutely accurate. if a woman is pregnant, wants to carry it to term, the law says he has to help support that child, but that if she has an abortion, she gets to make that decision on her own. all i can say about that is one of the hard things about this issue is that in some ways, it is thee most complex issue that we face because it's not like anything

c-span for booktv. be findful of this as you -- mindful of this as you enjoy the presentation. in addition, do not sit onera risers in the back of the pavilion, and, please, silence your cell phones and beepers. thank you vf. >> i have the pleasure today of introducing elizabeth dowling taylor, and she has written this wonderful book and very important book "a slave in the white house: paul jennings and the madisons," and as a journalist, i'm really interested in invermontble lives. i think -- invisible lives. i think we have a lot of invisible lives among us, people who often don't get written about or they are seen in the sod, but they are not really seen and made alive, and to go back into the slave history, particularly slaves, presidential plantations, is really kind of unearthing invisible life. elizabeth is the former director of intrupg at thomas jefferson and director of education at james madison montpelier, and she's now a fellow at the virginia foundation for the humanities. her book "a slave in the white house: paul jennings and the madisons" released by paul gray mcmillian in 2012 was a new

. >> for more information on booktv's recent visit to columbus, ohio, and other cities on c-span's local content vehicle to her, visit c-span.org/localcontent. >> here's a look at some of cupping -- some upcoming book fairs around the country.

you can watch it on line life to let booktv.org and finally before we go back to the tent if you are in the area we are passing out the booktv bookbag a hot ticket for 2012. the c-spanes out here with a very festive crowd and i will to you what e-mail us at booktv at c-span.org and we will send you a bookbag from this year's festival. all right, back to the history and biography tent, robert caro is about to start. he is going to be introduced by james billington the librarian of congress and after mr. caro's done he is going to be joining us here on our said for a call-in program that you can participate in. so, here is the history and biography tent, national book festival 2012. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention and your presence here to attest to the fact -- one of the foremost biographers and the united states history. he is a remarkable and exemplary historian of our recent past. robert a. caro is the winner of two pulitzer prizes, to national book critic circle awards and many many other honors. following his first book, the powerbroker, a biography of robert moses who was a man who ac