Gregs 2005 Non Fiction
Explore Greg's 2005 Non Fiction book list—a curated selection of top fiction reads from 2005. Discover must-read titles and hidden gems in this comprehensive collection.
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Do as I Say (not as I Do)
by Peter Schweizer
Provides a critique of the liberal life and the contradictions between public stances and real-life behavior among prominent liberals, including Ralph Nader, Noam Chomsky, George Soros, the Kennedys, Michael Moore, and Barbra Streisand.
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The Education of a Coach
by David Halberstam
"Bill Belichick is one of the most intriguing yet enigmatic figures in contemporary American sports. He is the best professional football coach of our era, and his New England Patriot teams are the winners of three of the last four Super Bowls - including one of the most stunning upsets in that championship series. Yet until now, Belichick has deliberately stayed as far from the spotlight as possible, proving himself as elusive as he is talented." "In The Education of a Coach, writer-historian David Halberstam paints a portrait of a man and his profession, revealing both the intimate world of Bill Belichick and the unique abilities that make him so successful: His exceptional intelligence, his ability to break down and exploit game film, his singular discipline, and his almost unmatched work ethic. Working with an unusual degree of cooperation from Belichick, Halberstam shows us a man acutely aware of all the forces in contemporary sports that work against the old-fashioned concept of team, who has somehow managed to change his players' view of how the game should be played. The result is a book not just about Bill Belichick, but about what it means to be a leader."--BOOK JACKET.
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Blowing My Cover
by Lindsay Moran
A former CIA case officer describes the idealistic ambitions that motivated her Harvard education and efforts to gain acceptance into the CIA before her life as a spy proved to be not only less glamorous than expected, but unsettlingly unprincipled and haphazard, in a humorous personal memoir that recounts the author's witness to tragic intelligence failures. Reprint.
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Truth and Duty
by Mary Mapes
The producer at the heart of the "60 Minutes"/George Bush National Guard controversy reveals her side of the story and explores how the public's right to know is being jeopardized by a corrupt alliance between politicians and news organizations.
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Burn Before Reading
by Stansfield Turner
A CIA director offers a riveting glimpse into the complicated relationship between the United States presidents and their CIA chiefsThe way the U.S. government gathers intelligence information has become front-page news. In Burn Before Reading, former CIA director Admiral Stansfield Turner highlights pivotal moments between presidents and their CIA directors-detailing the decisions that continue to shape the intelligence community and our world. This behind-the-scenes look at the CIA+s relationship with the presidents, from World War II to the present day, reveals how intelligence gathering works, and how personal and political issues often interfere with government business.In Burn Before Reading, we learn:l-Why President Harry Truman distrusted the CIA yet ended up expanding it.l-How President John F. Kennedy entrusted his reputation to the CIA at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba and got burned.l-That President Nixon strongly mistrusted the -Ivy League+ CIA and tried, unsuccessfully, to use it as a way out of Watergate.l-That President Gerald Ford was confronted with three reports of egregious and illegal CIA misdeeds, and how he responded by replacing CIA director Colby with George H. W. Bush.Drawing on his own personal experience, as well as interviews with living presidents, Turner takes us into the White House and shares with us an intimate view of the inner working of our government+s intelligence agency. There has never been a time when the relationship between the president and the head of the CIA has been so scrutinized or so relevant to our government policy. This book concludes with a blueprint for reorganizing the intelligence community and strengthening the relationship between the CIA and the president.
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The Bureau and the Mole
by David A. Vise
A Pulitzer Prize--winning journalist untangles the web of deceit spun by FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen, convicted of selling America's most closely guarded national security secrets to the Russian government. Vise tells the story of how Hanssen avoided detection for decades while becoming the most dangerous double agent in FBI history. Illustrations.
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First In
by Gary C. Schroen
An agency insider furnishes an account of the role of the CIA in the war against terror in Afghanistan, chronicling the complex negotiations with Afghan warlords that led to the defeat of the Taliban, despite the disastrous close calls caused by pressuref
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The White House Staff
by Bradley Hawkes Patterson
"... Bradley H. Patterson Jr. ... takes us inside the closely guarded turf of the White House. In a straightforward narrative free of partisan or personal agendas, Patterson provides an encyclopedic description of the contemporary White House staff and its operations."-inside jacket.
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Nerve Center
by Michael K. Bohn
Presents a behind-the-scenes look at the operation of the White House Situation Room.
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The Demise of the Dollar... and Why It's Great For Your Investments
by Addison Wiggin
As the dollar continues to weaken against other currencies, it is increasingly clear that this event will have a significant impact on investors and consumers around the world. Never before has the "reserve currency of the world" been so burdened by debt or suffered from such serious structural imbalances. The Demise of the Dollar . . . And Why It’s Great for Your Investments examines the reasons for the dollar’s current slide and offers an up-close look at the Federal Reserve’s attempts to "manage" the dollar’s value. Filled with in-depth insights, wry wit, and sound advice, this intriguing text offers an inside glimpse of the reality of today’s dollar and its impact on the world’s economies as well as readers’ personal portfolios.
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The Conservative Bookshelf
by Chilton Williamson
This list embraces fiction, poetry, and political thought side by side with the works of C.S. Lewis, Edmund Wilson, and Flannery O'Connor.
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Winning the Future
by Newt Gingrich
America's future in the twenty-first century, argues Newt Gingrich, will be determined by the decisions we make now. His book is a grass roots call to action--and will set the debate for the new administration and Congress.
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Running the World
by David Rothkopf
Presents a history of the National Security Council, analyzing how each administration has used the NSC to define and shape foreign and military policy in line with their own political agenda.
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An End to Evil
by David Frum
An End to Evil charts the agenda for what’s next in the war on terrorism, as articulated by David Frum, former presidential speechwriter and bestselling author of The Right Man, and Richard Perle, former assistant secretary of defense and one of the most influential foreign-policy leaders in Washington. This world is an unsafe place for Americans—and the U.S. government remains unready to defend its people. In An End to Evil, David Frum and Richard Perle sound the alert about the dangers around us: the continuing threat from terrorism, the crisis with North Korea, the aggressive ambitions of China. Frum and Perle provide a detailed, candid account of America’s vulnerabilities: a military whose leaders resist change, intelligence agencies mired in bureaucracy, diplomats who put friendly relations with their foreign colleagues ahead of the nation’s interests. Perle and Frum lay out a bold program to defend America—and to win the war on terror. Among the topics this book addresses: • why the United States risks its security if it submits to the authority of the United Nations • why France and Saudi Arabia have to be treated as adversaries, not allies, in the war on terror • why the United States must take decisive action against Iran—now • what to do in North Korea if negotiations fail • why everything you read in the newspapers about the Israeli-Arab dispute is wrong • how our government must be changed if we are to fight the war on terror to victory—not just stalemate • where the next great terror threat is coming from—and what we can do to protect ourselves An End to Evil will define the conservative point of view on foreign policy for a new generation—and shape the agenda for the 2004 presidential-election year and beyond. With a keen insiders’ perspective on how our leaders are confronting—or not confronting—the war on terrorism, David Frum and Richard Perle make a convincing argument for why the toughest line is the safest line.
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740 Park
by Michael Gross
For 75 years, it's been Manhattan's richest apartment building, and one of the most lusted-after addresses in the world. One apartment had 37 rooms, 14 bathrooms, 43 closets, 11 working fireplaces, a private elevator, and his-and-hers saunas; another at one time had a live-in service staff of 16. To this day, it is steeped in the kind of luxury most of us could only imagine. The last great building to go up along New York's Gold Coast, construction on 740 Park finished in 1930. Once finished, 740 became a magnet for the richest, oldest families in the country. Nowadays, it is bursting with new money, people whose fortunes, though freshly-made, are large enough to buy their way in. At its core this book is a social history of the American rich, but it's also filled with meaty, startling, often tragic stories of the people who lived behind 740's walls.--From publisher description.
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I'm No Saint
by Elizabeth Hayt
A former discontented married woman describes her feelings during her marriage that life had more to offer, her fear over her divorce, and her post-marital sojourns in the dating world.
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100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
by Bernard Goldberg
The number one New York Times bestselling author of Bias delivers another bombshell—this time aimed at . . . 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America No preaching. No pontificating. Just some uncommon sense about the things that have made this country great—and the culprits who are screwing it up. Bernard Goldberg takes dead aim at the America Bashers (the cultural elites who look down their snobby noses at "ordinary" Americans) . . . the Hollywood Blowhards (incredibly ditzy celebrities who think they're smart just because they're famous) . . . the TV Schlockmeisters (including the one whose show has been compared to a churning mass of maggots devouring rotten meat) . . . the Intellectual Thugs (bigwigs at some of our best colleges, whose views run the gamut from left wing to far left wing) . . . and many more. Goldberg names names, counting down the villains in his rogues' gallery from 100 all the way to 1—and, yes, you-know-who is number 37. Some supposedly "serious" journalists also made the list, including the journalist-diva who sold out her integrity and hosted one of the dumbest hours in the history of network television news. And there are those famous miscreants who have made America a nastier place than it ought to be—a far more selfish, vulgar, and cynical place. But Goldberg doesn't just round up the usual suspects we have come to know and detest. He also exposes some of the people who operate away from the limelight but still manage to pull a lot of strings and do all sorts of harm to our culture. Most of all, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America is about a country where as long as anything goes, as one of the good guys in the book puts it, sooner or later everything will go. This is serious stuff for sure. But Goldberg will also make you laugh as he harpoons scoundrels like the congresswoman who thinks there aren't enough hurricanes named after black people, and the environmentalist to the stars who yells at total strangers driving SUVs—even though she tools around the country in a gas-guzzling private jet. With Bias, Bernard Goldberg took us behind the scenes and exposed the way Big Journalism distorts the news. Now he has written a book that goes even further. This time he casts his eye on American culture at large—and the result is a book that is sure to become the voice of all those Americans who feel that no one is speaking for them on perhaps the most vital issue of all: the kind of country in which we want to live.
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Condi Vs. Hillary
by Dick Morris
Morris, who helped President Bill Clinton win reelection, traces the trends that could lead to the political race of the century: a contest between Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the election of 2008.
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Character
by Chris Wallace
Presents a detailed account of sixteen crises in American history, the responses of the men who were President at the time, and the influence that their decisions and actions had on the subsequent course of American history.
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The Truth about Hillary
by Edward Klein
Traces the life and career of Hillary Rodham Clinton, offering a look into the character of the woman who has her sights on the White House.
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Standing Next to History
by Joseph Petro
Former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro chronicles the experiences he had while working as a special agent for the Service, focusing on the years he spent protecting President Ronald Reagan and his family.
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Three Nights in August
by Buzz Bissinger
Showing that human nature--not statistics--dictates the outcome of ballgames, the authors watch from the dugout as a spectacular series unfolds between theCardinals and their archrivals, the Cubs.
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In an Uncertain World
by Robert E. Rubin
Robert Rubin was sworn in as the seventieth U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in January 1995 in a brisk ceremony attended only by his wife and a few colleagues. As soon as the ceremony was over, he began an emergency meeting with President Bill Clinton on the financial crisis in Mexico. This was not only a harbinger of things to come during what would prove to be a rocky period in the global economy; it also captured the essence of Rubin himself--short on formality, quick to get into the nitty-gritty. From his early years in the storied arbitrage department at Goldman Sachs to his current position as chairman of the executive committee of Citigroup, Robert Rubin has been a major figure at the center of the American financial system. He was a key player in the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. With In an Uncertain World, Rubin offers a shrewd, keen analysis of some of the most important events in recent American history and presents a clear, consistent approach to thinking about markets and dealing with the new risks of the global economy. Rubin's fundamental philosophy is that nothing is provably certain. Probabilistic thinking has guided his career in both business and government. We see that discipline at work in meetings with President Clinton and Hillary Clinton, Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, Alan Greenspan, Lawrence Summers, Newt Gingrich, Sanford Weill, and the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan. We see Rubin apply it time and again while facing financial crises in Asia, Russia, and Brazil; the federal government shutdown; the rise and fall of the stock market; the challenges of the post-September 11 world; the ongoing struggle over fiscal policy; and many other momentous economic and political events. With a compelling and candid voice and a sharp eye for detail, Rubin portrays the daily life of the White House-confronting matters both mighty and mundane--as astutely as he examines the challenges that lie ahead for the nation. Part political memoir, part prescriptive economic analysis, and part personal look at business problems, In an Uncertain World is a deep examination of Washington and Wall Street by a figure who for three decades has been at the center of both worlds.