Instagram Facebook X-twitter Linkedin

Sign Up

Get the latest ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

All , , , Coverage

All Politics Coverage

NonfictionPoliticsHistoryAmerican History

Confronting Saddam Hussein

Review by Roger Bishop

On February 28, 2003, as President George W. Bush prepared to authorize military action, he turned to his advisers and asked if they had thought enough about “what they hoped to achieve in Iraq.” Plans were made and carried out, but in a short time, the Iraq policy went awry. Historian Melvyn P. Leffler explores the many reasons why in his enlightening, detailed Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq.

After 9/11, the president felt some responsibility for the attacks (there had been warnings not heeded), along with guilt, anger, fear, a sense of political expediency and a need for revenge, the mixture of which led him to declare war on terrorism. After the decision to invade Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda was based, other potential dangers were considered. The president said repeatedly “that his most compelling fear was the prospect of terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction from rogue regimes,” Leffler writes. Eventually the Bush administration turned its focus to Saddam Hussein, a ruthless tyrant in Iraq thought by some to have weapons of mass destruction. 

The Bush national security team was often regarded as unified and militant, Leffler explains. But in reality, the members were pragmatists with different approaches and interests who feuded with one another. Leffler shows that there was not a careful assessment of their proposed strategy for dealing with Hussein and Iraq. Hubris was a major factor, and no one person can be blamed. The president acted with the best of intentions, but his advisers who urged caution did so too hesitantly and ineffectively. Contrary to other accounts, Leffler claims that the president was not manipulated by others but was in charge at all times. He merely delegated too much authority and was indifferent to acrimony among his advisers, which adversely affected his policies.

As Leffler writes, President Bush “failed because his information was flawed, his assumptions inaccurate, his priorities imprecise, and his means incommensurate with his evolving ends.” Based on prodigious research, this superb account helps readers understand the many complexities of America’s attempts to keep our citizens safe in the face of very real dangers after 9/11.

President George W. Bush’s Iraq policy quickly went awry, and historian Melvyn P. Leffler’s enlightening, detailed book explores why.
NonfictionPoliticsMemoir

How to Stand Up to a Dictator

Review by Sarojini Seupersad

In How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future, journalist Maria Ressa, winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, gives readers a riveting inside view of what it’s like to be a dissident fighting authoritarianism. This engrossing book is a political history of the Philippines and an intimate memoir, but it’s also a warning to democracies everywhere: Authoritarianism is a threat to us all.

Since the 1980s, Ressa has been a journalist who speaks truth to power, but her path to success unfolded almost by accident. Born in the Philippines, Ressa was brought at age 10 to the United States, where she was raised by her mother and stepfather. When she first arrived, she felt like a confused outsider but quickly realized she felt comfortable at school and could thrive there if she followed these rules for herself: Always choose to learn, embrace your fear, and stand up to bullies. Those courageous lessons would follow her throughout her life as a journalist and a critic of dictators.

Upon returning to the Philippines as an adult, Ressa worked for CNN and then ABS-CBN, where she was head of the news division while the political climate in the Philippines was becoming more and more volatile. She later co-founded her own news service, Rappler, with the intention of integrating social media, citizen journalism and data into old-fashioned journalism. However, she increasingly found that social media, Facebook in particular, and corrupt politicians made for very dangerous bedfellows. Through Rappler’s data-collecting and help from her readers, Ressa discovered that social media was helping to fuel fascism in the Philippines. Disinformation spread quickly and widely because people tended to share information (even lies) when strong emotions were attached to the content. When she brought this to Facebook’s attention, they dismissed her concerns.

With the help of these disinformation campaigns, Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines in 2016. He won in a landslide based on false promises of fighting crime and corruption. In reality, he was shutting down press freedoms, ordering gruesome extra-judicial killings and handing out government positions to loyalists and corrupt officials. Ressa’s scrutiny of his administration has led to two arrests for cyber libel; she has been convicted and is currently awaiting her appeal.

The exceptional details in this memoir are both tactile and persistent; you can almost feel and smell the blood as Ressa describes a crime scene. Her ability to recount the finer details of some of the scariest moments of her life (such as witnessing a military coup) is nothing short of breathtaking. Highly researched yet accessible, How to Stand Up to a Dictator is a plea to the world: The best way to maintain a democracy is a strong press, free from corruption and disinformation.

Maria Ressa’s book is a political history of the Philippines and an intimate memoir, but it’s also a warning to democracies everywhere: Authoritarianism is a threat to us all.
NonfictionPoliticsMilitary HistoryHistory

Paths of Dissent

Review by Roger Bishop

Since 1973, when President Richard Nixon and Congress created the all-volunteer force as an alternative to conscripted military service, there has been a division between the American public and the military. Less than one-half of 1% of our population currently serves on active duty. And as the public has watched the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue on for years after 9/11, they have become more uncertain than ever about U.S. missions.

But active duty and retired military personnel have become more uncertain too. In an enlightening new book, Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America’s Misguided Wars, a diverse group of veterans who volunteered and served in those wars tell us what they saw, did and learned. In these original essays, selected by co-editors Andrew Bacevich and Daniel A. Sjursen for their candor and eloquence, the contributors share their reasons for deciding to serve, why they became disillusioned and why they now feel the need to speak out about “military policies that they deem ill advised, illegal, or morally unconscionable.”

Erik Edstrom, a West Point graduate, was an infantry platoon leader in Afghanistan, where he “saw the systematic dehumanization and devaluation of Afghan lives on a regular basis. . . . It’s one of America’s deepest ironies: in efforts to ‘prevent terrorism’ in our country, we commit far larger acts of terrorism elsewhere,” he writes. Joy Damiani was an enlisted public affairs specialist who served two tours in Iraq. “According to the Army’s official narrative,” she writes, “the war was always in the process of being won. There were never any mistakes, never any defeats, and certainly never any failures.” Buddhika Jayamaha was an airborne infantryman in Iraq. He and many others “felt that the extreme hubris of American politicians and the commentariat was responsible for the mess in Iraq.”

Bacevich, who served for 23 years in the Army, including in Vietnam, writes that “genuine military dissent is patriotic.” Any citizen who wants to better understand our country’s current military entrapments will want to read this book.

In 17 original essays, U.S. veterans share their reasons for deciding to serve, why they became disillusioned with the military and why they now feel the need to speak out against its misguided policies.
NonfictionPoliticsHistoryAmerican History

One Person, One Vote

Review by Roger Bishop

“The conception of political equality from the Declaration of Independence, to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, to the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Amendments can mean only one thing—one person, one vote,” wrote Supreme Court justice William O. Douglas in 1963. It seems simple enough. However, as we learn in fascinating and depressing detail from Nick Seabrook’s wide-ranging history, One Person, One Vote, when politicians intentionally draw boundaries for partisan advantage, politicians pick their voters rather than voters picking politicians.

The practice known today as gerrymandering began long before the term first appeared in 1812, when Governor Elbridge Gerry (pronounced with a hard G) of Massachusetts signed a bill that seriously distorted voting districts for political purposes. He was not directly involved in preparing the legislation and found it distasteful, but his name nonetheless became attached to it. Gerry later served as vice president under James Madison. Earlier in Madison’s career, Patrick Henry had used the tactic in an unsuccessful attempt to keep Madison from being elected to the House of Representatives. If Madison had lost the election, we might not have his Bill of Rights.

Prior to the 1970s, when the constitutional mandate to redistrict every 10 years went into effect, gerrymandering was the exception rather than the norm. Politicians only used this tactic when it was necessary or expedient, which was rare—especially since the detailed election data and computer technology that has become so crucial to modern election strategy was not yet available.

Those who benefit from gerrymandering are determined not to lose their advantage. Even the Supreme Court has failed to address the harms of the practice. On three separate occasions, challenges to the most pervasive partisan gerrymanders of the 21st century have come before the Supreme Court, but reformers came away disappointed. Instead, change has almost always come from concerned citizens who convinced elected officials to take on the issue.

Seabrook’s important book should be of interest to every citizen who wants to better understand what goes on behind the scenes as political parties seek power.

Nick Seabrook’s One Person, One Vote should be read by every citizen who wants to understand what goes on behind the scenes as political parties seek power.
NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Drawing on public records and their own on-the-scene observations, Ivins and Dubose contend that George W. Bush’s most remarkable achievement as governor of Texas has been his own political advancement. The two political reporters Ivins for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dubose for the Texas Observer pay scant attention to Bush’s alleged drug use and other youthful excesses. Instead, their focus is on his business dealings and political machinations.

A point they make early in the book is that the Texas constitution so limits the powers of the governor that Bush could not possibly have worked all the wonders he boasts of in his speeches. By their reckoning, the governor is only the fifth most powerful pol in the state’s hierarchy. To the extent that Bush might have used the prominence of his office to sponsor or befriend legislation for the benefit of most Texans, they charge he has failed to do so.

As a young businessman, Bush had greater success finding investors among his father’s rich and powerful friends, the authors assert, than he did in making his various enterprises profitable for them. They add, however, that he usually did extremely well for himself in these ventures, whether it was exploring an oil field or exploiting the Texas Rangers.

But it is their appraisal of Bush’s performance as governor that is most devastating. Ivins and Dubose ridicule Bush’s mantra of compassionate conservatism. His conservatism is evident, they concede, but they see no signs of compassion. He has, they point out, been a pitiless champion of the death penalty, a relentless foe of judicial fairness, an enemy of environmental reform, and generally a scourge of the poor and helpless. They do give Bush fairly high marks for trying to improve education, although they say his efforts in this area have been more impulsive than deliberate.

One of the best features of the book is also its worst and that is Ivins’s wicked humor and incessant folksiness. (We’ll let Dubose off the hook here.) It is hard to absorb and appreciate the full evil of bad politics when you’re encouraged to laugh at the politicians. In depicting these people as buffoons (which they surely are at the lowest level), Ivins permits us to view them as mere eccentrics. And that tends to defuse our rightful anger.

Edward Morris is a Nashville-based entertainment and political writer.

Drawing on public records and their own on-the-scene observations, Ivins and Dubose contend that George W. Bush's most remarkable achievement as governor of Texas has been his own political advancement. The two political reporters Ivins for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dubose for the Texas Observer…

NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it’s a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the paper trail to your favorite candidate.

The Prince of Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore by David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima is a straightforward biography that rises above the baser peculiarities of presidential politics. The balanced portrait it paints of Gore is flecked with colorful anecdotes and revealing insights into his character.

In a book published several months before anyone knew he would be chosen by Gore to be his vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman offers a defense of his chosen profession in the autobiographical In Praise of Public Life, co-written with author Michael D’Orso. The most striking things about this book are the honesty with which Lieberman writes about his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and the obvious passion he feels for the political process, however imperfect it may appear to the outside observer.

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has been the subject of several biographies over the past 12 months. One of the most balanced is First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty. Written by Texas newsman Bill Minutaglio, it offers an in-depth look at the Texas political process that nurtured and challenged the candidate along his rapid journey into national prominence.

Not to be outdone is Bush’s vice presidential running mate, Richard Cheney, whose previously published book, Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History has been reissued in paperback. Co-written with his wife, Lynne Cheney, the book is less a glimpse into Cheney’s personal politics than it is an examination of nine personalities who had a major impact on American history.

Another good choice for election night reading is editor James M. McPherson’s To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents, a brilliant collection of fascinating photographs and essays written by the Society of American Historians about the 41 men who have held the nation’s highest office.

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it's a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the…
NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it’s a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the paper trail to your favorite candidate.

The Prince of Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore by David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima is a straightforward biography that rises above the baser peculiarities of presidential politics. The balanced portrait it paints of Gore is flecked with colorful anecdotes and revealing insights into his character.

In a book published several months before anyone knew he would be chosen by Gore to be his vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman offers a defense of his chosen profession in the autobiographical In Praise of Public Life, co-written with author Michael D’Orso. The most striking things about this book are the honesty with which Lieberman writes about his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and the obvious passion he feels for the political process, however imperfect it may appear to the outside observer.

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has been the subject of several biographies over the past 12 months. One of the most balanced is First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty. Written by Texas newsman Bill Minutaglio, it offers an in-depth look at the Texas political process that nurtured and challenged the candidate along his rapid journey into national prominence.

Not to be outdone is Bush’s vice presidential running mate, Richard Cheney, whose previously published book, Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History has been reissued in paperback. Co-written with his wife, Lynne Cheney, the book is less a glimpse into Cheney’s personal politics than it is an examination of nine personalities who had a major impact on American history.

Another good choice for election night reading is editor James M. McPherson’s To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents, a brilliant collection of fascinating photographs and essays written by the Society of American Historians about the 41 men who have held the nation’s highest office.

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it's a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the…
NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it’s a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the paper trail to your favorite candidate.

The Prince of Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore by David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima is a straightforward biography that rises above the baser peculiarities of presidential politics. The balanced portrait it paints of Gore is flecked with colorful anecdotes and revealing insights into his character.

In a book published several months before anyone knew he would be chosen by Gore to be his vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman offers a defense of his chosen profession in the autobiographical In Praise of Public Life, co-written with author Michael D’Orso. The most striking things about this book are the honesty with which Lieberman writes about his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and the obvious passion he feels for the political process, however imperfect it may appear to the outside observer.

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has been the subject of several biographies over the past 12 months. One of the most balanced is First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty. Written by Texas newsman Bill Minutaglio, it offers an in-depth look at the Texas political process that nurtured and challenged the candidate along his rapid journey into national prominence.

Not to be outdone is Bush’s vice presidential running mate, Richard Cheney, whose previously published book, Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History has been reissued in paperback. Co-written with his wife, Lynne Cheney, the book is less a glimpse into Cheney’s personal politics than it is an examination of nine personalities who had a major impact on American history.

Another good choice for election night reading is editor James M. McPherson’s To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents, a brilliant collection of fascinating photographs and essays written by the Society of American Historians about the 41 men who have held the nation’s highest office.

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it's a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the…

NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it’s a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the paper trail to your favorite candidate.

The Prince of Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore by David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima is a straightforward biography that rises above the baser peculiarities of presidential politics. The balanced portrait it paints of Gore is flecked with colorful anecdotes and revealing insights into his character.

In a book published several months before anyone knew he would be chosen by Gore to be his vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman offers a defense of his chosen profession in the autobiographical In Praise of Public Life, co-written with author Michael D’Orso. The most striking things about this book are the honesty with which Lieberman writes about his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and the obvious passion he feels for the political process, however imperfect it may appear to the outside observer.

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has been the subject of several biographies over the past 12 months. One of the most balanced is First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty. Written by Texas newsman Bill Minutaglio, it offers an in-depth look at the Texas political process that nurtured and challenged the candidate along his rapid journey into national prominence.

Not to be outdone is Bush’s vice presidential running mate, Richard Cheney, whose previously published book, Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History has been reissued in paperback. Co-written with his wife, Lynne Cheney, the book is less a glimpse into Cheney’s personal politics than it is an examination of nine personalities who had a major impact on American history.

Another good choice for election night reading is editor James M. McPherson’s To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents, a brilliant collection of fascinating photographs and essays written by the Society of American Historians about the 41 men who have held the nation’s highest office.

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it's a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the…

NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it’s a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the paper trail to your favorite candidate.

The Prince of Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore by David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima is a straightforward biography that rises above the baser peculiarities of presidential politics. The balanced portrait it paints of Gore is flecked with colorful anecdotes and revealing insights into his character.

In a book published several months before anyone knew he would be chosen by Gore to be his vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman offers a defense of his chosen profession in the autobiographical In Praise of Public Life, co-written with author Michael D’Orso. The most striking things about this book are the honesty with which Lieberman writes about his first marriage, which ended in divorce, and the obvious passion he feels for the political process, however imperfect it may appear to the outside observer.

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has been the subject of several biographies over the past 12 months. One of the most balanced is First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty. Written by Texas newsman Bill Minutaglio, it offers an in-depth look at the Texas political process that nurtured and challenged the candidate along his rapid journey into national prominence.

Not to be outdone is Bush’s vice presidential running mate, Richard Cheney, whose previously published book, Kings of the Hill: How Nine Powerful Men Changed the Course of American History has been reissued in paperback. Co-written with his wife, Lynne Cheney, the book is less a glimpse into Cheney’s personal politics than it is an examination of nine personalities who had a major impact on American history.

Another good choice for election night reading is editor James M. McPherson’s To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents, a brilliant collection of fascinating photographs and essays written by the Society of American Historians about the 41 men who have held the nation’s highest office.

George W. versus Al on the bookshelf You can always tell it's a presidential election year when bookshelves are filled with books by and about individuals who just happen to be running for higher office. As the campaign enters its final frantic weeks, follow the…

NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership: Nixon to Clinton Just in time for the presidential election comes a new book designed to help the informed reader determine the best qualities for our next leader. In Eyewitness to Power, Washington insider David Gergen weaves personal memoirs and observations about presidential leadership into an interesting narrative of White House politics since 1970.

Gergen is a former speechwriter for Nixon and Ford, a former communications director for Reagan, and a special advisor to Clinton. He is most famous as the originator of political “spin” during his time in the Reagan White House, where he was responsible for orchestrating events such as the D-Day address at Normandy. Gergen’s positions afforded him a first-hand opportunity to observe the inner workings of four different White Houses, both Republican and Democrat.

While in many cases Eyewitness to Power is more memoir than analysis, Gergen seeks to position the book as a study of presidential leadership. He describes the qualities of an ideal president: the leader should be secure, self confident, focused on goals, well read in history, persuasive, and knowledgeable about how to use power. Yet candidates and presidents rarely live up to these ideals.

Through Gergen’s eyes, the reader gets a behind-the-scenes look at the leadership styles of four recent presidents. Nixon is a brilliant strategist battling the forces of darkness and good; Ford is a decent person seeking to understand how to operate the levers of power; Reagan has a temperament well-suited to his job and knows how to play the leader; Clinton has a brilliant mind and is a superb politician, but lacks the discipline and maturity for the job.

Clearly, Reagan emerges as the president who comes closest to representing the ideal. He is praised for his security of self, his natural instincts, and for sticking with a few, clearly defined goals. Reagan is the most like FDR, Gergen’s model president.

For a thoughtful consideration of presidential leadership, read this book before casting your ballot.

John Green is a business consultant based in Nashville.

Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership: Nixon to Clinton Just in time for the presidential election comes a new book designed to help the informed reader determine the best qualities for our next leader. In Eyewitness to Power, Washington insider David Gergen weaves personal…

NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Harry Stein had a pretty nice life. He was a cheerful, content liberal married to a cheerful, content liberal living in New York and making an honest living as an author and columnist. We should all have it so good. Then came the baby. Seeing life through the new prism of parenthood, much of what Stein ∧ Co. had assumed to be the gospel began over time to seem quite wrong. The wall of their doctrinaire liberalism started to crumble over the issue of day care, as their like-minded friends couldn’t fathom that the Steins even entertained thoughts of raising children themselves, without the benefit of paid-for help. The reproach of this group of friends sent them on a journey of intellectual discovery which Priscilla Stein summed up well: It’s funny . . . I saw myself as a fighter against right-wing scum. [After this experience] I was well on my way to being right-wing scum. And that, essentially, is the story of How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace). As he examines and challenges the prevailing belief system of the left, Stein finds something much more disturbing than the fact that he has come to disagree with so much of what he once held dear that among those who share the conventional liberal wisdom, there is no room for debate or disagreement. In fact, according to Stein, diversity of thought is simply not allowed.

We read of examples throughout our culture and politics, including affirmative action, media bias, gay rights, Murphy Brown, and so on. Stein saves his most delicious vitriol for feminism, with tale after cautionary tale about the sacrifice of critical thought before the altar of a particular code of beliefs. Most telling is an excerpt from an interview with Gloria Steinem on the subject of female firefighters: Asked at one point . . . whether it was really prudent for fire departments to lower their strength standards to accommodate women meaning that it’s now within regulations in some municipalities to drag someone down the stairs of a burning building rather than carry them America’s preeminent feminist actually replied that, well, Ôthere’s less smoke close to the ground.’ How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy is both lively and insightful, free of the turgidity characteristic of many political/cultural books. One can scarcely imagine reading it without learning something and enjoying it as well. ¦ Mark Rembert writes from Nashville.

Harry Stein had a pretty nice life. He was a cheerful, content liberal married to a cheerful, content liberal living in New York and making an honest living as an author and columnist. We should all have it so good. Then came the baby. Seeing…

NonfictionPolitics

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Many political figures have spent the last few years seeing how often they can show their support for the concept of family values as if anyone is against family values. Finally, someone in public life has come up with a new twist on the subject. Former Senator Bill Bradley has written a book on basketball values. Bradley’s latest literary effort, Values of the Game, is about some of the qualities that go into a successful basketball player or team and how they can be applied to life in general. While he wrote the book so that parents and children can talk about the principles outlined within it, it comes off as something more interesting thoughts on why the game itself is so addicting to its participants when played properly.

Bradley always has carried the reputation as one of the most thoughtful and intelligent people ever to participate in sport’s highest level. He attended Princeton University and delayed a professional career in basketball to accept a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in England. Later Bradley became an important part of the New York Knickerbockers teams, winning the NBA championships in 1970 and 1973.

Bradley had little difficulty moving to another phase of his life after retirement. He served three terms as the Democratic Senator from New Jersey, retiring in 1996. Bradley is said to be considering a run for the Presidency in 2000.

Despite worrying about campaign-contribution reform and the tax code for most of the past two decades, Bradley obviously has been paying some attention to basketball as well. His frequent references to today’s stars and games allow him not to come off as an old-timer who is convinced his sport was played better in his day. Instead, he wants to tell people how to play the game right. That comes with equal parts passion, discipline, selflessness, respect, perspective, courage, leadership, responsibility, resilience, and imagination each of which gets its own chapter in this nicely-illustrated, oversized book. When a team comes together to combine those qualities, basketball moves from a mere game to an aesthetic pleasure for the participants.

Bradley frequently experienced such a feeling at the game’s highest level; such feelings of joy probably were harder to come by in the Senate. Perhaps that’s why he chose to write about basketball instead of politicswhile thinking about his next major career move. No matter what the cause, few have written about what’s right with basketball as well as Bradley does.

Budd Bailey is a writer in Buffalo, New York.

Many political figures have spent the last few years seeing how often they can show their support for the concept of family values as if anyone is against family values. Finally, someone in public life has come up with a new twist on the subject.…

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Recent Reviews

All Reviews

Author Interviews

More Interviews

Recent Features

All Features