Three new books fill in our picture of Roosevelt The Good Neighbor: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Rhetoric of American Power by Mary Stuckey Michigan University Press, 376 pp. Roosevelt’s Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War by Richard Moe Oxford University Press, 492 pp. Young Mr. Roosevelt: FDR’s Introduction to […]
Books
Book reviews and essays from the Washington Monthly on the new books shaping debates over politics, policy, history, and American democracy.
Posted inBooks, Government, Law and Justice, Magazine, March/April/May 2014
Abolition and Backlash
Efforts to ban capital punishment are growing. But keep this in mind: the last time the Supreme Court tried to end the death penalty, we got more executions.
Posted inBooks, Economy, Magazine, March/April/May 2014
Taking on the Heiristocracy
History shows that growth alone won’t stop vast economic inequality.
Posted inBooks, Economy, Magazine, March/April/May 2014
Journalism and the CNBC Effect
Before 2007, the press failed to see the growing rot in the U.S. financial system and warn the public. Why?
Posted inBooks, Economy, Magazine, March/April/May 2014
Refuting U.S. Declinism, Sort of
Don’t worry about America losing its dominant position in the global economy. Worry instead about whether average Americans will benefit.
Posted inBooks, Government, Magazine, March/April/May 2014
Backward, Christian Soldiers
To end the culture war that divides America, we need to recognize that each side has the same roots: the radical democratic individualism of America’s Protestant heritage.
Posted inBooks, Magazine, March/April/May 2014, Politics
The Origin of Ideology
Are left and right a feature (or bug) of evolution?
Posted inBooks, Magazine, March/April/May 2014
It’s All in the Implementation
Why cannabis legalization is less like marriage equality and more like health care reform.
Posted inBooks, Government, Magazine, March/April/May 2014
Broken Promised Land
Truman’s quick recognition of Israel was tragic, dysfunctional, and quintessentially American.
Posted inBooks, January/February 2014, Magazine, Politics
Midterm Signals and Noise
Why Democrats Could Do Better in November Than Everyone Thinks
