United States

Fight is the backstage story of bloodsport politics in its rawest form—the clawing, backstabbing, and rabble-rousing that drove Donald Trump into the White House and Democrats into the wilderness. At every turn, the combatants went for the jugular, whether they were facing down rivals in the other party or their own.

Over the course of the last four years, the American public looked on as the former president faced a series of daunting obstacles to return to the White House. The lingering cloud of January 6, a shadow effort within the Republican establishment to defeat him in the primary, multiple indictments, assassination attempts, and an 11th hour change of his opponent all threatened to derail his return to power at any moment.

The United States Congress has always been messy and far-from-august, but as Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater show here, in scorching, shocking detail, it has reached some kind of chaotic bottom. The anarchy that reigned over Congress’s lower chamber in the wake of the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building—the election of serial liar and con-man George Santos, revenge porn being shown on the floor of the house, and the theatrical high jinks of Lauren Boebert—all were a sign of decay and dysfunction of the highest order.

In "Disrupted: The Trump Era in American Politics," author Vandi Lynnae Enzor offers a detailed examination of one of the most transformative periods in modern American history. From the shocking upset of the 2016 election to the tumultuous events of Donald Trump's presidency, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the seismic shifts, controversies, and enduring legacies that defined this unprecedented era in American politics.

The founding fathers of the United States created a unique institution, the presidency, as they were determined to authorize an effective chief executive but wary of monarchy. They endowed this office with broad prerogatives and power but hedged it in with limitations. The presidency that developed over the next generation, however, was fashioned less by the clauses in the Constitution than by the way that the first presidents responded to challenges such as sectional enmity and the vexing Napoleonic warfare that jeopardized maritime rights.

Using granular data and authoritative Chinese sources, Oriana Skylar Mastro demonstrates that China was able to climb to great power status through a careful mix of strategic emulation, exploitation, and entrepreneurship on the international stage. This “upstart approach”—determined by where and how China chose to compete—allowed China to rise economically, politically, and militarily, without triggering a catastrophic international backlash that would stem its rise.

As both a religiously observant person and a veteran of forty years in elective office, Senator Joe Lieberman is uniquely prepared to answer this question. In fact, he is the first person with political experience to pose and answer such a question in response to the current crisis of political division and governmental dysfunction in America. Lieberman breaks down the causes of our political problems—including partisanship, incivility, and refusal to compromise—and then describes what the monotheistic faith that Christians, Jews, and Muslims share calls on us to do to overcome those problems.

The McKinley Years: The Life and Times of our 25th President utilizes the rich resources of the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum archives. Through photos and documents only available at the museum, Christopher Kenney paints a picture of not only William McKinley the President but William McKinley the man. This book explores McKinley's early years, service in the Civil War, family life, and his rise from lawyer to Congressman, to Governor, and finally to the highest office in the land.

Today's Birmingham—led by Mayor Randall Woodfin—is a phoenix rising from the ashes of systemic racism and white flight. This first Southern city to pluck the feathers off Jim Crow, where peaceful protesters endured attacks by police dogs, where high-pressure water hoses tore at the flesh of men and women marching for their rights, and where children locked arms and sang "We Shall Overcome," is a living, breathing redemption story.

The United States has two main political parties. But through the years, there have been many others, and the Democratic and Republican Parties have changed tremendously since their beginnings. In this book, historian Keith Pruitt will describe the history of political parties over our near 250 years of history. Along the way, there will be quotes from politicians and specific information about how the parties delivered various leaders on the national stage. Complete with recommended reading and indexed, this treatise is intended to be an introduction to political activism in America.