Update there are two i want to start with. One is this monumental biography of Frederick Douglass, probably the definitive biography of Frederick Douglass especially with what is going on in the United States in terms of the fight for Racial Justice nobody was more consequential and has been more consequential on the question of race in america than Frederick Douglass, way ahead of his time. He was not only in abolitionist and passionate abolitionist as a former slave but he insisted from the earliest time in the 1840s right through his death toward the end of the Nineteenth Century that equality was the goal and he would brooke no deviation from that. Very clear what the goal was. So many of his words ring true today and i really recommend the biography. It is a long read but really powerful. Guest one of the things i learned about Frederick Douglass is he was also a very active suffragist. Absolutely. Very consistent and had a distinguished career and was able to talk to a mixedrace audience at a time when that was unusual to say the least and was willing to take on the powerful when they had bad ideas. Abraham lincoln in the beginning of his presidency was fixed on the idea of colonization. We will free slaves but move them to some other country but is clearly integration in america would never work and Frederick Douglass would have none of that and took lincoln to task and could take some credit for changing lincolns idea about that. Douglass is up there with our founders in terms of where he belongs in american history, biography is long overdue and a fine piece of work. Another book i dont have with me because i went it out, the biography by george packer, our man Richard Holbrooke and the end of the american century, unique. Ive never read a book like this. Its not a traditional biography. It mixes opinion with facts and chronology. Its not your traditional biography but is a powerful book. A powerful book about a man in washington who sacrificed almost everything for a mission, to climb up that ladder. Talented, white, but really destroyed family relations, destroyed personal relationships and friendships longstanding and just consumed by a mission. He also had some accomplishments, he is credited with being author of the dayton accords that ended the balkan wars and when he died he was the special envoy for afghanistan and made Great Strides for trying to tee up that issue and get america to look at it involvement but at the end of the day a tragic figure in terms of what he was willing to do and almost a morality story about power in washington and a cautionary tale. Really powerful biography. I highly recommend it. Do you know him at all . I had met and interacted with Richard Holbrook on several occasions during the course of his career which i cant there was an intimate, nor did i serve with him or work with him on any kind of projects but he was clearly a towering figure but also a tragic figure. It is one of the best biographies i have ever read, completely different style, not your usual biography which made it so imposing. Im so taken with it i have given it away multiple times for people to read because i think it has a lot of lessons for people in the place where i work. A book i just read recently by Sidney Blumenthal, all the powers on earth. This is the prepresident ial history of Abraham Lincoln that so much more than that. It is a sociological, political, cultural history of the tomatoes years between 1856 and 1860, so much gets sandwiched into that four year period that made the civil war really inevitable. Everything from Stephen Douglas to the kansas nebraska act, bloodied kansas, john browns raids in lawrence kansas and ultimately harpers ferry. These are four important pivotal years that led to the civil war and Sidney Blumenthal goes in depth into the main characters, Stephen Douglas, Charles Sumner and others and it is a great piece of history and lots of tidbits that are in there that one might not normally know and one of the characters who comes out badly from a historical point of view is Stephen Douglas. A demagogue willing to sacrifice all kinds of principles to advance his career and he tragically failed in that endeavor but did huge damage to the country, turning the missouri compromise, turning territories over to slavery where it was prohibited and pleasing nobody in the south or the north. Really good piece of work. The story of the massacre in tulsa, an africanamerican part of tulsa, greenwood and the massacre that took place is hard to believe this could happen in 20thcentury america but it did. Hundreds of africanamericans killed. Militias running rampant and ultimately burned to the ground 36 square blocks of this africanamerican community, churches, businesses, homes and subjugated the africanamerican population until the end of jim crow in the 1960s. It is a gripping story and given what is going on in america today, understanding the history of the white majority at that time and needing to really reverse economic, cultural and political process of a vibrant africanamerican community, it was called the wall street of black america, it was that successful. For some reason for a long time americans kind of forgot this important part of history and it needs to be revisited because the horror of what happened at the hands of racists under the justification of overt racism, it is a real contribution to the discussion of Racial Justice in america. Yaa guasis book homecoming. I dont often get the chance to read as much literature as i would like even though i am a literature major but this book was a beautifully done, beautifully written novel and it kind of juxtaposes the evolution of both slavery and race in america with the story of ghana, where and how people lived in ghana prior to slavery and during the enslavement period and it is a beautifully done book. Shes a talented young novelist who really has a future. I know she just came out with a new book as well. A book that really got me is killers of the farm in by david graham. A white power elite murdered a number of native americans with land titles and had loyalties for Natural Resources on their land, was swindled and in order to have deeds transferred to almost always white power elite, embezzlement, fraud and murder, and some assassinations of native americans in order to get their land. This again took place in the 1920s in america. Its not ancient history, not old indian wars of the Nineteenth Century, this happens not that long ago. And unbelievable story and deeply disturbing in terms of again the power of racism and the power of greed, but it is something about our history people need to read. I just finished jerusalem, the history of the city of jerusalem and it takes you from the canaanite period, the babylonian captivity, the injections and the phoenicians and ultimately the romans and greeks to the crusaders and the islamic period through modern history. The sweep of history when you read this book all at once really strikes you. What also strikes you is how jerusalem is defined by violence. The constant killings, the constant sackings and massacres and all for territory in the name of the sacred. We realized that remains unresolved today in the middle east and it is really a sweeping history that gives you a sense of perspective. Dont know if it gives you a lot of hope frankly about the future of the middle east but it really does put a lot of what we are dealing with now in a very important context in terms of this is happening and so much evil in the name of the sacred occurs irrespective of religion or the period of history. Kochland the secret history of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in america, a great book about mostly charles koch, not so much on david, and how he built an empire from his perch in canvas and how he used it to influence politics in america in a very effective if not troubling way. He used his money to build think tanks, to insinuate himself into universities by creating schools, used his influence to build a grassroots network, and apply all that to legislative initiatives, for his philosophy. We are going into a pandemic where we understand we need more government now not less and that flies in the face of the koch philosophy. This is a great book in terms of giving you a sense of who is charles koch, where did he come from and where is he going . Let me talk about i would like to source out and escape and i have discovered recently, the school of writing, this is called the il1, all of this takes place in iceland, a stark landscape background of murderous activity going on and sort of a loner inspector whose life has not worked out well who nonetheless is intrepid and undaunted and follows this where it needs to go. Another one that is just incredible, colin, role created this mystery detective who is a 72yearold coroner for the new liberated communist 1978, a former guerrilla, medical doctor but not a core runner. He is disillusioned with communism and where his country is going but signs himself as a coroner pursuing mysterious deaths. He is a good writer and he takes you back in time to the 1970s and recreates that place and what is going on in a way that is quite masterful. For a little escapism, great writing. And finally i want to talk about midnight in chernobyl by adam higginbotham. We talk about Nuclear Power sometimes as if it is the unexamined alternative to fossil fuels, and that is true, but when something goes wrong it is catastrophic in this book, in the words often above victims of chernobyl, really quite gripping. The heroism and the coverups by the soviet government are told beautifully in this book and the furies that i think hbo did on chernobyl in some ways might have benefited from this book and some of the accounts in it but it is a piece of history that ought not to be forgotten and obviously had huge consequences politically leading to the downfall of the soviet union because of its bureaucracy, lack of empathy and ability to respond to the Worst Nuclear Disaster in modern american history. Im going to read. Those are some of the things i have been reading. Host how are you getting your books these days . Is your local bookstore open . Your local library . Amazon . Sort of all of the above. I have a huge Library Including books i got for the holidays, even cspan provided me with some books. Friends know that is the gift for birthdays or anniversaries or holidays and i have a lot of friends who share my love of reading and we have similar tastes and are sharing books back and forth. I have no dearth of reading material. And i am in 4 rations reader. Before i go to bed, i wake up in the morning and have a free moment i read because i think reading broadens your perspective, challenges preconceived notions about life and history and philosophy and it is one of the most encouraging activities a human being can engage in. There are several contemporaneous accounts of the Trump Administration coming out, Michael Smith etc. Do you read those . I have read a couple books on psychological profile of donald trump in terms of what is going on by those who have really studied that. I dont generally like to read contemporaneous history or memoirs because i think they are too close to events to have a perspective that would be lasting but i make exceptions. Bob woodward is one of them. I have read every bob woodward book ever written or printed. I had to read this as well. He really has a knack for getting inside and get people to say extraordinary things they probably otherwise wouldnt and they do give you insights to what is going on. And my friend Michael Dantonio has written several books and is coming out with a new one on impeachment this fall and i certainly intend to read that as well. Back to Sidney Blumenthals book about those four years before the civil war with the hindsight of 160 years. Was there a point in that four years when you read that history that the civil war could have been avoided . I dont think so unless the north was willing to live with slavery or the south was willing to say we are setting a timeline for its elimination and echoes of the past resonate today. It was all fueled by firebrands. So there were hotheads especially in the south to to fuel the politics of grievance, the north is out to get us. We are going to lose power. The civil war was also about the fear of the transfer of power. The southerners had control but Congress Almost from the beginning and they protected what they called the peculiar institution all that time including doing very antiamerican, anticonstitutional things like blocking petitions in the congress about slavery which was the cause of john quincy adams, the 17 years he was in the house was censured for refusing to recognize a dam on the constitution is express about the right of people to petition the government. As the south saw a growing Abolitionist Movement in the north and the north that was expanding they decided that their only future, not just the firebrands, was frankly to separate and i think it was inevitable. Even without the events of this four your period, the table had been set for separation and the violent separation at that. It took the leader like Abraham Lincoln to understand you cant accommodate secession. We are one country and he even understands the to preserve the union he had to end slavery. That was not his view when he first took office. He had said if i could preserve the union by preserving slavery i would do that. If i could preserve the union by eliminating slavery in some places but not others i would do that as well. If i could preserve the union only by ending slavery that too i would do. When he began it was all about the union but as the war went on he understood that actually it had to be more than that principle, that abstract. It also had to be about what kind of union we were going to have and needed to be and that needed to be a union made up of free men and free women. Knowing what you do about the antebellum period having lived through 1968 where would you put us today . How would you put todays world . I dont think the country is as torn asunder as we were in 1968. I think we came close in 1968 to the country just dissolving into something less than what we think of as the United States of america. There were so many forces holding us apart and the divisions were so enormous about race, about the war. And today we are also a divided nation but i think what is different is there is a clear emerging majority that wants to see a more progressive america that wants to address fundamental issues of racism, Structural Racism in america starting with our law enforcement, that believes we have to empower people and expand liberties and deal with issues of an equity, health and equity, and in some ways i am more hopeful today than i was at the end of 1968 having lived through those turbulent times. Having said that i think frankly the president and his approach to issues and governance represents a clear challenge to the continuation of constitutional democracy. I really do. I say that is a member of Congress Living with it every day. That has to be addressed in the selection or we are going to go in a very different direction than that envisioned by our founders, Abraham Lincoln and lots of us who love and care about our country. Finally, we talked to your colleague and friend representative tom cole, republican oklahoma yesterday, he said you talk about books quite often. Hes a great guy and a very thoughtful member of congress. Hes not somebody who just has a kneejerk reaction ideologically or in a partisan way. To everything that comes his way. I have enjoyed our friendship. We do share thoughts on books and once in a while we even share a cigar. Host thanks for joining us on booktv with an update on your reading list. If youre interested in hearing more about the books members of congress are reading these days visit booktv. Org and search what are you reading at the top of the page. Watch in depth with author and chair of African American studies at Princeton University in the junior live december 6th at noon eastern. Is most recent books include begin again james baldwins on america at its urgent lessons for own. Exodus democracy in black and uncommon faith. Join the 2 hour conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets, watch in depth sunday december 6th at noon eastern on booktv on cspan2. You are watching cspan2, your unfiltered view of government created by americas Cable Television company is a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. On our Author Interview program after words, the relationship between law, epidemics and Public Health guidelines. Also this weekend, some programs from the recent virtual southern festival of books with author discussions on appalachia, the jim crow era in the south and investigative journalisms role in a democracy. And new yorker staff writer evan discusses the life and political career of president elect joe biden. Thats all this weekend here on booktv. For a complete schedule, visit booktv. Org or check your program guide. Now booktv begins with a look at the great chicago fire of 1871 that left close to onethird of chicagos residents homeless. Good evening and welcome. Im rocket mcdonald, d robert mcdonald, our spec