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Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of April 11, 2004

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1
NEW
AGAINST ALL ENEMIES
Richard A. Clarke
Cover of AGAINST ALL ENEMIES

AGAINST ALL ENEMIES

by Richard A. Clarke · Free Press

4 wks at #1 · 1 on list

The disturbing truth about the war on terror and a withering critique of the Bush Administration's neglect of the threat, by the man who served for eleven years as the White House Counter-terrorism Czar.

3
NEW
THE PASSION
Cover of THE PASSION

THE PASSION

by · Tyndale

"Authors of the Passion Gospels present a double perspective: that of the time of Jesus and that of their own time following the destruction of the Temple. Within this historical context, the author addresses the questions of anti-Semitism and the family quarrels between Jews and Christians with the vitriol that was acceptable within their rhetorical tradition. Questions about Jesus' Passion - his trial and the purpose of his suffering - are expertly answered in this re-release, which has a new introduction by the author."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

4
1
THE PRICE OF LOYALTY
Ron Suskind
Cover of THE PRICE OF LOYALTY

THE PRICE OF LOYALTY

by Ron Suskind · Simon & Schuster

11 wks on list

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter's explosive account of the inner workings of the George W. Bush administration, the most secretive White House of modern times. This vivid, unfolding narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency -- or any that is likely to be written soon. At its core are the candid assessments of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, for two years the administration's top economic official, a principal of the National Security Council, and a tutor to the new President. He is the only member of Bush's innermost circle to leave and then to agree to speak frankly about what has really been happening inside the White House. O'Neill's account is supported by Suskind's interviews with many participants in the administration, by transcripts of meetings, and by voluminous documents that cover most areas of domestic and foreign policy. The result is a disclosure of breadth and depth unparalleled for an ongoing presidency. As readers are taken to the very epicenter of government, this news-making volume offers a definitive view of the characters and conduct of Bush and his closest advisers as they manage crucial domestic policies and global strategies at a time of life-and-death crises. Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Christine Todd Whitman, and many of their aides are seen in an intimate, "unmanaged" way -- as is Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, O'Neill's close friend and ally. Along the way, the central conflicts of this administration's governance -- between politics and policy, ideology and analysis -- are starkly visible through the lens of recent events and the revelation of the often unseen intentions that underlie actions. In this book Suskind draws on unique access to present an astonishing account of a President so carefully managed in his public posture that he is unknown to most Americans. Now, he will be known.

5
2
THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS
Brian Greene
Cover of THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS

THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS

by Brian Greene · Knopf

7 wks on list

The author argues that recent scientific discoveries about the birth of the universe require us to replace outmoded ways of seeing the world, bridging the chasm between science and spirituality, the physical realm and the soul.

6
LIES (AND THE LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM)
Al Franken
Cover of LIES (AND THE LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM)

LIES (AND THE LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM)

by Al Franken · Dutton

32 wks on list

Al Franken, one of America's savviest satirists has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of 'slander', 'bias' and even 'treason'. He has examined the Bush administration's policies of squandering our surplus, ravaging the environment, and alienating the rest of the world. He's even watched Fox News. A lot. And in this fair and balanced report, Al bravely exposes them all for what they are: liars. Lying, lying, liars.

7
3
AMERICAN DYNASTY
Kevin Phillips
Cover of AMERICAN DYNASTY

AMERICAN DYNASTY

by Kevin Phillips · Viking Press

12 wks on list

An acerbic, withering account of the ascent of the Bush family to the pinnacle of the American political and social elite and the implications of the dynasty's hold on power for democracy in America. With an unerring instinct for fakery and humbug,Phillips traces the convoluted trail of Bush mendacity through three generations. The picture he paints of a family willing to do ANYTHING to hold power and a country so craven as to vote for it is both very funny and completely dismaying in equal measure.

8
2
HOUSE OF BUSH, HOUSE OF SAUD
Craig Unger
Cover of HOUSE OF BUSH, HOUSE OF SAUD

HOUSE OF BUSH, HOUSE OF SAUD

by Craig Unger · Scribner

2 wks on list

Newsbreaking and controversial -- an award-winning investigative journalist uncovers the thirty-year relationship between the Bush family and the House of Saud and explains its impact on American foreign policy, business, and national security. House of Bush, House of Saud begins with a politically explosive question: How is it that two days after 9/11, when U.S. air traffic was tightly restricted, 140 Saudis, many immediate kin to Osama Bin Laden, were permitted to leave the country without being questioned by U.S. intelligence? The answer lies in a hidden relationship that began in the 1970s, when the oil-rich House of Saud began courting American politicians in a bid for military protection, influence, and investment opportunity. With the Bush family, the Saudis hit a gusher -- direct access to presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. To trace the amazing weave of Saud- Bush connections, Unger interviewed three former directors of the CIA, top Saudi and Israeli intelligence officials, and more than one hundred other sources. His access to major players is unparalleled and often exclusive -- including executives at the Carlyle Group, the giant investment firm where the House of Bush and the House of Saud each has a major stake. Like Bob Woodward's The Veil, Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud features unprecedented reportage; like Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country? Unger's book offers a political counter-narrative to official explanations; this deeply sourced account has already been cited by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, and sets 9/11, the two Gulf Wars, and the ongoing Middle East crisis in a new context: What really happened when America's most powerful political family became seduced by its Saudi counterparts?

10
4
GHOST WARS
Steve Coll
Cover of GHOST WARS

GHOST WARS

by Steve Coll · Penguin

5 wks on list

Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll tells the secret history of the CIA's role in Afghanistan, from its covert programme against Soviet troops from 1979-89, to the rise of the Taliban and the emergence of bin Laden, to the secret efforts vy CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998. Based on extensive firsthand accounts, Ghost Wars is the inside story that goes well beyond anything previously published on US involvement in Afghanistan.

11
NEW
THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE
Karen Armstrong
Cover of THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE

by Karen Armstrong · Knopf

2 wks on list

In the lucid yet reflective manner that is Karen Armstrong's trademark, The Spiral Staircase recalls her painful early life as a nun, her even more painful re-entry into secular society, and most compellingly, the long-undiagnosed epilepsy that made her life a horror show of phantom visions and misplaced hours. We follow her to the Middle East and elsewhere as she searches for answers to questions no less daunting than the significance of faith. Armstrongs learned views are especially resonant. But The Spiral Staircase - its name inspired by T S Eliot's poem cycle Ash-Wednesday - is not a polemic, despite her forceful and persuasive arguments for religious tolerance. Rather, it's a beautiful letter sent by a gifted writer attempting to decode the meaning of her life.

12
NEW
SONS OF CAMELOT
Laurence Leamer
Cover of SONS OF CAMELOT

SONS OF CAMELOT

by Laurence Leamer · Morrow

1 wks on list

From renowned biographer and bestselling author of "The Kennedy Women" and "The Kennedy Men" comes the third volume in a multigenerational history bound to be considered an American epic.

15
NEW
GENGHIS KHAN AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD
Jack Weatherford
Cover of GENGHIS KHAN AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

GENGHIS KHAN AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD

by Jack Weatherford · Crown

1 wks on list

Based on eight years of groundbreaking research in Mongolia, this history of the great conqueror argues that rather than a crude barbarian, Khan was one of the most progressive and influential rulers in all of world history.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.