The phrase "American exceptionalism" is used in many ways and for many purposes, but its original meaning involved a statement of fact: for the first century after the Constitution went into effect, European observers and Americans alike saw the United States as exceptional, with political and civic cultures that had no counterparts anywhere else. In American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History, Charles Murray describes how America's geography, ideology, politics, and daily life set the new nation apart from Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. He then discusses the ways that exceptionalism changed during America's evolution over the course of the 20th century. Which changes are gains to be applauded? Which are losses to be mourned? Answering these questions is the essential first step in discovering what you want for America's future.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most memorable shows on late-night television-the Tonight Show. The show has spent sixty years on the air, delighting viewers with celebrity guest interviews, comedy sketches, and humorous monologues. Jay Leno served as host for twenty years, and Dave Berg acted as his co-producer for most of that time. With Jay Leno's retirement, Berg thought it only fitting to share his insider's perspective on America's oldest and most successful late-night program. Through personality-revealing anecdotes about guests, 'The show behind the curtain' serves as an introduction to the backstage antics and controversies of Leno's program. The Tonight Show has played host to television and movie stars, professional athletes, political leaders, and comedians. With each guest, Berg, Leno, and other producers came together to create an entertaining and becoming segment. Whether it was discouraging guests from telling bad jokes or encouraging them to portray themselves as three-dimensional individuals with lives outside of notoriety, Berg's role was crucial to the longevity and success of the show. Called 'the best booker in the business' by Bill O'Reilly, Berg possessed a unique ability to garner relationships with The Tonight Show's many guests. The witty and engaging anecdotes in this collection feature such personalities as John Kerry, Russell Crowe, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Willie Nelson, Teri Hatcher, and Dennis Rodman. This is a book that could only be written by a privileged insider. Berg reveals an industry view into the booking and preparation for a guest appearance, reflecting on how some guests are difficult and unprepared and how others are spontaneous and hilarious. He details the five-year-long series of bookings and appearances of Barack Obama-the first sitting president to appear on late-night television-and the fearful scheduling of Dennis Rodman, who was perpetually late. In this compilation, Berg shares the secrets, insights, and blunders of late-night television.

For those starting out in their careers—and those who wish to advance more quickly—this is a delightfully fussy guide to the hidden rules of the road in the workplace and in life. As bestselling author and social historian Charles Murray explains, at senior levels of an organization there are curmudgeons everywhere, judging your every move. Yet it is their good opinion you need to win if you hope to get ahead. Among the curmudgeon’s day-to-day tips for the workplace: • Excise the word “like” from your spoken English • Don’t suck up • Stop “reaching out” and “sharing” • Rid yourself of piercings, tattoos, and weird hair colors • Make strong language count His larger career advice includes: • What to do if you have a bad boss • Coming to grips with the difference between being nice and being good • How to write when you don’t know what to say • Being judgmental (it’s good, and you don’t have a choice anyway) And on the great topics of life, the curmudgeon urges us to leave home no matter what, get real jobs (not internships), put ourselves in scary situations, and watch Groundhog Day repeatedly (he’ll explain). Witty, wise, and pulling no punches, The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead is an indispensable sourcebook for living an adult life.

This is the story of Ira “Teen” Palm, a soldier in World War II, from Mount Vernon, NY, through the European Theater of World War II, to his acquisition of a pistol engraved with Hitler’s initials as he stormed Hitler’s Munich apartment in a covert operation. The story of the man and the pistol has never been told—and might just write a new chapter in history.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams offers fascinating insight into The Chronicles of Narnia, the popular series of novels by one of the most influential Christian authors of the modern era, C. S. Lewis. Lewis once referred to certain kinds of book as a "mouthwash for the imagination." This is what he attempted to provide in the Narnia stories, argues Williams: an unfamiliar world in which we could rinse out what is stale in our thinking about Christianity--"which is almost everything," says Williams--and rediscover what it might mean to meet the holy. Indeed, Lewis's great achievement in the Narnia books is just that-he enables readers to encounter the Christian story "as if for the first time." How does Lewis makes fresh and strange the familiar themes of Christian doctrine? Williams points out that, for one, Narnia itself is a strange place: a parallel universe, if you like. There is no "church" in Narnia, no religion even. The interaction between Aslan as a "divine" figure and the inhabitants of this world is something that is worked out in the routines of life itself. Moreover, we are made to see humanity in a fresh perspective, the pride or arrogance of the human spirit is chastened by the revelation that, in Narnia, you may be on precisely the same spiritual level as a badger or a mouse. It is through these imaginative dislocations that Lewis is able to communicate--to a world that thinks it knows what faith is--the character, the feel, of a real experience of surrender in the face of absolute incarnate love. This lucid, learned, humane, and beautifully written book opens a new window onto Lewis's beloved stories, revealing the moral wisdom and passionate faith beneath their perennial appeal.

WHO BETTER TO FACE THE GREATEST EVIL OF THE 20TH CENTURY THAN A HUMBLE MAN OF FAITH?As Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seduced a nation, bullied a continent, and attempted to exterminate the Jews of Europe, a small number of dissidents and saboteurs worked to dismantle the Third Reich from the inside. One of these was Dietrich Bonhoeffer—a pastor and author. In this New York Times best-selling biography, Eric Metaxas takes both strands of Bonhoeffer’s life—the theologian and the spy—and draws them together to tell a searing story of incredible moral courage in the face of monstrous evil. Metaxas presents the fullest accounting of Bonhoeffer’s heart-wrenching decision to leave the safe haven of America to return to Hitler’s Germany, and sheds new light on Bonhoeffer’s involvement in the famous Valkyrie plot and in “Operation 7,” the effort to smuggle Jews into neutral Switzerland. In a deeply moving narrative, Metaxas uses previously unavailable documents?including personal letters, detailed journal entries, and firsthand personal accounts?to reveal dimensions of Bonhoeffer's life and theology never before seen."Bonhoeffer is the story of a life framed by a passion for truth and a commitment to justice on behalf of those who face implacable evil. Includes Readers’ Guide “[A] beautifully constructed biography.”—Alan Wolfe, The New Republic “Metaxas tells Bonhoeffer’s story with passion and theological sophistication. . . .”—Wall Street Journal“[A] weighty, riveting analysis of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. . . .”—Publishers Weekly“Metaxas presents Bonhoeffer as a clear-headed, deeply convicted Christian who submitted to no one and nothing except God and his Word.”—Christianity Today“Metaxas has written a book that adds a new dimension to World War II, a new understanding of how evil can seize the soul of a nation and a man of faith can confront it. . . .”—Thomas Fleming, author, The New Dealers’ War“Metaxas has created a biography of uncommon power—intelligent, moving, well researched,vividly written, and rich in implication for our own lives. Or to put it another way: Buy this book. Read it. Then buy another copy and give it to a person you love. It’s that good.”—Archbishop Charles Chaput, First Things"A definitive Bonhoeffer biography for the 21st century."—Kirkus Reviews2011 ECPA Book of the Year2011 Canterbury Medal by the Becket Fund recognizing courage in the defense of religious liberty2011 Christopher Award winner highlighting the power of faith, courage, and action"A definitive Bonhoeffer biography for the 21st century."-Kirkus Reviews

Today the word 'fascist' is usually an insult aimed at those on the right, from neocons to big business. But what does it really mean? What if the true heirs to fascism were actually those who thought of themselves as being terribly nice and progressive - the liberals?Jonah Goldberg's excoriating, opinion-driving, US bestseller explains why. Here he destroys long-held myths to reveal why the most insidious attemps to control our lives originate from the left, whether it's smoking bans or security cameras. Journeying through history and across culture, he uses surprising examples ranging from Woodrow Wilson's police state to the Clinton personality cult, the military chic of 60s' student radicals to Hollywood's totalitarian aesthetics, to show that it is modern progressivism - and not conservatism - that shares the same intellectual roots as fascism.This angry, funny, smart and contentious book looks behind the friendly face of the well-meaning liberal, and turns our preconceptions inside out.

Fourteen young Americans, fourteen stories... The face of Conservatism is changing, and these fourteen young Americans share their personal stories about what it means to be a young conservative. From former Liberals to first-generation Americans, they've each taken different roads, held different beliefs, prioritized different issues, and lived their lives in different ways. Yet each chose conservatism as the best way to protect their freedom. "Young, Conservative, and Why it's Smart to be like Us" offers an exciting glimpse of the future of conservatism with witty, serious, insightful, practical, pointed, and sometimes touching stories about what conservatism means to each author personally and politically. Chapters by Allen Ginzburg, Brady Cremeens, Brandon Morse, Dina Fraioli, Dan Webb, Erin Brown, Gabriella Hoffman, Kate Shaw, Kevin Eder, Liberty Betts, Liz Thatcher, Liz Wheeler, Mary Chastain, R.J. Moeller

Ayn Rand's first published novel, a timeless story that explores the struggles of the individual against the state in Soviet Russia. First published in 1936, We the Living portrays the impact of the Russian Revolution on three human beings who demand the right to live their own lives and pursue their own happiness. It tells of a young woman’s passionate love, held like a fortress against the corrupting evil of a totalitarian state. We the Living is not a story of politics, but of the men and women who have to struggle for existence behind the Red banners and slogans. It is a picture of what those slogans do to human beings. What happens to the defiant ones? What happens to those who succumb? Against a vivid panorama of political revolution and personal revolt, Ayn Rand shows what the theory of socialism means in practice. Includes an Introduction and Afterword by Ayn Rand’s Philosophical Heir, Leonard Peikoff