A
captivating blend of personal biography and public drama, The Wise Men
introduces the original best and brightest, leaders whose outsized
personalities and actions brought order to postwar chaos: Averell Harriman,
the freewheeling diplomat and Roosevelt's special envoy to Churchill and
Stalin; Dean Acheson, the secretary of state who was more responsible for
the Truman Doctrine than Truman and for the Marshall Plan than General
Marshall; George Kennan, self-cast outsider and intellectual darling of the
Washington elite; Robert Lovett, assistant secretary of war, undersecretary
of state, and secretary of defense throughout the formative years of the
Cold War; John McCloy, one of the nation's most influential private
citizens; and Charles Bohlen, adroit diplomat and ambassador to the Soviet
Union.
Kissinger (1992)
By the time Henry Kissinger was made
secretary of state in 1973, he had become, according to the Gallup Poll, the
most admired person in America and one of the most unlikely celebrities ever
to capture the world's imagination. Yet Kissinger was also reviled by large
segments of the American public, ranging from liberal intellectuals to
conservative activists. Kissinger explores the relationship between this
complex man's personality and the foreign policy he pursued. Drawing on
extensive interviews with Kissinger as well as 150 other sources, including
U.S. presidents and his business clients, this first full-length biography
makes use of many of Kissinger's private papers and classified memos to tell
his uniquely American story. The result is an intimate narrative, filled
with surprising revelations, that takes this grandly colorful statesman from
his childhood as a persecuted Jew in Nazi Germany, through his tortured
relationship with Richard Nixon, to his later years as a globe-trotting
business consultant.
People of the Century: One Hundred Men & Women Who Shaped the Last One Hundred Years (1999) with Dan Rather
This is the century that split the atom,
probed the psyche, spliced genes, and cloned a sheep. Plastic, the silicon
chip, and rock-and-roll were invented. Airplanes, rockets, satellites,
televisions, computers, and atom bombs were built. Traditional ideas about
logic, language, learning, mathematics, economics, and even space and time
were overthrown and radically refashioned. People of the Century
presents the one hundred most influential leaders, artists, intellects, and
heroes who shaped this monumental era.
This century's one hundred most influential people were selected by the
editors of Time magazine and featured in a series of documentaries
produced by CBS News. Here, their profiles are crafted by this era's finest
writers, from Salman Rushdie, Elie Wiesel, and Edmund Morris to Molly lvins,
William F. Buckley, and Robert Hughes, and many more. Lavishly illustrated
by hundreds of memorable photos, People of the Century is the
ultimate millennial keepsake.
A Benjamin Franklin Reader: The Autobiography (2003)
Selected and annotated by the author of
the acclaimed Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, this collection of
Franklin's writings shows why he was the bestselling author of his day and
remains America's favorite founder and wit. Includes an introductory essay
exploring Franklin's life and impact as a writer, and each piece is
accompanied by a preface and notes that provide background, context, and
analysis.
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003)
Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the
one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In this authoritative and
engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson shows how the most
fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character.
In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin's life from Boston to
Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Isaacson chronicles the
adventures of the spunky runaway apprentice who became, during his 84-year
life, America's best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and
business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious
political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard's Almanac
and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation's
alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the
compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.
Above all, Isaacson shows how Franklin's unwavering faith in the wisdom of
the common citizen and his instinctive appreciation for the possibilities of
democracy helped to forge an American national identity based on the virtues
and values of its middle class.
Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007)
How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows
how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his
personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between
creativity and freedom.
Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how
an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a
difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became
the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries
of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional
wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led
him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free
spirits, and free individuals.
These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in
which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the
beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.
See also:
The Way to Wealth and Other Writings on Finance
(2006) by Benjamin Franklin
Presenting pearls of wisdom on wealth from Benjamin
Franklin. Franklin compiled and self-published his own venerated advice
and proverbs on personal finance from Poor Richard’s Almanack. Since its
appearance as a pamphlet in 1758, it has been reprinted and translated
countless times. This new edition includes not only his counsel on
financial planning, investment, prudence, and retirement strategies, but
also essays and annotations about the legendary American entrepreneur
himself. Additionally, it features facsimile pages of the original typed
text, with adjacent pages providing modern translations for a 21st century
audience. With an insightful foreword by renowned Franklin biographer
Walter Isaacson and luxurious packaging, The Way to Wealth serves as both
an inspirational keepsake and a clever guide to economic success.
|
