Currently Reading:

The Presidents: Noted Historians Rank America's Best — and Worst — Chief Executives
by Brian Lamb, Susan Swain, and C-Span
Special Contributions by Douglas Brinkley * Edna Greene Medford * Richard Norton Smith
Public Affairs Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

 

Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America’s presidents across a variety of categories — their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, the moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in our national history, along with much in between.

Based on interviews conducted over the years with a variety of presidential biographers, this book provides not just a complete ranking of our presidents, but stories and analyses that capture the character of the men who held the office. From Abraham Lincoln’s political savvy and rhetorical gifts to James Buchanan’s indecisiveness, this book teaches much about what makes a great leader–and what does not.

As America looks ahead to our next election, this book offers perspective and criteria that may help us choose our next leader wisely.

BookSpin Giveaway!

Sundays at Eight: 25 Years of Stories from C-Span's Q&A and Booknotes
Brian Lamb
Public Affairs
Hardcover

Public Affairs has graciously provided 3 copies of Sundays at Eight for giveaway on BookSpin.  To enter to win tell me your favorite nonfiction book of all time in a tweet.  My twitter name is @Book_Dude.  US entries only, please.

From the publisher's website:

For the last 25 years, Sunday nights at 8pm on C-SPAN has been appointment television for many Americans. During that time, host Brian Lamb has invited people to his Capitol Hill studio for hour-long conversations about contemporary society and history. In today’s soundbite culture that hour remains one of television’s last vestiges of in-depth, civil conversation.

First came C-SPAN’s Booknotes in 1989, which by the time it ended in December 2004, was the longest-running author-interview program in American broadcast history. Many of the most notable nonfiction authors of its era were featured over the course of 800 episodes, and the conversations became a defining hour for the network and for nonfiction writers.