Evaluates the formidable consequences of the Bush administration's conservative foreign policy on national security, tracing the path of conservatism throughout the past half century while making sobering predictions about the nation's vulnerability to nuclear terrorism.

Reflections on, and interviews with, US presidents from Nixon to George W. Bush, from “one of the best reporters of our time” (Joan Didion, New York Times–bestselling author of The White Album). Robert Scheer’s interviews with and profiles of US presidents have shaped journalism history. Scheer developed close journalistic relationships with Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush, and his reporting on them had a tangible impact on national debate—with examples including the famed 1976 Playboy interview in which then-candidate Jimmy Carter admitted to have lusted in his heart; and the 1980 interview with the Los Angeles Times during which the senior Bush confessed to Scheer his dream of a “winnable nuclear war.” In Playing President, Robert Scheer offers an unparalleled insight into the presidential mind, analyzing administrations from Nixon to George W. Bush, offering insights that will surprise the reader—particularly those with rigid preconceptions about the decision-making processes of our leaders. Also included are reprints of Scheer’s famous presidential interviews, along with previously unpublished interview transcripts and select writings.

Nostrovia!

J.F. (Jim) Straw began his business career when he was nine years old. Since then, his business activities have generated over $500,000,000 in revenues. In his book Mustard Seeds, Shovels, & Mountains, Mr. Straw explains how he used what he calls “Physio-Psychic Power” to achieve such incredible success. If you learn nothing else from this book, learn that information only becomes knowledge when you use it and the information you have used or failed to use in the past is the reason you are where you are today. You can be your best friend—or your worst enemy. No one forces you to be what you are or do what you do (or don’t do). What you have today is a direct result of what you did yesterday. What you will have tomorrow will be a direct result of what you do (or don’t do) today. It’s up to you…J.F. (Jim) Straw began his business career when he was nine years old. Since then, his business activities have generated over $500,000,000 in revenues. In his book Mustard Seeds, Shovels, & Mountains, Mr. Straw explains how he used what he calls “Physio-Psychic Power” to achieve such incredible success. If you learn nothing else from this book, learn that information only becomes knowledge when you use it and the information you have used or failed to use in the past is the reason you are where you are today. You can be your best friend—or your worst enemy. No one forces you to be what you are or do what you do (or don’t do). What you have today is a direct result of what you did yesterday. What you will have tomorrow will be a direct result of what you do (or don’t do) today. It’s up to you…

A modern classic that no child should miss. Since it was first published in 1939, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel has delighted generations of children. Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne, dig deep canals for boats to travel through, cut mountain passes for trains, and hollow out cellars for city skyscrapers -- the very symbol of industrial America. But with progress come new machines, and soon the inseparable duo are out of work. Mike believes that Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as one hundred men can dig in a week, and the two have one last chance to prove it and save Mary Anne from the scrap heap. What happens next in the small town of Popperville is a testament to their friendship, and to old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity.

Since the U.S. presidential elections of 1980, debate has intensified between those who believe that nuclear weapons can only deter a war not intended to be fought and those who see nuclear weapons as an advancement in weaponry that allows for the waging and winning of a nuclear war. At the focal point of this debate is the rise of the “counterforc