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With both an entertainer’s eye and a social scientist’s rigor, Wayne Parent subjects Louisiana’s politics to rational and empirical analysis, seeking and finding coherent reasons for the state’s well-known unique history. He resists resorting to vague hand-waving about “exoticism,” while at the same time he brings to life the juicy stories that illustrate his points. Pa rent’s main theme is that Louisiana’s ethnic mix, natural resources, and geography define a culture that in turn produces...

In Louisiana, every bite of food and each turn of phrase is an expression of cultural literacy. Correctly pronouncing "Tchoupitoulas" or "Atchafalaya," knowing the difference between the first Governor Long and the second one, being able to spot the artwork of Caroline Durieux, and honoring the distinction between a Creole and a Cajun roux serve not just as markers of familiarity; they represent acts of preservation. The Louisiana Field Guide: Understanding Life in the Pelican State expand...

A new era of political power has arrived, one in which the social media forces of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter indisputably play a larger role in the political process. In this revised and expanded edition of Political Communication: The Manship School Guide, edited by Robert Mann and David D. Perlmutter, contributors discuss technological changes in the context of studies and techniques that remain unchallenged, resulting in a truly comprehensive manual of the world of political communi...

The original Broad Street Bully has secrets to reveal.Before there was Bob Probert, Tie Domi, or Stu Grimson, there was Dave Schultz. The original enforcer changed the face of the NHL for decades to come, and helped bring the Philadephia Flyers their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, by scaring opponents into submission. His name was known and feared around the league—and still is. Schultz still draws long lines for his autograph.That’s a long way to ...

From the #1 bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia, the landmark book that has revolutionized the way we understand leadership and decision making.In his breakthrough bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within.Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in...

The book Politico calls “Moneyball for politics” shows how cutting-edge social science and analytics are reshaping the modern political campaign—now updated with a new postscript.Renegade thinkers are crashing the gates of a venerable American institution, shoving aside its so-called wise men and replacing them with a radical new data-driven order. We’ve seen it in sports, and now in The Victory Lab, journalist Sasha Issenberg tells the h...

National Book Critics Circle Award WinnerNew York TimesBestsellerUSA Today BestsellerA New York TimesNotable Book of the YearA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the YearA Boston Globe Best Book of 2016A Chicago Review of Books Best Nonfiction Book of 2016From the Civil W...

The symptoms of the crisis of the U.S. media are well-known-a decline in hard news, the growth of info-tainment and advertorials, staff cuts and concentration of ownership, increasing conformity of viewpoint and suppression of genuine debate. McChesney's new book, The Problem of the Media, gets to the roots of this crisis, explains it, and points a way forward for the growing media reform movement.Moving consistently from critique to action, the book explores the po...

The Struggle for Black Equality is a dramatic, memorable history of the civil rights movement. Harvard Sitkoff offers both a brilliant interpretation of the personalities and dynamics of civil rights organizations and a compelling analysis of the continuing problems plaguing many African Americans. With a new foreword and afterword, and an up-to-date bibliography, this anniversary edition highlights the continuing significance of the movement for black equality and justice.

Many people were elated when Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in May 1954, the ruling that struck down state-sponsored racial segregation in America's public schools. Thurgood Marshall, chief attorney for the black families that launched the litigation, exclaimed later, "I was so happy, I was numb." The novelist Ralph Ellison wrote, "another battle of the Civil War has been won. The rest is up to us and I'm very glad. What a wonderful ...

They had 99 problems but Mitt Romney wasn't one.At the start of an epic election, the team trying to reelect President Obama faced a mountain of challenges: a dismal economy, the faded hopes of the first campaign, and a struggle to raise enough cash to compete. No president had risen so fast, or fallen so far, in the modern era. And no president in living memory had earned a second term in such troubled times. To resell the president, they needed to redefine the world they were liv...