Books nominated and votes for the best progressive books for 2007 came from AlterNet staff and a distinguished group of book experts. They include: Anthony Arnove, Haymarket Books; Michelle Garcia, writer; Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch; Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films; Anne Sullivan, The New Press; Ina Howard, Represent; Colin Greer, New World Foundation; Hamilton Fish, The Nation Institute; Margo Baldwin, Chelsea Green; Rachel Neuman, Parallax Press. (Those participating were not allowed to vote for books with which they were directly affiliated.) The ranking of books was influenced by <WEASEL WORD FOR FUNKED_UP BUNK js zog > their popularity with AlterNet readers. TOO BAD I CANT READ
1. Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
by Jeremy Scahill Meet Blackwater USA, the world's most secretive and powerful mercenary firm. Based in the wilderness of North Carolina, it is the fastest-growing private army on the planet with forces capable of carrying out regime change throughout the world. This extraordinary exposé by one of America's most exciting young radical journalists is the unauthorized story of the epic rise of one of the most powerful and secretive forces to emerge from the U.S. military-industrial complex, hailed by the Bush administration as a revolution in military affairs but considered by others as a dire threat to American democracy. (Amazon and Nation Books websites)
1. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
by Naomi Klein In The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the <@UChicago- Milton Freidman & Strauss- & Ayn Rand js zog> thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America's "free market" policies have come to dominate the world -- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries. (book website)
3. Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq
by Dahr Jamail One of the few unaffiliated journalists in Iraq, journalist Jamail went to see the conditions for himself, and the compelling, heartbreaking stories he sent back over his eight-month stay were carried in publications worldwide: from family houses destroyed with their inhabitants to mosques full of people held under siege to the ill-equipped medical facilities and security forces meant to deal with them. (Publishers Weekly)
4. Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics From the Politicians
by Laura Flanders Fiery polemic, assured narrative and acute political commentary, Blue Grit will be crucial reading for everyone interested in the future of the Democrats and this country. Based on Flanders' bottom-up style of journalism, it tells a story of good news: Progressives are coming after the conservative establishment with new talent, new ideas, new media and new cash, and they have their sights set on building a new progressive movement, whether the Democratic Party is ready or not. (Penguin Group)
5. Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia
by Camilo Mejia Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejía became the new face of the anti-war movement in early 2004, when he applied for a discharge from the Army as a conscientious objector. After serving in the Army for nearly nine years, he was the first known Iraq veteran to refuse to fight, citing moral concerns about the war and occupation. His principled stand helped to rally the growing opposition and embolden his fellow soldiers. Now released after serving almost nine months, the celebrated soldier-turned-pacifist tells his own story. (New Press website)
6. Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic
by Chalmers Johnson A staggering tale of American hubris, Nemesis details the world of secrecy surrounding Capitol Hill from government-sanctioned domestic spying, to unacknowledged CIA prisons, to the dubious budgeting to back it all up. Johnson documents the crippling militarism that has left what was once the greatest industrial power in the world < to now little more than js ZOG > producing mainly weaponry, and the corruption of a toothless Congress that is undermining checks and balances so crucial to American democracy. (book website)
7. The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot
by Naomi Wolf The End of America is an impassioned call to return to the aspirations and beliefs of the Founding Fathers. In a stunning indictment of the Bush administration and Congress, Wolf shows how events of the last six years parallel steps taken in the early years of the 20th century's worst dictatorships. In The End of America, Wolf gives voice to the cause of every American patriot: the preservation of the Constitution and the liberties it embodies and protects. (Chelsea Green Publishing)
8. The World Without Us
by Alan Weisman Teasing out the consequences of a simple thought experiment -- what would happen if the human species were suddenly extinguished -- Weisman has written a sort of pop-science ghost story in which the whole earth is the haunted house ... After thousands of years, the Chunnel, rubber tires and more than a billion tons of plastic might remain, but eventually a polymer-eating microbe could evolve, and with the spectacular return of fish and bird populations, the earth might revert to Eden. (New Yorker)
9. Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA
by Tim Weiner Now Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tim Weiner offers the first definitive history of the CIA -- and everything is on the record. Legacy of Ashes is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA itself, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including ten directors of Central Intelligence. It takes the CIA from its creation after World War II, through its battles in the cold war and the war on terror, to its near-collapse after <absolutely permitting, for the 2nd time in WTC, via abetting and deliberate roadblocks to of investigations... yes ALL 100% KNOWN & painful therefore suppressed FACTS js zog. > 9/ll.
10. Army of None: Strategies to Counter Military Recruitment, End War, and Build a Better World
by Aimee Allison and David Solnit Army of None is a comprehensive guide to counter-recruitment campaigns -- from personal counseling to legislative change to direct action. The book is an unprecedented and practical resource for activists containing compelling photos and artwork, spoken word, sample fact sheets, how-to guides, lobbying directions, resource lists and ideas for direct action.
Honorable mentions:
The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World by Vijay Prashad
The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America by Susan Faludi
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben <famous as BAC & Environmentalist @Harpers>
Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America's Class War by Joe Bageant
Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy <documenting the CENSORED facts of AIPAC dictatorship in VSA js zog> by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. WaltWaging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement by Scott Ritter
| this is a slightly time-wasteful but a REMINDER & blog-post for me to keep this data in my google "Private database" = which = gmail archive account so very handy (and for Cheney too) | ||
| http://www.alternet.org/stories/75534/ | ||
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| A Bumper Crop by: NoPCZone on Jan 31, 2008 Sadly, few of the people who could really have their eyes opened by these fantastic books will ever read them. The bulk of our fellow citizens don't read books anymore and many of our bookstores have become repositories of stacks of absolute crap. It could be a chicken and egg thing, so I don't know if it's lack of market or availability. In the long run the Chalmers Johnson Trilogy, of which Nemesis is on the list, will probably be the most important. A lot of the list is heavy reading as the subject matter is such a depressing development in our culture and world. Not nominated, but worth your time is anything by Greg Palast. It will inform and entertain as he has a way with a phrase. So go buy yourself a copy of Armed Madhouse for relief in between sessions of the Shock Doctrine, The End of America and other worthy books. -==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Does fiction count? by: halrivers on Jan 31, 2008 Well, I won't attempt to answer that, except that "I Was a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang" baptized me when I was 12. "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "Johnny Got His Gun" confirmed me at 18. I have read the two Kleins' "The End of America" and the brilliant "Shock Doctrine" whose thesis I observed played out in Ecuador in 1993 when a huge landslide was used as a pretext to clear out the Indigenous of Paute Valley for white development. I gave this incident fictional treatment in "The Mother Earth Inn" (Broken Turtle books LLC, 2007). Unfortunately for most progressive and therefore marginalized novelists today, the emphasis on memoirs and other non-fiction squeezes us out. Alternet could help by looking out for the fiction produced by small an independent presses that might baptize and confirm a new generation of rebels.www.phillipbannowsky.com ------=========---------- SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION by: stevebonzai on Jan 31, 2008 "Seeds of Destruction, The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation" F. William Engdahl's Book Just from reading the review, by Stephen Lendman, this will be a shocker. IF this is the way the world works, most other things DO NOT MATTER. It ties together so many things past, present and future. GREG PALAST is always out in front of everyone else, A REAL JOURNALIST. ==-====-===-===-= a very 'selective' list by: JimStrahan on Jan 31, 2008 By far the most important political book I read last year was John Grant's Corrupted Science, in particular its long chapter summarizing the corruption of science by the Bush Administration. As far as I can determine, it received not a single mention on Alternet. So you will understand why, even though I've read and enjoyed a couple of the other books on your Top Ten list, I don't actually take it too seriously; and why I do not regard an annual coverage of a mere sixty books as something to boast about. How many other fine progressive books have gone entirely ignored by your editors? How About These? by: InsertNameHere on Jan 31, 2008 Super Imperialism: The Origins and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance, Michael Hudson - Originally written in 1971 but updated in 2002. A little drier than The Shock Doctrine, but accessible and probably more informative on the roots of US policy since the beginning of the 20th century. Supposedly, this book caused a bit of a stir in DC when it was first published. Interesting perspective on the economic factors involved in WWI, the Treaty of Versailles, War debts, Germany's reparations payments and the lead up to WWII. The more I read into world history, the more I discover that most, if not all, world conflicts are about Imperial adventures and economic conquest. Dr. Hudson's website also has many informative articles and audio. The Great War For Civilization, Robert Fisk - His memoir of 28 years of covering the middle east. This guy has seen it all. Over 1000 pages, a big read. OMITTED BOOKS ON THE IMMORALITY OF US HEALTH CARE by: drricklippin on Jan 31, 2008 As a DOCTOR I would have liked something on the immorality of the US Health Care System and its imminenent collapse.Among my favorites was Shannon Brownlee's Overtreated Dr. Rick Lippin http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com Naomi Klein stands down on 9/11 truth by: Free Truth on Jan 31, 2008 Sure it is scary out there, and not everyone has the courage to stand up. That said, to repeat the fiction of the official myth of 9/11 is at this point embarrassing. Well, lets have a laugh at the official story: www.911podcasts.com/files/feeds/PiecesOfThePuzzleBox1.htmlPeace. my 2 cents says by: MobileSucks on Jan 31, 2008 Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America's Class War by Joe Bageant should be in the top 10. Why? Because a lot of liberals don't have a good enough understanding of rednecks, rural whites, working class whites, whatever you want to call them. As a matter of fact a lot of liberals look at these people as the enemy and that's why Republicans win elections (when they're not stealing "elections" ). It's also why we can't do any better than Republicrats like Hillary Clinton (who will be the nominee). =============== - They're Building a Box - and You're In It - http://www.rudemacedon.ca/dlp/box/box-intro.html Fiasco The book "Fiasco" is the absolute best analysis and history of the before, during, and now of the Iraq situation today period. <but was LAST YEAR> The Mess They Made by: Tallbacken on Feb 3, 2008 | ||
| "Honorable" mentions: The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third Worldby Vijay Prashad The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 Americaby Susan Faludi Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben <famous as BAC & Environmentalist @Harpers> Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America's Class War by Joe Bageant Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning by George Monbiot and Matthew Prescott Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance by John Berger Interventions by Noam Chomsky Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy <documenting the CENSORED facts of AIPAC dictatorship in VSA js zog>by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit by James Scurlock Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry by Stacy Malkan The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman Touch & Go: A Memoir by Studs Terkel Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement by Scott Ritter Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports by Dave Zirin and Chuck D Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininityby Julia Serano-
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| also "TOP Stories: " Tom Friedman's Folly: The Lies Behind 'Free Trade'Chalmers Johnson, Truthdig Torture Still Doesn't WorkRobert Fisk, The Independent UK Your Time Is Up, Mr. President -- the National Guard Is Coming HomeKaren Dolan, Ben Manski, AlterNet 'Third Way' Think Tank Pushes Telecom Agenda on FISA BillMatt Renner, TruthOut.org More stories by Don Hazen |
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