{"title":"History, Politics \u0026 Power","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"alexander-the-great","title":"Alexander the Great","description":"\u003csection aria-labelledby=\"alexander-overview\"\u003e\u003ch2 id=\"alexander-overview\"\u003eAbout Alexander the Great\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRobin Lane Fox’s historical biography examines Alexander through the competing evidence and legends surrounding his life. It follows the relationship between military leadership, ambition, conquest, and the individual behind an enduring historical image.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eReading History through Character\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book invites a discussion about what a biographer can recover from incomplete or conflicting accounts. Where does a portrait of character help explain an event, and where does it leave you with further questions? Consider how the account balances the scale of Alexander’s achievements with the decisions and relationships through which readers encounter him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eElliot Ackerman’s Reading Context\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the Book Club recommendation preserved in the authoritative project spreadsheet, Ackerman explains that he picked up Fox’s biography as research for a project. He found it entertaining and admired the way it combined historical detail with a compelling life story. He particularly valued its portraits of Alexander’s peers and rivals. Those observations offer readers a useful starting point for discussing how scholarly history creates narrative momentum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/book-club\/july-2026-book-club-pick-alexander-the-great\"\u003eRead the Alexander the Great Book Club reading guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003c!-- Book context: Alexander the Great; Robin Lane Fox; historical biography; ancient history; leadership; conquest; verified Penguin Books paperback reference edition October 5, 2004, ISBN 9780143035138, 592 pages. Elliot reading context supplied in authoritative project spreadsheet. --\u003e","brand":"Robin Lane Fox","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47477529608354,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/AlexandertheGreatbyRobinLaneFox.jpg?v=1785113583"},{"product_id":"shadow-before-the-flame-the-hindenburg-disaster-and-the-prelude-to-war","title":"Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War","description":"\u003csection aria-labelledby=\"book-overview\"\u003e\u003ch2 id=\"book-overview\"\u003eAbout \u003cem\u003eShadow Before the Flame\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCatherine Grace Katz revisits the Hindenburg disaster through the people who built, promoted, flew, and reported on the airship. On May 6, 1937, its arrival at Lakehurst, New Jersey, became a catastrophe witnessed around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe history reaches beyond the familiar photograph of a burning zeppelin. Katz connects the promise of transatlantic flight with the political pressures of the 1930s, when technological prestige and Nazi propaganda shaped the meaning of an extraordinary machine. Passengers, crew, and journalists bring that larger history to a human scale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eBook Details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFull title:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eShadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Catherine Grace Katz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEdition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Viking hardcover, September 22, 2026; 496 pages\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9780593832189\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy Read This Book\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor readers interested in history, geopolitics, and the relationship between technology and power, the book offers a way to reconsider an iconic disaster within the world approaching the Second World War. Its focus on individual lives also opens questions about how an event becomes a public image and how that image can eclipse its context.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003c!-- SEO\/GEO context: Shadow Before the Flame is a nonfiction history by Catherine Grace Katz about the 1937 Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, New Jersey, transatlantic aviation, Nazi propaganda, and the prelude to World War II. This record belongs to the Elliot Ackerman Book Club catalog. --\u003e","brand":"Catherine Grace Katz","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47669748007074,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/Shadow_Before_the_Flame_-_The_Hindenburg_Disaster_and_the_Prelude_to_War.jpg?v=1788046374"},{"product_id":"a-world-in-disarray","title":"A World in Disarray","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA World in Disarray\u003c\/em\u003e by Richard Haass.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichard Haass examines an international order under strain and the limits of American power to shape it. His subject is the widening gap between inherited institutions and a world that no longer fits comfortably within them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it as an invitation to distinguish power from control. The discussion begins where policy becomes difficult: deciding what a country can accomplish, what it owes others and what it must learn to live with.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richard Haass","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822296305826,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/9780399562389.tif?v=1794092849"},{"product_id":"the-retreat-of-western-liberalism","title":"The Retreat of Western Liberalism","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Retreat of Western Liberalism\u003c\/em\u003e by Edward Luce.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEdward Luce examines the condition of Western liberal democracy and the pressures threatening its stability. The book treats political institutions as arrangements whose endurance cannot simply be assumed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it as an invitation to scrutinize what makes a political order sustainable. A useful discussion asks which expectations support democratic life and what follows when citizens cease to believe those expectations can be met.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"book-cover-credit\"\u003eAbacus paperback, ISBN 9780349143026. Cover image courtesy of Hachette Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"book-edition-note\"\u003eThe pictured edition is the Abacus paperback (ISBN 9780349143026), with a new afterword. The Apple Books option is the separate 2017 Atlantic Monthly Press US English ebook (ISBN 9780802188861); its contents and cover may differ. The publisher paperback link is a UK edition listing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Edward Luce","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822313902242,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/download_1a964cff-2e3e-4cb5-9f2a-ccb2a16556b9.jpg?v=1794249355"},{"product_id":"mayflower","title":"Mayflower","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMayflower\u003c\/em\u003e by Nathaniel Philbrick.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNathaniel Philbrick follows the voyage of the Mayflower and the history of Plymouth Colony into the conflict that overtook New England decades later. A familiar national origin story becomes a longer account of peril, settlement and war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it for the difference between a founding myth and the history that surrounds it. The discussion begins with what changes when a story continues beyond the moment usually chosen as its ending.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nathaniel Philbrick","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822336708770,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/9781101218839.tif?v=1794092901"},{"product_id":"the-lord-of-all-the-dead","title":"The Lord of All the Dead","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Lord of All the Dead\u003c\/em\u003e by Javier Cercas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJavier Cercas investigates the life of his great-uncle Manuel Mena, who died at nineteen while fighting for Franco. Family memory becomes the starting point for an inquiry into the Spanish Civil War and its enduring divisions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it for the tension between affection and historical judgment. The book asks how to understand a beloved relative without allowing love to erase the cause he served.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Javier Cercas","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822336774306,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/9780525520917.tif?v=1794093592"},{"product_id":"the-journey-of-liu-xiaobo","title":"The Journey of Liu Xiaobo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Journey of Liu Xiaobo: From Dark Horse to Nobel Laureate\u003c\/em\u003e, edited by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Yu Zhang, Jie Li and Tienchi Martin-Liao; translated by Stacy Mosher and Andrea Worden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis collection brings together essays and reflections on Liu Xiaobo, the writer, nonviolent activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate imprisoned in China. Different witnesses approach his life, his democratic commitments and his legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead the contributions in conversation with one another. They invite a discussion of how a public figure is remembered, and how writing can sustain an argument when political power seeks to silence its author.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"book-cover-credit\"\u003eCover image supplied through \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/joanneleedom-ackerman.com\/media-room\/\"\u003eJoanne Leedom-Ackerman’s official media room\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Joanne Leedom-Ackerman (editor)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822336872610,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/The-Journey-of-Liu-Xiaobo-Leedom-Ackerman.jpg?v=1793999052"},{"product_id":"the-omni-americans","title":"The Omni-Americans","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Omni-Americans\u003c\/em\u003e by Albert Murray.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlbert Murray examines American culture and the limitations of treating the country as two separate racial worlds. His essays challenge reductive accounts of the relationships through which American life has been made.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it for the pressure it puts on familiar categories. It invites a discussion of how cultural understanding changes when interdependence becomes the starting point rather than an exception.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Albert Murray","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822343590050,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/9781598536539.jpg?v=1793941333"},{"product_id":"school-board","title":"School Board","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSchool Board\u003c\/em\u003e by Mike Freedman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMike Freedman's political novel follows eighteen-year-old Tucker 'Catfish' Davis as he runs for the Houston school board. A local contest becomes an arena for ambition, performance and inexperience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it for the scale at which political habits begin. The story offers a discussion of what happens when youthful confidence enters institutions whose purposes and incentives may not be the same.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mike Freedman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822346932386,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/626x0w_cb0fbf1b-fbe7-47b9-88f9-7da00e38f731.jpg?v=1794023319"},{"product_id":"man-s-fate","title":"Man's Fate","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMan's Fate\u003c\/em\u003e by André Malraux.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAndre Malraux follows people drawn into revolutionary violence in Shanghai in 1927. Political commitments collide with private attachments, conflicting motives and the consequences of acting on an ideal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it for the space between a collective cause and an individual decision. The novel asks what freedom remains when history appears to demand that everyone choose a side.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"André Malraux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822350799010,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/9780679725749.tif?v=1794095107"},{"product_id":"the-wizard-of-the-kremlin","title":"The Wizard of the Kremlin","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wizard of the Kremlin\u003c\/em\u003e by Giuliano da Empoli.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA former television producer turned adviser to Putin tells the story of his place inside the Kremlin. Giuliano da Empoli uses a fictional insider to explore political power as both institutional force and public performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it as a novel about the stories power tells, not as a substitute for a documentary record. It asks what happens when the distinction between truth and performance becomes an instrument of government.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliano da Empoli","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822354501794,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/9781635423952.jpg?v=1793941333"},{"product_id":"seven-days-in-may","title":"Seven Days in May","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSeven Days in May\u003c\/em\u003e by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II imagine a military plot against an American president. An officer who discovers the conspiracy must decide where his duty lies as the time to stop it runs short.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRead it for the distinction between loyalty to a commander and loyalty to constitutional government. The thriller makes a discussion of civil-military responsibility urgent without making the choices comfortable.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCover shown: Bantam paperback. The hardcover purchase option is the Harper \u0026amp; Row edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50822354632866,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/9780553131697-us.jpg?v=1794066535"},{"product_id":"our-man","title":"Our Man","description":"\u003cp\u003eGeorge Packer traces Richard Holbrooke’s career from Vietnam through the Balkans to Afghanistan, using one diplomat’s ambition and contradictions to examine America’s place in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe biography invites a discussion about the distance between public purpose and personal ambition: when force of personality makes diplomacy possible, and when it narrows a nation’s understanding of its own power.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReading context:\u003c\/strong\u003e Elliot Ackerman named this book among his current reading in a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/americanwritersmuseum.org\/in-their-own-words-elliot-ackerman\/\"\u003eJuly 2019 American Writers Museum interview\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFeatured edition:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eOur Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century\u003c\/em\u003e, Vintage paperback, May 26, 2020; 624 pages; ISBN 9780307948175. This paperback edition appeared after the interview.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"George Packer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50836106870946,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/our-man-9780307948175.jpg?v=1794107193"}],"url":"https:\/\/elliotackerman.com\/collections\/books-history-politics-power.oembed","provider":"Elliot Ackerman","version":"1.0","type":"link"}