Books for the Serious Reader - Non-Fiction for the Holidays, 2009

Justice, by Michael J. Sandel	The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed
What are our obligations to others? Is it ever right to lie, steal, or harm another person? All of us have answers to these questions, most driven by instinct. But have we ever pursued where these instincts come from, the implications of our answers in one setting to another? Michael J. Sandel brings his famous Harvard course between to the written page, tracing the constructs of justice from Aristotle to Bentham and Mill, to Kant and Rawls. - Ron	Named best book of the year by many reviewers, this is the authoritative history of the Hemingses. It tells the remarkable story of the family's origins, carrying the story generations beyond Sally and Thomas Jefferson. A rewarding investment. Most readable.
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, by By Richard Dawkins	Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl Wudunn
The argument for evolution, written by a passionate scientist and biologist. Takes Darwin into present day.	“If you have always wondered whether you can change the world, read this book. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn have written a brilliant call to arms that describes one of the transcendent injustices in the world today—the brutal treatment of women." -Fareed Zakariah
The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, by By Douglas Brinkley	The Invention of the Jewish People, by By Shlomo Sand, Yael Lotan
The award winning biography of Theodore Roosevelt. Brinkley has written a tome, which if you choose to indulge, rewards a hundred times over. You find the essence of the man who really believed America belonged to the people.	In this bold and ambitious new book, Sand argues that the Israeli national myth has its origins in the 19th century, rather than in biblical times. Controversial, this is a scholarly work that argues for a different perspective on the Palestinian - Israeli conflict.
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan, by By Doug Stanton	In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect, by Ronald Kessler
Horse Soldiers is the dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to war on horses against the Taliban. Outnumbered forty to one, they pursued the enemy across mountainous terrain and, after a series of intense battles, captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was strategically essential if they were to defeat the Taliban.	Kessler portrays the dangers that agents face and how they carry out their missions–from how they are trained to how they spot and assess potential threats. With fly-on-the-wall perspective, he captures the drama and tension that characterize agents’ lives.
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner	Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, by Al Gore
The data don't lie, and often they can help us understand human behavior. In this sequel to Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner tell us more about what we should be doing.	Al Gore tells it as he sees it. It is our choice - will we make the tough decisions to save our planet? He explores the choices and convinces us to act.