Dinner with Churchill -- Policy-Making at the Dinner Table by Cita Stelzer, Pegasus '13, $26.95, ASIN #1605984019. Index, bibliography, endnotes, picture credits, b&w images sprinkled through text.
Tell me if you agree -- If you could have dinner with five people from throughout the course of world history, wouldn't Winston Churchill be on your list? Freelance journalist Cita Stelzer has tackled a fascinating subject: following the British Prime Minister/author/visionary from dinner table to dinner table, which Churchill used "as a stage on which to display his brilliant conversational talents, an intimate setting in which to glean gossip and diplomatic insights, and to argue for the many policies he espoused over a long life."
In an aside, the author tells why she was impelled to write this book:
"In the course of many years spent reading biographies of and books about Winston Churchill I realized that I had learned little about how this man planned the meals at which he had accomplished so much. After all, most of the deals that were struck at the famous international conferences held during WWII were made at or facilitated by dinners at which the leaders were more relaxed than at formal sessions.
"So I began digging into the Churchill Archives at Churchill College, Cambridge. Not only did I find menus for the more famous dinners with Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, and Stalin. But there were details of Churchill's careful setting of the stages for dinners with his generals, political friends and foes, leading academics and a host of other interesting people. In addition, I found bills for dinners at Claridges, the Ritz, and The Savoy, with guest lists, amended wine selections, letters from Churchill and his staff complaining about over-billing, letters from Churchill thanking friends for the gifts of foods and wines, all in the Archives as set out in my book."
A freelance journalist and a Research Associate at the Hudson Institute, author Cita Stelzer previously worked for John Lindsay, Mayor of New York; and Gov. Hugh Carey. She is currently a researcher at Churchill College, Cambridge.
The Real Price of Everything -- Rediscovering the Six Classics of Economics, Edited and with an introduction by Michael Lewis, Sterling Publishing, $29.95, 1,467 pages, ASIN #140274790X. Index, timeline, endnotes, unillustrated.
Those who have developed a following for author Michael Lewis from reading Liar's Poker and Moneyball will do a double-take in reading (or even beginning) this book. From the dust jacket:
"Economics was famously mocked by Thomas Carlyle as 'the dismal science,' and the great works seldom appear on people's 'must read' lists. But as the acclaimed journalist and best-selling author Michael Lewis contends, our culture's tendency to neglect the subject and disparage its practitioners isn't just unfair; it's downright dumb.
"....The Real Price of Everything presents six masterworks that revolutionized the way we understand markets on a national, regional, and global scale.....Assembled, edited, and introduced by Lewis, the compilation begins with Smith's Wealth of Nations -- the bible of free-market capitalism -- and ends with John Maynard Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money -- the foundational document of government-managed market economies of the present era. Also included are master works from Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, Charles Mackay, and Thorstein Veblen."
Author Michael Lewis received an art history degree from Princeton and a Masters Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics. He has written several acclaimed books and lives with his family in California.
To Teach -- The Journey of a Teacher, Third Edition, foreword by Sonia Nieto, afterword by Mike Rose, Teachers College Press '10 paperback, $21.95, 192 pages, ASIN #0807750638. Index, further reading, unillustrated.
From the back cover:
"To Teach is the now-classic story of one teacher's odyssey into the ethical and intellectual heart of teaching. For almost two decades, it has inspired teachers across the country to follow their own paths, face their own challenges, and become the teachers they long to be. This new third edition is especially vital reading amidst today's public policy debates and school reform initiatives that stress the importance of 'good teaching.'
"To help bring this popular story to a new generation of teachers, Teachers College Press is publishing an exciting companion volume, To Teach: The Journey, In Comics. In this graphic novel, Ayers and talented young artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner bring the celebrated memoir to life. Paired with the new graphic novel, the third edition of To Teach offers a unique teaching and learning experience that broadens and deepens our understanding of what teaching can be. Together, these resources will capture the imaginations of teachers who are ready to follow their own Yellow Brick Roads."
Author William Ayers is a school reform activist and teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
