Narrative Non Fiction

Many of the author talks in October 2009 reflect what Politics and Prose does so well: presenting outstanding works of history and provocative policy discussions. While we sell cookbooks and art books and titles in many other genres, and although approximately 20% of our sales are fiction and another 20% are children’s books, we can say part of what makes us a unique bookstore is our emphasis on history and policy.

Among the many events this month:

Sunday, October 4, 5 p.m.
We have been awaiting a new book by Neil Sheehan for many years. This month he will present A Fiery Peace in a Cold War (Random House, $32), which focuses on the development of the intercontinental ballistic missile system led by Air Force Col. Bernard Schriever.  A Bright Shining Lie (P&P, 1988) is a classic and, with Stanley Karnow’s Vietnam, A History (P&P, 1991), vital to understanding that tragic war.

Friday, October 9, 7 p.m.
Annette Gordon-Reed, winner of the 2008 National Book Award for nonfiction and a Pulitzer Prize for history, will present her book, The Hemingses of Monticello (W.W. Norton, $18.95), now in paperback. Annette was here in September 2008 when the hardcover was published. 

Monday, October 26, 7.p.m.
Taylor Branch, author of the extraordinary three-volume history of Martin Luther King, Jr., will discuss The Clinton Tapes (Simon & Schuster, $35), a conversation with President Clinton about his years in office. 

Other October talks include Daniel Goldhagen for Worse Than War, and British Historian Antony Beevor for D-Day. Finally, Morris Dickstein presents a brilliant new work of the cultural history of the 1930s and the Great Depression, Dancing in the Dark.