Book cover of Who Governs?

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"A major breakthrough in American political science, and a work destined, deservedly, to influence profoundly all future investigation of our politics... masterful, imaginative, and courageous. I recommend it unreservedly to the attention of all students of American politics."-Willmoore Kendall

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Why read it?

1 author picked Who Governs? as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book is the most systematic examination of how leaders achieve power and exercise it, and should be the first book read by all political scientists.

The author, a professor of political science, walked across the street from Yale University into the city hall of New Haven, and proceeded to test an exhaustive list of variables in a three-century survey of the city’s Mayorship. What matters? Ethnicity, religion, race, unions, clubs, personality, family, reputation, service, experience? The answer is that the political winners are the product of complex interactions, with plenty of unexpected links and the important role of the…

From Julian's list on national security decision-making.

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These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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