King of the Lobby

King of the Lobby
Author: Kathryn Allamong Jacob
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2010
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0801893976

Profiles the lobbyist known for his deployment of alcohol, fine meals, and stirring conversation at parties, where he shaped the face of Gilded Age America.

King of the Lobby

King of the Lobby
Author: Kathryn Allamong Jacob
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0801898277

A biography of the “influential and engaging character” who courted Congress with food, wine, and gifts in the post-Civil War era (The Washington Post Book World). King of the Lobby tells the story of how one man harnessed delicious food, fine wine, and good conversation to become the most influential lobbyist of the Gilded Age. Scion of an old and honorable family, best friend of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and charming man-about-town, Sam Ward held his own in an era crowded with larger-than-life personalities. Living by the motto that the shortest route between a pending bill and a congressman’s “aye” was through his stomach, Ward elegantly entertained political elites in return for their votes. At a time when waves of scandal washed over Washington, the popular press railed against the wickedness of the lobby, and self-righteous politicians predicted that special interests would cause the downfall of democratic government, Sam Ward still reigned supreme. By the early 1870s, he had earned the title “King of the Lobby,” cultivating an extraordinary network of prominent figures and a style that survives today in the form of expensive golf outings, extravagant dinners, and luxurious vacations. Kathryn Allamong Jacob’s account shows how the king earned his crown, and how this son of wealth and privilege helped to create a questionable profession in a city that then, as now, rested on power and influence. “Her extensive research is reflected in her recounting of Ward’s life, successfully putting it into the context of the history of lobbying...will appeal to American history buffs.” —Publishers Weekly

A Place to Land

A Place to Land
Author: Barry Wittenstein
Publisher: Holiday House
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2019-09-24
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0823443744

As a new generation of activists demands an end to racism, A Place to Land reflects on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and the movement that it galvanized. Winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Master List Much has been written about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1963 March on Washington. But there's little on his legendary speech and how he came to write it. Martin Luther King, Jr. was once asked if the hardest part of preaching was knowing where to begin. No, he said. The hardest part is knowing where to end. "It's terrible to be circling up there without a place to land." Finding this place to land was what Martin Luther King, Jr. struggled with, alongside advisors and fellow speech writers, in the Willard Hotel the night before the March on Washington, where he gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. But those famous words were never intended to be heard on that day, not even written down for that day, not even once. Barry Wittenstein teams up with legendary illustrator Jerry Pinkney to tell the story of how, against all odds, Martin found his place to land. An ALA Notable Children's Book A Capitol Choices Noteworthy Title Nominated for an NAACP Image Award A Bank Street Best Book of the Year A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People A Booklist Editors' Choice Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal Selected for the CBC Champions of Change Showcase

Snakes in the Lobby

Snakes in the Lobby
Author: Scott MacLeod
Publisher: Morningstar Publications (NC)
Total Pages: 105
Release: 1997-01
Genre: Contemporary Christian music
ISBN: 9781878327765

Deacon King Kong (Oprah's Book Club)

Deacon King Kong (Oprah's Book Club)
Author: James McBride
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2020-03-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 073521672X

Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction Winner of the Gotham Book Prize One of Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of the Year" Oprah's Book Club Pick Named one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and TIME Magazine A Washington Post Notable Novel From the author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, and the bestselling modern classic The Color of Water, comes one of the most celebrated novels of the year. In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project’s drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride’s funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird. In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood’s Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself. As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters—caught in the tumultuous swirl of 1960s New York—overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth does emerge, McBride shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in hope and compassion. Bringing to these pages both his masterly storytelling skills and his abiding faith in humanity, James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us.

The King of Dragons

The King of Dragons
Author: Carol Fenner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0689848242

Eleven-year-old Ian and his Vietnam veteran father have been homeless for years, but now his father has found a perfect place for them—an abandoned city courthouse with heat, plenty of bathrooms, and lots of exits and entrances. Then, two things happen that threaten Ian’s fragile security: his father disappears, leaving Ian to fend for himself with the survival skills he’s learned through the years, and Ian discovers that a local museum is mounting an exhibition of kites in the courthouse.Suddenly, Ian’s safe hideaway is filled with people—and with extraordinary, beautiful kites that spark Ian’s imagination and draw him out of his shadow existence. Will the kites be Ian’s downfall…or his salvation?

Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel

Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel
Author: Dan Ephron
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2015-10-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393242102

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History and one of the New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of the Year. The assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin remains the single most consequential event in Israel’s recent history, and one that fundamentally altered the trajectory for both Israel and the Palestinians. In Killing a King, Dan Ephron relates the parallel stories of Rabin and his stalker, Yigal Amir, over the two years leading up to the assassination, as one of them planned political deals he hoped would lead to peace, and the other plotted murder. "Carefully reported, clearly presented, concise and gripping," It stands as "a reminder that what happened on a Tel Aviv sidewalk 20 years ago is as important to understanding Israel as any of its wars" (Matti Friedman, The Washington Post).

King of Russia

King of Russia
Author: Dave King
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2012-11-13
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1551994151

A revealing look inside the Russian Super League by its first Canadian coach. Until now no Canadian had penetrated the coaching ranks of Russian hockey, but the year after the NHL lockout, Dave King became head coach of the Metallurg Magnitogorsk. From the beginning, King, Canada’s long-time national coach and former coach of both the Flames and Blue Jackets, realized he was in for an adventure. His first meeting with team officials in a Vienna hotel lobby included six fast-talking Russians and the “bag-man” — assistant general manager Oleg Kuprianov, who always carried a little black bag full of U.S. one hundred dollar bills. The mission seemed simple enough: keep the old Soviet style combination play on offence, but improve the team’s defensive play — and win a Russian Super League Championship. Yet, as King’s diary of his time in Russia reveals, coaching an elite Russian team is anything but simple. King of Russia details the world of Russian hockey from the inside, intimately acquainting us with the lives of key players, owners, managers, and fans, while granting us a unique perspective on life in an industrial town in the new Russia. And introducing us to Evgeni Malkin, Magnitogorsk’s star and the NHL’s newest phenomenon.

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
Author: John J. Mearsheimer
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 651
Release: 2007-09-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1429932821

Originally published in 2007, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, provoked both howls of outrage and cheers of gratitude for challenging what had been a taboo issue in America: the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy. A work of major importance, it remains as relevant today as it was in the immediate aftermath of the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006. Mearsheimer and Walt describe in clear and bold terms the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. They provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America's posture throughout the Middle East―in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict―and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America's national interest nor Israel's long-term interest. The lobby's influence also affects America's relationship with important allies and increases dangers that all states face from global jihadist terror. The publication of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy led to a sea change in how the U.S-Israel relationship was discussed, and continues to be one of the most talked-about books in foreign policy.

A Hologram for the King

A Hologram for the King
Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: Vintage Canada
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2013-06-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 034580760X

A National Book Award Finalist, a New York Times bestseller and one of the most highly-acclaimed books of the year, A Hologram for the King is a sprawling novel about the decline of American industry from one of the most important, socially-aware novelists of our time. In a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman named Alan Clay pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter's college tuition, and finally do something great. In A Hologram for the King, Dave Eggers takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together in the face of the global economy's gale-force winds. This taut, richly layered, and elegiac novel is a powerful evocation of our contemporary moment--and a moving story of how we got here.