June’s Best History Books

First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power, by Kate Andersen Brower
Often overlooked, sometimes derided, and, on 14 occasions, destined to be president, our vice presidents occupy a strange place in our democratic system: limited in power and status, yet imbued with the potential to ascend to the highest levels of both. This book explores both the men who have served in the position and the presidents whose political lives they were tethered to, for good or ill. The result is a fascinating look at a role that doesn’t get the attention it deserves, revealing the personalities and politics that have shaped the course of American history—even if you can’t necessarily name them all. Brower also considers the ways the role has changed over the years, and the men who have influenced those changes through political power, force of will, or simple chance.

Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency, by Dan Abrams and David Fisher
It’s possible to forget Abraham Lincoln existed before he was our 16th president—and pursued a very successful legal career. In 1859, he took on what would turn out to be his final case before running for president, a murder trial. A man named Greek Crafton assaulted a man named “Peachy” Quinn Harrison. Harrison responded by fatally stabbing Crafton, and was indicted for murder. Lincoln’s deft defense earned Harrison an acquittal, in part due to his stirring closing arguments. Abrams, chief legal affairs anchor for ABC News, argues this trial provided the momentum to push Lincoln to run for the highest office in the land. Along the way, he underscores how Lincoln’s many talents—public speaking and persuasion chief among them—made him ideally suited to lead the country during its most dangerous period.

The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age, by David E. Sanger
The use and misuse of cyberweapons—malicious code and weaponized software designed to cripple systems and steal data—has become one of the most active fronts in the invisible war between the United States and various terrorist cells and rouge nations. Sanger traces the decline in America’s power in this sphere over the last few years, arguing we’ve been left largely paralyzed and unable to deploy weapons developed to fight the threat. At the same time, hacking and data theft allowed Russia to meddle with one of the most important elections of recent years, and the United States hasn’t done much to prevent future attacks. The end result is an atmosphere of constant paranoia, of endless attacks and counterattacks that leave no trace and thus get almost no attention from the media—but which could have a terrible impact on all of us.

Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump, by Dan Pfeiffer
The cohost of Pod Save America and one-time senior adviser to President Obama offers a fly-on-the-wall glimpse of the 2008 presidential campaign and Obama’s eight years in office. Irreverent and smart, Pfeiffer offers anecdotes that, in turn, hilarious, alarming, or simply interesting. Along the way he provides advice to a Democratic party reeling from the Trump victory in 2016, and suggests what must be done to shore up the liberal cause that has struggled to define itself. His considers fake news, social media, and how the Democrats can win future elections in the age of Trumpism.

The Plot to Destroy Democracy: How Putin and His Spies Are Undermining America and Dismantling the West, by Malcolm Nance
While most everyone is aware something happened involving Russia and our electoral process in 2016, Nance (a counterterrorism analyst at NBC) puts forth an argument that it was much more than a stroke of luck or even a simple coordinated misinformation campaign. He outlines what he believes is an aggressive attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to completely remake our democracy and bring the U.S. into an “axis of autocracy.” The portrait of events he paints is alarming and thought-provoking.

The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue the Russian Imperial Family, by Helen Rappaport
Rappaport examines the slow-motion catastrophe that led to the brutal murder of the Russian imperial family in the wake of the 1917 revolution. Tracing events back decades, she explores the decisions made by the intermarried and incestuous royal families of pre-war Europe that led to the slow response and lack of support afforded Czar Nicholas and his physically fragile family after his abdication. Rappaport argues the Romanovs, who had ruled Russia for centuries, certainly didn’t have to wind up shot by revolutionaries and buried in unmarked graves. The result reads like a dark thriller whose ending you know, but which still holds you riveted to the page.

The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler
The first English settlement in America, located on Roanoke Island, vanished without a trace in 1590, leaving behind only a mysterious “token:” the word “croatoan” carved into a tree. Admitting to an obsession with the mystery surrounding this disaster, Lawler describes the landscape of 16th century America and the personalities of the settlers who made the dangerous decision to build a life in a new world. Finding few solutions to the riddle despite exploring fascinating leads, the lack of resolution only underscores the power of this story—which still resonates more than four hundred years later.

The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists, by Naomi Klein
Klein argues the slow-rolling disaster that still afflicts Puerto Rico months after the dual hurricanes that laid waste to the island is not simply a symptom of incompetence, but rather a cynical strategy designed to drive citizens to the mainland so the island can be remade into a corporate-owned paradise. Klein’s argument is persuasive—she details what she calls “disaster capitalists” who employ tactics designed to make Puerto Ricans feel helpless—but she also finds inspiration in the unexpected resourcefulness of those very citizens, seeking to weather the storm, as it were, with small-scale food production and DIY power infrastructures. Klein expects a collision between the declining power base of the cities and the community bonds of the rural areas will ultimately determine what Puerto Rico will look like a decade from now.

Fantasyland—How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History, by Kurt Andersen
Looking back over the entirety of American history, from the Puritans through Donald Trump’s presidency, Andersen argues that what many perceive as a sudden, shocking descent into fake news-fueled hysteria is actually the culmination of the journey we’ve always been on. Anti-science, religiously fundamentalist forces have always been there, Andersen argues, tracing events in history that echo the current state of affairs. He argues Trump has set himself up as the president of “fantasyland,” an imaginary America where everything is great and things are only getting better—a story that helped him claim the White House, and may keep him there in 2020.