Seven books to help clarify what’s going on in national politics now

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well. One of Somers's seven recommended books to help understand what’s going on in national politics now, as shared at B&N Reads:

Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism—From Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond, by E. J. Dionne, Jr.

No political movement happens in a vacuum, but often the roots of today’s headlines extend so far into the past they seem to arrive, fully formed, out of nowhere. Dionne, Jr., traces the origins of the modern-day Tea Party and its successors to the 1960s, especially the civil rights movement, President Johnson’s Great Society, and Barry Goldwater’s insurrection during the 1964 campaign. With a staggeringly encyclopedic knowledge of politics over the last 50 years, Dionne, Jr., analyzes how fringe voters and policies have migrated into the mainstream conservative movement even as the country as a whole drifted further to the left. With the political landscape of America in turmoil, it’s more important than ever to get a handle on the roots of modern-day politics.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue